Montana Republican implies she'd rather her daughter die by suicide than transition
A state lawmaker in Montana is saying that hypothetically, between letting her daughter transition and letting her daughter die by suicide, she'd choose the latter, reported The Daily Beast on Friday.
"Republican Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe, who recently sponsored a bill banning gender-affirming care for minors, suggested in March during a debate on the floor of the Montana statehouse that she had blocked the treatment for her own daughter, even as her daughter was suicidal," reported Victor Swezey. '''One of the big issues that we have heard today and we’ve talked about lately is that without surgery the risk of suicide goes way up. Well, I am one of those parents who lived with a daughter who was suicidal for three years,' Seekins-Crowe said, according to a clip shared on Twitter, demonstrating how close to home the issue hit for her family."
“Someone once asked me, ‘Wouldn’t I just do anything to help save her?’ And I really had to think and the answer was, ‘No,’” she continued, claiming that suicidal tendencies are a form of "emotional manipulation," and that “I was not going to let her tear apart my family and I was not going to let her tear apart me because I had to be strong for her, I had to have a vision for her life when she had none.”
The remarks drew a swift backlash both from social media and from politicians, with Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) tweeting, “I vehemently disagree with this speech by GOP state rep Kerri Seekins-Crowe. But you know what she didn’t say? That it should be the government’s role to make personal decisions for families. Why is she now shoving her private decision down other people’s throats?”
Seekins-Crowe has not apologized or walked back the comments, and has called condemnation of her remarks by progressive groups a "badge of honor."
This comes as Montana Republicans are already under fire and facing a wave of protests for stripping power from a transgender lawmaker, Zooey Zephyr, who stood up to warn the bill would increase the risk of transgender youth engaging in self-harm and saying that those who voted for it would have "blood on [their] hands." Zephyr was ultimately banned from the state house floor for the remainder of the session. She is still permitted to vote remotely on legislation, but the GOP took the further step of adjourning all committees on which she sits, effectively rendering her unable to do committee work.