A congressional hearing this week on the “dangers and due process violations” of so-called gender-affirming care exposed the Left’s hypocrisy on the issue of parental rights.

Democrats argued at multiple points that experimental and irreversible sex-change treatments are beyond the purview of regulation because parents ultimately get to decide what’s best for their children. “Parents have the ultimate right to make decisions concerning appropriate medical care for their children,” said Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA). Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) agreed: "Let me be crystal clear. Government should not stick its nose into a parent's decision to seek gender-affirming care for their children," he said.

Putting aside the fact that no parent has the right to subject their child to injury, the Democrats’ argument falls flat thanks to their own policies. This is the same party that has passed laws in blue states, such as California and Washington, granting the government custodial rights over gender-confused children who run away from “unsupportive” parents; the same party that supports school policies instructing educators to hide critical information about a child’s identity and well-being from parents.

In other words, Democrats support parental rights — but only for those parents who agree with their agenda. Those who disagree, or remain hesitant about the best course of action for their children, don’t deserve a say at all, according to the Left. In fact, at one point during the hearing, Scanlon claimed those concerned about the effects of radical gender ideology are just repeating “right-wing talking points.”

Democrats’ selective defense of parental rights in this context doesn’t hold up legally either. That’s why the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, in a ruling upholding Tennessee’s restrictions on “gender-affirming care” earlier this year, said that a parent’s right to make decisions for their children’s upbringing does not supersede the state’s responsibility to regulate health and welfare, “especially where ‘medical and scientific uncertainty’ exists.” For example, no individual has the “constitutional right to use a new drug that the FDA has determined is unsafe or ineffective … even if the FDA bars access to an experimental drug that a doctor believes might save a terminally ill patient’s life,” the court said.

The Left is on the wrong side of this debate, and their commitment to an ideology that is wreaking havoc in thousands of young children’s lives is indefensible. Parents are waking up to that fact and are unlikely to fall for Democrats’ halfhearted attempt to win them back.

Kaylee McGhee White is the editor of Restoring America for the Washington Examiner and a senior fellow at the Independent Women's Forum.