Mom seeks Supreme ruling on minor son's sex change against her will

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A mother whose juvenile son was assisted in sex-change procedures by authorities in Minnesota against her wishes is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review her case.

The Thomas More Society on Wednesday asked the high court to review the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling affirming the decision by county officials to shepherd the boy through a sex change.

The petition to review Anmarie Calgaro v. St. Louis County contends Calgaro's due process rights were trampled when the county and its referred health providers ended her parental control over her minor son without her permission or a court order.

Erick Kaardal, special counsel for the Thomas More Society, said Calgaro's right to supervise her child's welfare, educational and medical care decisions were ripped away by St. Louis County authorities without even parental notice.

"It's a parent's worst nightmare," he said. "Anmarie Calgaro's child, while a minor, was steered through a life-changing, permanent body altering process, becoming a pawn in someone else's sociopolitical agenda and being influenced by those who have no legal or moral right to usurp the role of a parent.

"Unbelievably," he continued, "Minnesota statutes authorize a county to deem a minor 'emancipated' to receive welfare payments to live on their own and allow medical providers to void parental input if it determines the minor is living apart from the parents and is managing personal financial affairs. And the St. Louis County School District in Minnesota has a custom and practice of barring a parent for more than two years from involvement in the child's education after a child is deemed by the school principal, not by a court order, to be emancipated."

He said it's a "serious violation of parental and due process rights."

Calgaro sued after her son was given elective medical services for a sex change – while still a minor – without her permission or knowledge.

There also had been no determination that he was emancipated or given authority to make his own health decisions.

Kaardal said St. Louis County determined, without any basis, that the child was emancipated and could receive government benefits, even though Calgaro was a "fit parent" who objected to their actions.

He said the 8th Circuit ignored the conflict between its acknowledgment of the mother's parental rights and the fact they were ignored.

"Under federal law, the right to parent is considered an unenumerated right, protected from governmental interference by the Due Process Clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. The 'liberty' of the Due Process Clauses safeguards those substantive rights 'so rooted in the traditions and conscience as to be ranked as fundamental,'" the legal team explained.

Calgaro originally sued St. Louis County, Fairview Health Services, Park Nicollet Health Services and the St. Louis County School District in 2016.

WND reported last year that trial Judge Paul Magnuson agreed her parental rights, which remained "intact" at the time, were violated. But he dismissed the case.

The boy, identified as J.D.K., was 17 when he was told by a lawyer with Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid that he was emancipated from his parents' authority and could pursue sex-change surgery without their permission or even informing them.