Antidote to Hawaii's Legalized Kidnapping Scheme | Support HB264 | Protect Parental Rights
- Abbra Green
- Feb 2
- 3 min read
The state legislature keeps pushing monstrosities like SB1150 & HB615, the so-called "Health Care Access Protection Act" that doubles down on last year's page-bloated nightmare and essentially legalizes interstate kidnapping under the banner of "gender-affirming care. However, a powerful countermeasure has been sitting in the wings: HB264. This bill slams the door shut on the very ideological weapon the kidnapping bills rely on.
Introduced back in January 2025 and carried over into the 2026 session, HB264 is short, sharp, and laser-focused. It amends Hawaii Revised Statutes on what counts as the "best interest of the child" in custody and visitation fights.
The key language:
"In determining what constitutes the best interest of the child under this section, the court shall not consider whether a parent affirms their child's gender identity or expression that does not align with the sex assigned at birth."
This prohibits courts from playing gender ideology referee and keeps judges from deciding that a parent who supports social transition, preferred pronouns, or medical steps is automatically the "better" caregiver. Importantly, this means no more penalizing the parents under the guise of “care”.
From Section 1:
“The legislature finds that parents have a constitutionally protected right to direct the care, custody, and control of their children, including children experiencing gender dysphoria.”
The effect would be to strip out this subjective and politically charged factor from the custody equation entirely. Keep the real best-interest factors intact (abuse history, family violence, parent-child bond, caregiving consistency) and don't let activist judges or one-sided "experts" sneak in gender affirmation as the golden ticket.
HB264: Protect Parental Rights
Remember that damning line from page 52 of SB1150? Hawaii courts
"shall not consider as a factor weighing against the petitioner any taking of the child... if there is evidence that the taking or retention of the child was for the purposes of obtaining gender-affirming health care services". (emphasis added)
In plain English: as long as the abductor claims the runaway was about getting puberty blockers or hormones in our "sanctuary" state, Hawaii judges are forbidden from holding that abduction against them in custody rulings. Loving parents in restrictive states suddenly become "unfit" because they won't sign off on often irreversible medical interventions. State agencies get empowered to rip kids away based on "controversial and subjective criteria." Chaos ensues. Jurisdictional quagmire. This is why we’ve dubbed it the “Kidnapping Bill”. It would leave families torn apart and with little to no recourse. It would prioritize gender ideology over parental rights.
HB264 obliterates that playbook.
By banning any consideration of gender affirmation (or non-affirmation) in Hawaii custody decisions, it yanks the rug out from under the kidnapping loophole. Even if a parent flees to Hawaii with a child to access "care" shielded by SB1150/HB615, they can't then waltz into family court and say, "I'm the affirming parent, so give me custody!" The court is prohibited from weighing that affirmation. Likewise, the original parent can't be branded unfit for refusing to affirm.
It upholds neutrality and protects parental rights. No more state-sponsored favoritism toward one side of a deeply divisive medical and ideological debate.
HB264 doesn't ban gender-affirming care. It doesn't criminalize anything. It simply says: keep politics and subjective gender theories OUT of the courtroom when deciding who raises Hawaii's children. That's the kind of limited, freedom-preserving legislation libertarians and parents across the spectrum can rally behind.
Time to support the bill that defends families instead of dismantling them.
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