The Highwire with Del Bigtree - ANY ADULT, ANY SHOT: AB495 UNCOVERED

Episode Date: August 30, 2025

Amy Bohn, Co-Founder and President of Protection of the Educational Rights of Kids (PERK), breaks down California Assembly Bill AB 495 and how it could indirectly strip parents of fundamental protections for their children. She also shares how PERK is working to reverse the damage caused by Senate Bills 276 and 277—efforts aimed at restoring exemptions and defending doctors who were penalized for issuing legitimate medical exemptions.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-highwire-with-del-bigtree--3620606/support.

A bill making its way through Sacramento is now drawing some sharp criticism. At the California State Capitol, AB 495 is gaining national attention. Hundreds of people rallied on the steps of the California Capitol against Assembly Bill 495. I want to encourage you in a couple of days. Keep showing up. Keep showing up. The bill creates a new process for short-term guardianships in probate court. Now, this allows parents to designate.

someone to care for their children temporarily while maintaining their parental rights. They would be authorized to enroll children in school and consent to their medical care with an affidavit, an event of a parent's detention or deportation. Thousands of opponents of the bill rallied outside the Capitol on Tuesday, many citing concerns about potential misuse of the affidavit, concerns about child safety should the bill pass, and the language included in the bill. There are no safeguards in that affidavit. There is no signature. There is no parent permission. We're applied on the permission slip. This is a child trafficker's dream. This is actually a kidnappers, a trafficker, pedophiles dream come true. Can you imagine Trace dropping off your grandchild at a school here in Los Angeles

and you come back to picking them up at the end of the day? They're not there anymore. You ask who took the child. The school doesn't have to tell you who took the child. You don't know where the child is. This is an absolute, absolute dangerous bill. Well, there's a march on the Capitol in California against AB495 just a couple of days ago. I'm joined by one of the mothers and warriors that was at that, of course. I'm talking about Amy Bond, who is the founder and president of Perk. Amy, what the H is going on? I mean, am I to understand any Yahoo can show up with like an affidavit?

They've written out themselves. There's no need for a parent signature saying, I'm picking up the child. today. Is that what we're talking about? Hi, Del, thank you for having me on your show. Yes, that's exactly what we're talking about. This bill, actually all someone has to do, any adults, it doesn't have to be a relative, it can be any adult, can come into a school, they have an affidavit form that they fill out, they check a box that says they can't get a hold of the parent. They can become the guardian of that child, remove the child from school, this person that becomes the guardian and can't.

caregiver. Yeah, yes. They can. Just read it that. Hold on, everybody. Hold on a second. We have fully just delivered ourselves to crazy town. Read this. I am unable to contact the parents or other persons having legal custody of the minor at this time. This is in the bill to notify them of my intended authorization. And this is okay. This is okay. All of the years. I mean, when we grew up, our parents would say to us, nobody picks you up but me. I don't even care if it's your uncle or a best friend of mine unless I have told you, unless this is clear, and now California thinks

you need a law saying anybody can just sign their name, bring an affidavit and say, I couldn't get all the parents, give me that child now. And guess what this does? If a person comes in and says they're now the caregiver bringing this affidavit form, first of all, they don't have to have a background check. There's no check of the home. There's no ID required to be checked or verified both when they fill out the form and when they go to a school. Schools are released from any kind of liability to check ID or any kind of verification. The only thing the bill says is that a person can give their social security number or the Medicare Medi-Cal card and that's sufficient. So there's no parent signature required. There's no court signature required. There is nothing

to confirm that this person is a legitimate caregiver authorized by the a parent and not only can they pick up a child from school, but they then can become the person who authorizes medical care, dental care, everything and anything that would be within a parent, of course, a guardian's jurisdiction to take care of your child. So it is probably, Del, I think, one of the worst bills that we've seen in California yet. And the problem is that the legal loopholes that this creates, anyone can come and pick up a child. And it's not just public schools, it's private schools, it's homeschool. Just imagine.

Who authorizes Bill? I mean, I want to know who these people are. Are they, do I share DNA with these people? I mean, honestly, I can't imagine that any human being in the world that we live in today, with all the child trafficking, with all the dangerous children are under, you know, why do you think, you know, we have helicopter parents, you're arrested if you let your child walk, you know, down the street to go to a park down the road, but anybody can pick up your child now. I think we've got a few more lines from this bill we can take a look at.

