Lauren Boebert supports trans health care bans by saying kids “belong to their parents”

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) took issue with the suggestion that everyone should be concerned with kids’ futures and said that kids “belong to their parents” in an effort to show her support for laws that take rights away from trans kids, their parents, and LGBTQ+-supportive families.

She was responding to comments made by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre last week at the GLAAD Media Awards, where Jean-Pierre spoke out against the hundreds of anti-LGBTQ+ – and mostly anti-transgender – bills being considered this year in state legislatures across the country.

Related:

Lauren Boebert blasts sex-ed classes. Twitter reminded her she was a teen mom

She also said schools who teach about “same-sex sex” should have their funding cut.

Many of these bills would ban transgender minors from accessing gender-affirming care, even if they have the support of their parents and doctors. Parents of transgender children have been leading the fight against these bills. Other bills have been passed in Florida and Tennessee that ban parents from taking their kids to family-friendly drag events.

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“I’ve met a lot of parents of trans kids in the past couple of months who have told me these devastating stories, whether they’re in Texas or Oklahoma or wherever they are, saying how they now have to seriously consider leaving their state to protect their child,” Jean-Pierre said. “That’s something that we have to call out and continue to be very clear about. These are kids. These are our kids. They belong to all of us.”

Boebert took those comments about how everyone should be concerned with kids’ futures – even if those children aren’t their own – to mean that Jean-Pierre was advocating for the government making children its “property.”

“The Biden administration continues to claim children ‘belong to all of us,'” she wrote. “No! Children are not property of the state. They belong to their parents!”

The Biden administration continues to claim children "belong to all of us."

No! Children are not property of the state. They belong to their parents!

Back off @PressSec!

— Rep. Lauren Boebert (@RepBoebert) May 18, 2023

On Twitter, people pointed out that it’s contradictory to defend laws banning parents from making medical decisions for their children by saying that kids “belong to their parents.”

Then you keep your GD nose out of business that should only be between a parent and child.

— Antonia Lee Donnelly (@DonnellyAntonia) May 18, 2023

Well, Governor Ron DeSantis certainly thinks he owns the children in Florida. He’s making all the parents’ decisions for them. Disgraceful.

— Ramon Caudle (@UrbanistaRamon) May 19, 2023

Yes, that way they can be influenced to get their minor girlfriends pregnant, just like mom was when SHE was a teenager! Gotta carry on that rich family tradition. That way your son can also be a grandfather when HE is 36.

— Scott C. Smith (@TheScottCSmith) May 18, 2023

Until they’re blown to pieces by an AR15 right? That’s just the cost of freedom, right? Tell me grandma, how many dead children is too high a price? 1k, 10k, 1M? Please answer as we parents that care about children want to know! #BrianHopkinsforCongress

— Brian Hopkins For Congress GA-06 (@TheBrianHopkins) May 18, 2023

Unless they're trans apparently…

— Kes Bretagne (@KesendraB) May 19, 2023

Ohhhhhh wait a god damn minute … so if parents want to take their kids to a book reading by a drag queen there shouldn’t be a problem via your message. MAKE UP YOUR FUCKING MIND!!!!!!

— Matt Kansas (@mattkansas0) May 19, 2023

Then explain GoV Desantis’s new law saying the government can take children from their parents. Big parental rights advocate during Covid. My how things have changed.

— Listen Linda (@winnygirl03) May 19, 2023

The Biden administration isn't passing laws to take parents from their kids.

Ron DeSantis and the Florida Republicans are. https://t.co/F53xtQ9O2l

— Joe Katz welcomes our new orca overlords (@joekatz45) May 18, 2023

Shocked that the person who views children as her personal property couldn't make her marriage work.

— Chris Harford ☮️🌹 (@harford117) May 18, 2023

Obviously you haven’t been paying attention to Florida, Texas and other fascist red states.

— Tim Murphy 🇺🇸 🇺🇦 🌻 ☮️ (@Murp1953Tim) May 18, 2023