Weekend Edition | WA Senator Insists Controversial Remarks on Parents’ Rights Taken Out of Context
(The Center Square) – Washington State Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, is standing by comments he made last week to a Fox News reporter about 13-year-old children making their own health care decisions without parents’ knowledge or consent. Pedersen’s comments went viral, drawing millions of views and reposts on social media. Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency under President Donald Trump, even got involved in a social media exchange over the quote. “Kids over 13 have the complete right to make their own decisions about their mental health care,” Pedersen said during a Feb. 5 television interview. “Parents don’t have a right to have notice, they don’t have a right to have consent about that.”