Here we go. A caregiver's authorization affidavit that meets the requirements of this part authorizes a caregiver 18 years of age or older who completes items one to four inclusive of the affidavit provided in Section 652 and signs the affidavit to enroll a minor in school and consent to school-related medical care on behalf of the minor. It goes on. School-related medical care means medical care, including immunizations, physical examinations, and medical examinations conducted in schools for pupils that is required by state or local governmental

authority as a condition for school enrollment or participation local education agency related extra curate activities. I mean, can you imagine you're not vaccine your kid or they find out or whatever the case? They just, you know, find a relative, find anybody that will take your kid, I'm, I got an affidavit. I am the parent for the day. I'm going to catch them up on everything. I mean, this is just one more step in this incredible, slippery slope. that California's been in ever since SB 277. But Amy, speaking of, oh, here's the sponsors. I just want to remember these people forever.

I guess the main sponsor is Celeste Rodriguez. This is a terrible idea, Celeste. I don't know what planet you're living on. Damon Connolly, John Herobedean, Ash, Calba, Alex Lee, Catherine, Stephanie, Rick Spur. Hey, if you live in California, I think you've got to think about, you know, what you're doing there.

Is this leadership? Is this the type of thing you voted for? Unbelievable. But speaking of SB 277 where all of this starts, I know we're fighting lawsuits like crazy. Of course, SB 277 was the bill that forced, forcibly vaccinated every child that wanted to be in a school in California. We've been fighting like crazy at I can. I know Perk, you've had lawsuits. There's many, many different groups of lawsuits. We recently won back exemptions for the California, you know, college system. But how are we doing at the legislative level? there, which is something that you're deeply involved in. Yeah, well, and I think this is the point that there is actually good news, even in California.

So two things really quickly. So for the first time in 10 years, we actually are ready to announce that we have a Democrat legislator who's willing and prepared and committed to champion the cause of reversing the harms of 277, SB 276, and also restoring back personal belief. exemptions, riding the wrongs related to doctors, and making sure that there's legislation drafted, new legislation that protects medical privacy for all Californians. So you know, you lived in California, Dell. This is literally something that everybody has been praying for and hoping for 10 years. And the oppression on families in California, children can't go to school right now. They are getting kicked out in the middle of the school year. Medical exemptions are getting, revoked by the California Health Department. And what's happening, of course,

that you know with doctors, doctors have been punished, licenses have been removed, and personal belief exemptions and religious liberty has been taken away. So with all that in mind, the great news is that we have a Democrat legislator who is willing to champion this cause and restore back to all Californians, their personal belief exemptions, medical privacy,

and also potentially create an amnesty for all the doctors who have been punished retroactively. So when SB 276 passed, as you all know, the bill actually punished doctors backwards in time when there wasn't even an SB 276. So from 2015 to 2019, doctors were retroactively punished for a law that didn't even exist. So the amazing thing is that this California Democrat,

has to be a Democrat in California, because you can't win on any of these big issues. on any of these big issues without having strong Democrat leadership. He, the Democrat, you know, Senator, he's ready to go. Is he all alone in there? I mean,

are you finding that there are other Democrats that are starting to soften on this issue? I would, I would think with the American Academy of Pediatrics now mandated, I'm sure California will probably go full in on, you know, COVID vaccine for infants, that's going to turn people that understand science are aware that there's real problems with that vaccine.

all these authoritarian measures, how it's been handled. So, I mean, is there a sense that there's an allergy now forming even inside the Democratic Party for this level of authoritarianism in California? Yeah, absolutely. There are Democrats that are sympathetic to what has already happened with SB 277, SB276, and also during COVID, it woke a lot of Democrats up as well to how far in extreme the laws and mandates went. And so a lot of these legislators, they are sympathetic. Democrats are sympathetic.

