Transradicalism has successfully hijacked most of our institutions — from the public education system to healthcare to the White House — in large part because of the free advertising they receive from the leftist media.

This headline from the Associated Press on a new Washington State law that strips parents of their custodial rights sums up the relationship well: “ Trans minors protected from parents under Washington law .” One more time: “Trans minors protected from parents under Washington law.”

The article goes on to say, “Minors seeking gender-affirming care in Washington will be protected from the intervention of estranged parents under a measure Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law Tuesday.”

This is grotesquely irresponsible, dishonest framing from the AP. The law in question actually puts children in harm’s way by deliberately undermining familial ties. Parents, not the state, are best positioned to care for their children in all matters because only they know their children’s needs and understand the full context of their child’s struggles.

Especially in matters regarding sex and identity, parental involvement is vital. Many of the families with whom I’ve spoken over the past year have shared that their gender-confused children struggled with their mental health long before becoming confused about their sex. This is critical information that any doctor or healthcare provider would need to know when evaluating a child’s condition. And it is also information that the state would not have access to if parents were not present and involved in the evaluation process.

The root of the problem, however, is this idea that parents can somehow be a threat to their children simply for disagreeing with the state’s prescribed orthodoxy. This is not to say that parents are incapable of harming their children. But to compare an ideological disagreement to actual abuse is despicable. Parents have the right to raise their children as they see fit, and the state does not get to come along and take that right from them just because they happen to believe that their 13-year-old son is not, in fact, a girl.

The media have clearly chosen a side in this battle, and it is not the side of well-intentioned parents who are trying to do what’s best for their children. The message they’re sending to families is clear: If you don’t raise your children the way we want, we’ll come do it for you.

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