AB 495: ‘A Child Trafficker’s and Kidnapper’s Dream Bill’

California parents have been betrayed once again by Democrats in the California Legislature, and are in for a shock from their elected lawmakers. Assembly Bill 495, ludicrously titled the “Family Preparedness Plan Act of 2025” claims the bill “is a critical tool that will preserve California’s families.” Assemblywoman Celeste Rodriguez (San Fernando-D) says, “We must do everything we can to safeguard families from separation and ensure children are supported.”

Sounds innocuous, and maybe even helpful, right?

The Senate Human Services Committee spells it out:

“This bill allows a court to appoint a temporary guardian for a child, chosen by the child’s custodial parent, who is empowered to assume guardianship duties of the child if the parent is temporarily unavailable due to an immigration-related administrative action, among other circumstances.” [emphasis the Globe]

 Assemblywoman Rodriguez, the author of the bill, claims AB 495 will provide compassionate solutions for immigrant families facing sudden separations due to detention or deportation.

Actually, and more to the point, AB 495 “creates legal loopholes that make kidnapping children easy,” the California Family Council explains. 

The bill’s actual language says this:

“The bill would expand the type of person who is authorized to execute a caregiver’s authorization affidavit to include a “nonrelative extended family member,” and grant them the same rights to authorize school-related medical care, for the minor that are given to guardians. By expanding who is authorized to sign a caregiver’s authorization affidavit for these purposes under penalty of perjury, this bill would expand the crime of perjury, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program.

This bill would amend the statutory form for a caregiver’s authorization affidavit.”

This isn’t just about helping out immigrant families facing deportation – this bill specifies that a “nonrelative extended family member” has the same rights to authorize school-related medical care. Think abortions, puberty blockers, and sex-change operations for the kids of parents who don’t support their gender fantasies.

AB 495 is another bill that threatens parental rights. Based on the bill’s language, the law would allow the state to remove custody from parents who do not “affirm their child’s gender identity,” even going so far as to claim parents are abusive or neglectful for not indulging their minor child’s gender dysphoria.

AB 495 is reminiscent of Senator Scott Wiener’s Senate Bill 497, which “recognizes California’s role in prioritizing the safety of those seeking gender affirming health care.” This bill actually is “designed to hide the ever growing number of kids being poisoned, sterilized and maimed.”

“Gender affirming care” amounts to a chemical or surgical “Sex change,” and does not support or provide actual “gender affirming care.” It’s only about kids who are in some type of gender crisis.

AB 495 even redefines what qualifies as a “safe” home, replacing parents with government for the parental position of deciding what is best for a child. Just imagine the definition of an “unsafe” home: one in which the children are homeschooled, or one which has legally purchased and registered guns, or there is a freezer full of Venison hunted by dad, or a Trump flag flying next to the American flag, or a home which mixes the recycling and landfill garbage.

The bill language states:

“If an employee of a school is aware that a pupil’s parent or guardian is not available to care for the pupil, the school shall first exhaust any parental instruction relating to the pupil’s care in the emergency contact information it has for the pupil to arrange for the pupil’s care. A school is encouraged to work with parents or guardians to update their emergency contact information and not to contact Child Protective Services to arrange for the pupil’s care unless the school is unable to arrange for care through the use of emergency contact information or other information or instructions provided by the parent or guardian.”

In 2022, Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) celebrated passage of his bill, SB 107 to erode parents’ rights by allowing minor children to travel to California for trans procedures, puberty blockers (chemical castration), known as “gender-affirming health care.” SB 107 allows non-parent adults to bring minor children to California for experimental and damaging transgender medical interventions, without the knowledge or consent of their parents.

Assemblywoman Rodriguez is the Chairwoman of the Latina Inequities committee. And she has worked on “homelessness prevention as part of the LA Mayor’s Homelessness Services Team. As Deputy Director of Community Development Strategies, she oversaw LA’s Guaranteed Basic Income pilot, Child Savings Accounts, and initiatives to empower vulnerable families.”

However, critics of AB 495, including attorneys, parental rights advocates, and faith-based organizations—warn it dangerously redefines guardianship, strips away parental rights, the California Family Council explains.

They continue:

Erin Friday, an attorney and president of Our Duty-USA, a parent-led advocacy group, called AB 495 “a child trafficker’s and kidnapper’s dream bill.”

“There is no background check, no welfare check, no court oversight, and no verification. All you need is a piece of paper and some form of identification, with no obligation for the adult handing the child over to verify the identification, and presto, someone walks away with your child,” she warned.

Friday also rejects Rodriguez’s claim that this bill is narrowly tailored to immigration emergencies. The bill’s language applies to any child for any reason, regardless of immigration status, and grants temporary legal rights to individuals with no blood relation, including people who may not even be known to the child’s parents. The stranger can consent to medical treatments for the child, and the bill absolves the doctors from any liability should the adult consenting not have any actual legal connection to the child.

“We’re talking about a legal pathway for predators to operate in plain sight,” Friday said. “This bill is not about immigration. It’s about relinquishing parental rights to unvetted strangers under the guise of compassion.”

Think about this. Assemblywoman Rodriguez has authored a bill ostensibly tailored to family immigration deportation emergencies, but really authorizes the state to grab kids from public schools and appoint a custodial parent “if an employee of a school is aware that a pupil’s parent or guardian is not available to care for the pupil.” For any issue, not just immigration deportation issues.

Why are California Democrats so obsessed with sex changes, trans kids, and “gender affirming care,” which leaves children scarred and disfigured for life?

A lawyer/mother testified in 2022, that Sen. Wiener’s SB 107 is unconstitutional and violates parental rights by offering protections to non-custodial parents to abscond to California for trans gender treatments. “Every Attorney General in the country should be filing lawsuits against California for sterilizing or experimenting on minors,” she said.

This bill, AB 495, besides trying to replace parents with “nonrelatives,” entirely undermines the family unit, while setting a terrifying precedence for government intrusion in the family.

I’m sure Senator Scott Wiener loves this bill – he voted for it in the Senate Judiciary Committee:

Here is how the full Assembly voted for AB 495:

The bill is in the Senate awaiting hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee.