March 3, 2026
Under California law, schools can secretly “transition” a child to the opposite gender without even telling their parents.
That is, they could.
On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered California to stop hiding children’s “gender transitions” from religious parents, since doing so likely violates “parents’ rights to direct the upbringing and education of their children.”
“The parents… have sincere religious beliefs about sex and gender, and they feel a religious obligation to raise their children in accordance with those beliefs,” wrote the court. “California’s policies violate those beliefs… [and] cut out the primary protectors of children’s best interests: their parents.”
The court’s opinion comes in Mirabelli v. Bonta, a case that started in 2023 when a group of parents and teachers sued California state officials, arguing that the “secret transition” policy violated their constitutional rights.
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That group included “John and Jane Poe,” two anonymous religious parents whose daughter’s gender transition was hidden from them by her school. The Poes only found out about her transition after their daughter attempted suicide.
A district court ruled in favor of the parents and teachers, issuing a permanent injunction preventing California from “‘misleading’ parents” about their children’s transition and requiring schools to follow parents’ wishes. But the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed that injunction — allowing state schools to continue transitioning children without their parents’ knowledge or consent.
Now, the Supreme Court has stepped in, preventing California from secretly transitioning children while the case moves through the court system.
The Supreme Court’s decision represents a major victory for life.
At Students for Life, we believe that life starts at conception: that every life is sacred and that every baby is perfectly formed down to every detail — including their gender. Denying that biological reality doesn’t just silence the truth — it threatens the lives of the most vulnerable in society: children.
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Gender ideology targets children, especially pre-teens, as they attempt to navigate a stage of life marked by loneliness, bullying, difficulty fitting in, and struggling to find one’s identity. Gender ideology activists exploit those feelings, twisting them into a perceived dissatisfaction with one’s gender — an exploitation that’s enabled by policies like California’s, which leaves confused teens in the hands of “affirming” teachers who perpetuate that confusion.
Of course, “transitioning” a kid does nothing to address the root issues that led them to seek a change in the first place — and in many cases, it only exacerbates the issue. Studies show that easing children’s access to gender transition without their parents’ consent increases suicidality, with one report showing a stunning 14% increase in youth suicide for states (like California) with such policies.
Not only do such policies put children at higher risk of suicide, though, but they also allow children access to risky and largely untested medical treatments that may leave them dependent on hospitals for the rest of their lives.
So-called “gender-affirming hormone therapy” brings increased risk of depression, cardiovascular disease, decreased bone density, tumors, and more. If taken over a long enough period of time, the drugs have irreversible effects, including on fertility and ability to bear children. Those aren’t risks children are capable of processing or calculating — yet policies like California’s place those decisions entirely on their shoulders, in some cases even prescribing them what are essentially chemical castration drugs after a single Planned Parenthood appointment.
Being pro-life means protecting the vulnerable — including from gender ideology. The Supreme Court’s decision marks a step in the right direction, placing decisions about children’s upbringing back in the hands of those who should care the most: their parents.