Hawaii Family Forum Legislative Week in Review
Friday, February 7, 2025
Remember the Abortion Bill Expansion (SB1) from 2023? Now Legislators Want to Add "Gender Affirming Health Care Services" to Hawaii's Access Law
ACTION: The Senate Health Committee and Senate Commerce & Consumer Protection Committee has scheduled a joint public hearing to add "Gender Affirming Health Care Services" to Hawaii's protection laws.
The hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday, February 11, 2025 @ 9:45 a.m.
If you do not think that 14-16-year-olds should be able to access this "care" without parental consent, then click the following link to take action. (People who live in the district of committee members can use the link to take direct action. Everyone else can click on the link to access the action items like calling members on the committees and submitting testimony.)
SB1150: Text, Status “Expands the protections established under Act 2, SLH 2023, to include gender-affirming health care services. Clarifies jurisdiction under the Uniform Child-Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act for cases involving children who obtain gender-affirming health care services.”
Last Year’s version of same thing: HB2079 Would Legalize Child Kidnapping for Sex Change
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This Week in Hawai'i
GOOD NEWS
On February 6, 2025, the Recreational Marijuana (HB1246) bill passed out of committee but then was killed on the floor during second reading when it was sent back to the House Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs and House Committee on Agriculture. The Senate version is still alive and could potentially pop for hearing next week so we will stay tuned. If you want to see the notice we sent out on this, click here
BAD NEWS
On February 5, 2025, the bill to enshrine "Reproductive Freedom" (SB297) into our State Constitution handily passed the Senate Health Committee. The other bad bill that will expand access to "contraceptives" [aka forced access] (SB350) also handily passed the House Health Committee. You can read the notice we sent out on this here.
Today, on February 7, 2025, the hearing regarding "Removal of Religious Exemptions for Vaccinations" was filled with opposition and emotions on both sides - although the opposition was definitely out in force. The bill passed out of committee with Representative David Alcos III and Representative Garcia both voting no. Representative(s): Takayama, Keohokapu, Amato, Chun, Marten, Olds, Takenouchi were yes votes. Chair Greg Takayama asked the Attorney General representative directly if striking the religious exemption language would stand up in court, and the response was "we believe it will." If you would like to see the final decision making discussion, click this link.
LEGISLATIVE DEADLINES
FEB 13 FIRST LATERAL FILING (BILLS) – Filing Deadline for First Lateral Bills.
FEB 14 FIRST LATERAL (BILLS) – All bills referred to more than one committee (i.e., those with multiple referrals) must move to their final committee in the originating chamber by this day.
FEB 20-26 MANDATORY 5-DAY RECESS – Hawaii’s Constitution mandates a 5-day recess between the 20th and 40th days of the regular session. Neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate convene or assemble formally in chamber on recess days. Committee hearings do take place, however.
FEB 28 FIRST DECKING (BILLS) – Deadline for bills to emerge from all their committees (with committee reports filed) and be submitted to the clerk of the originating chamber. This “decking” ensures a mandatory 48-hour opportunity for final review by the chamber’s members before being asked to vote on the third reading. Note: A bill must pass three readings (votes) in each chamber before being enrolled to the governor.
Good News from Across the Nation
Good News Club Approved for Hawaii School After Injunction
[From Liberty Counsel] KAILUA-KONA, HI – For the first time since Hawaii public schools resumed hosting after school programs following the COVID-19 pandemic, Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) has now been approved to start a new Good News Club in one of the state’s elementary schools after being repeatedly and unlawfully denied in other parts of the state. The approval comes after Liberty Counsel recently won a permanent injunction on behalf of CEF Hawaii against the Hawaii State Department of Education. The injunction requires that Hawaii school officials give CEF’s after-school Bible clubs equal access like other similarly-situated clubs on public school campuses throughout the state.
Last week, Kealakehe Elementary School on Hawaii’s Big Island agreed to host a Good News Club after granting CEF after-school access to its facilities. The Good News Club will have equal access at the school alongside other after-school groups, such as the Boys & Girls Club, A+ After School Programs, and others.
[Read full article here.]
Abortion Website Deleted
The Trump administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is also reversing the Biden administration’s pro-abortion policy. HHS took down a website whose purpose under the Biden administration was to facilitate “access to birth control and safe and legal abortion care.” Acting HHS Secretary Dorothy Fink subsequently issued a statement assuring that the Trump administration would enforce the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of taxpayer dollars from funding abortion. For further information, click here and here.
President Trump Launches Task Force To “Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias”
[From Liberty Counsel] WASHINGTON, D.C. – Citing the Biden administration’s “egregious pattern of targeting peaceful Christians,” President Donald Trump launched a task force yesterday to protect religious liberty and focus on eradicating anti-Christian bias in the federal government.
President Trump announced the task force at the 73rd annual National Prayer Breakfast, his second prayer breakfast speech Thursday morning, and then signed the executive order titled “Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias.” Recently confirmed Attorney General Pam Bondi will lead the task force, which will include the secretaries and heads of at least 16 federal entities, including the FBI, and the departments of State, Treasury, Defense, Labor, and Health and Human Services.
Read full article here.
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Marijuana Bill Dead
from Hawaii Family Forum, Feb 6, 2025
First, some really good news. The House voted to recommit the marijuana bill (HB1246) back to the Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs Committee, effectively killing the bill for this session. The bill was on the House Floor for a simple 2nd Reading, a pro forma for the process. It happens to move a committee from one to another, and it is RARE to kill a bill this way. If you want to watch the short floor debate about the bill, you can watch the clip below.
Click to watch!
Bye Bye Religious Exemption for Vaccinations
Now, the not-so-good news. There is a bill scheduled for hearing tomorrow morning that we have been tracking, and other groups have been sending out calls to action on it, so we wanted to let you know about it in case you are interested in tracking it and/or testifying as the bills move forward.
This bill, [HB1118] if passed, will remove the religious exemption for children in public schools related to vaccinations. [Click here for more information].
Our intel is that the bill will easily pass tomorrow, but there will be other opportunities to get involved, so please let me know if this is an issue that you want more information about.
Hawaii Family Forum is tracking this bill because we are working on "outside of the box" plans should the bill pass, so if any of you are parents in a public school system, and you think that passage of this bill will harm you or your keiki, please reach out to me by sending an email to: info@hawaiifamilyforum.org.
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Right to Reproductive Freedom & Right to Contraceptives
from Hawaii Family Forum, Feb 5, 2025
I just wanted to give you a quick update on the hearing today that included the bill that would amend our constitution to add [SB297] "reproductive freedom" AND [SB350] "access to contraceptives." You can click on the bill numbers to see our concerns with the bills.
Both bills passed un-amended and will now head to a joint Senate Committee of Judiciary & Ways and Means.
Hawaii Family Forum testified in opposition to both bills.
The vote was as follows:
• Yes [4: Senator(s) San Buenaventura, Aquino, Hashimoto, Keohokalole]
• Excused [1: Senator Kurt Fevella]
Mahalo to those of you who took the time to submit written opposition and/or called the members of the committee.