They're more than just the senator who's ready to champion this cause for medical freedom for liberty. And, yeah, there's going to be pushback for sure. But the fact that we have a Democrat shows everybody how much we're winning on these issues. People woke up in every industry during the time of COVID, obviously, over the past several years. And that includes Democrat legislators who now see that there's been. so much harm done to families and doctors and children don't have access to education the same way every child should. So it is, I mean, really, it's a phenomenal thing what's happening. I think that the polls out there, there's surveys that have been done. There's one recently and just in January

that shows a shift in public opinion on this issue and it's impacting these legislators as well. there's been an increase of the public opinion showing that medical exemptions should be allowed for parents for any kind of medical reason. You see an increase on religious exemptions, philosophical exemptions, and when we see a public shift in that, it's doubling. There's a, there's, I would say, the statistics are people are strongly supporting it doubled to what they were in 2019. Wow, wow. That is impacting these legislators to know this, to see this. And right now, that's exactly what Perks doing is we're working with these legislators. We're, you know, bringing coalitions together of organizations and people so that we can get this across the finish line.

And I think now is the time. How do we help you out doing it, Amy? How do people get in touch with you and figure out how they can get involved? Because this is the time. I think the American Academy of Pediatrics just dealt the death blow to, you know, this sort of doctors position here, which is going to get parents a lot of, you know, wind at their backs now. I think California is just gone too far. So how do we get involved? So this is way people can get involved. They can essentially sign on to the letters that we're sending to the legislators right now to show that the people want this.

And I mean everybody, organizations, doctors, experts, any person can sign this. and we're asking everyone to sign us in support no matter where they live because we need to show the Democrat legislators, we have enough support to get this across the finish line. So all it takes is people signing up right now. That's what we need. We're going to organize people into groups to advocate and talk to their legislators. There's a lot of work to be done.

But honestly, you know, I'm very optimistic even about California, which is one of the worst states ever on these issues. Well, you better get to it, Amy, because I've got to say, I live here in Texas and everyone's painting their houses and getting them ready to sell like hotcakes as we see everyone racing out of California looking for freedom of Texas. So you better get on it. My understanding is you've even looked at a federal level. Did you put forward a potential letter to Donald Trump about executive order? Tell me a little bit about this real quick.

Yes, yes. Absolutely. The bottom line is we could win on these issues 100%, even in California nationwide. So here's what we've also done. There are three ways that we can win on this issue. One is in the courts, which I can. You guys are phenomenal in the legal work that you do and the wins that you have. But one is we can win in the courts on medical exemptions, religious liberty, exactly on this issue.

Two, legislative, which is why we're working with these senators to bring back personal belief exemptions, all these things that we just talked about. And three, the other area that we can win on this is through executive orders at the executive branch level. So with that in mind, the other thing that we've done is we have sent, we've prepared a letter to go to President Trump. And that letter is addressing the fact that religious liberty has been removed and taken away from, as you know, multiple states, the five big states with New York, Connecticut, Maine, California, West Virginia. And so we're sending this letter to President Trump. We already have hundreds of people that have signed the letter. Again, organizations can sign. Anybody can sign.

And the amazing thing about this, too, is we're asking President Trump not to impede on state rights because you can't do that. But what we're asking him to do is to draft and sign an executive order that will restore religious liberty by defunding any educational institution or state that is violating the First Amendment. So, you know, schools already have funding that comes from the federal government. So why not ask the federal government through President Trump to cut that funding if schools are violating the First Amendment rights of families, which they are? So that's exactly what we're doing. We have a lot of support growing. It's going in front of this letter is going in front of top advisors to the president, two specifically. And, you know, from the faith leader support, I want to say this too.

We have built a coalition with the Korean pastors, with Hispanic pastors. And it's not just a few. It's thousands of faith leaders want this liberty protected. And obviously, as faith leaders, they're going out there and speaking on behalf of what religious liberty is, but we're bringing them together to sign this executive order. And again, anybody can sign an executive order. We really, really want faith leaders, especially to join in organizations. But the point is we've got to show through the people, through the voice of the people, that

we're the ones in charge. We're the ones that demand our rights. If our rights have been taken away, we're the ones, and we're the only ones that can get it back. So that's exactly what we're doing, Del. Fantastic, Amy, you're a warrior. I love that you're out there. Perk is doing such great work. Get involved with Perk. You can go to perk-dashgroup.com and see all the great work that they're doing over there. Amy, thanks for taking the time and giving us a deeper look inside of the insanity going on in California. It's really nice to hear because on the outside it looks terrible. but it does sound like there's a little warm canfire happening on the inside and maybe some good will come out of it. Amy, thanks for taking the time today.

Thank you, Dell. Thank you so much. All right, take care.