Minnesota lawmakers on Thursday advanced legislation that would establish the state as a ‘trans refuge’ for children who are seeking transgender medical procedures but who may be denied ‘gender-affirming care’ in other states.

In a party-line 68-62 vote, the Minnesota House passed HF 146, which had been introduced by Rep. Leigh Finke of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. Finke is the state’s first transgender lawmaker. 

Democrats supporting the bill say the legislation will protect transgender people, their families and healthcare providers from facing legal repercussions for traveling to Minnesota to obtain cross-sex hormone prescriptions or sex-change procedures. Similar legislation has been introduced in California and other states with Democratic-controlled legislatures, which seek to counter Republican states that have sought to ban transgender procedures for minors. 

‘Gender-affirming care is lifesaving health care,’ Finke told reporters ahead of debate on the bill. ‘Withholding or delaying gender-affirming care can have a dramatic impact on the mental health of any individual who needs it. Rates of depression, suicide, substance abuse are dramatically higher in transgender and gender-expansive individuals who lack access to care.’

HF146 would prevent law enforcement from removing a child from parental custody in accordance with an order from outside Minnesota. 

This legislation is meant to ensure that children undergoing gender transition procedures allowed under Minnesota law cannot be governed by child protection laws of other states. It’s a direct response to neighboring South Dakota, where Republican Gov. Kristi Noem signed a law banning puberty blockers, cross-sex hormone treatments, and sex-change operations for transgender individuals under the age of 18. 

Advocates for transgender people say that denying ‘gender-affirming care’ to trans youth inflicts harm on a marginalized group that is already at a higher risk of suicide. 

‘The protections outlined in HF 146 are vital for health care providers, who can continue to provide gender-affirming health care to their patients consistent with best practices, without fear of interference or punishment from other states,’ said Jess Braverman, Legal Director for Gender Justice. ‘Parents are being forced to make an impossible decision, between staying in their homes and risking their child’s health and safety, or uprooting their lives and relocating, often at great personal cost. We can do our part to help by making it clear that if families move to Minnesota, they and their children will be protected under the law.’ 

However, conservative groups and family law attorneys warn that the legislation is written in such a way as to open the door for Minnesota parents to lose custody of their children if they refuse to provide them with transgender care. 

‘The most insidious aspect of this bill is the language that adds children who are being denied ‘gender-affirming care’ (defined as everything from therapy to hormone blockers, to transition surgery) to what amounts to the definition for a child ‘in need of protection or services’ in Minnesota, allowing the courts to take ‘emergency custody’ of the child,’ said Bob Roby, a licensed attorney in Minnesota with more than 30 years experience in family and juvenile court.  

Roby has studied HF 146 extensively in preparation to testify before legislative committees. He said that the way the bill is written, categorizing a child being denied transgender care alongside abuse, turns laws meant to protect children on their head. 

‘This kind of court power has a long-standing precedent in Minnesota for keeping children safe. When a child is at risk of being harmed by a parent or custodian, the State has immediate authority to remove and protect the child from harm. Without this, there would be no way to protect children in those situations,’ Roby told Fox News Digital in an email. ‘To add children who are being denied ‘gender affirming care’ to the definition of children in need of this kind of drastic emergency action is obviously unwarranted.’

Roby observed that courts do not recognize parental rights or any other right where a child is being abused. He accused the state legislature of ‘criminal negligence’ for failing to consider the impact of HF 146. 

Renee Carlson, General Counsel of True North Legal, a legal initiative of Minnesota Family Council, warned that the bill as written will ‘create confusion and increased litigation for the courts, while stripping parents of their fundamental rights, disregarding informed consent, and encouraging young children on a dangerous path to serious lifelong biological and medical consequences.’

Transgender issues are highly controversial, with strong feelings on both sides. Hundreds of supporters and opponents of the legislation protested at the state Capitol building as lawmakers debated the bill. Black signs with white text said, ‘Protect Kids’ as dozens yelled, ‘Vote no!’ Others shouted back, ‘Vote yes!’ and held signs with colors from the trans flag — baby blue and pink — that read, ‘You belong here.’

Whether gender-affirming care is right for minors has become a major flash point in the culture wars across the country. The unicameral Nebraska Legislature gave preliminary approval earlier Thursday to a ban on gender-affirming care for minors. Georgia’s governor, Republican Brian Kemp, signed a ban Thursday. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, another Republican, did so Wednesday. The Missouri Senate gave preliminary approval to a ban Tuesday. Bans were enacted earlier in South Dakota, Utah and Mississippi.

The ‘trans refuge’ bill, which seeks to counter those efforts, now heads to the Minnesota state Senate, where Democrats hold a one-seat majority. A similar bill is awaiting further action there after receiving a hearing last month. The chief Senate author, Sen. Erin Maye Quade, of Apple Valley, told the Associated Press that she expects a floor vote there soon.

The Associated Press and Fox News’ Timothy Nerozzi contributed to this report.

Former Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo criticized Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg over his focus on potentially prosecuting former President Donald Trump and suggested the move is politically motivated.

‘I don’t understand why Bragg is putting such emphasis on this case,’ the former governor told WABC Radio on Friday night. 

‘A person breaks the law I get it, but on the state side this is a misdemeanor case. It’s really a federal case because he needs it to be a campaign finance fraud case which is a federal case and that’s what Bragg is going to have to do to get a felony out of this.’

Cuomo said that the public is generally ‘cynical’ and ‘when they see prosecutors bringing these political cases’ it just ‘affirms everybody’s cynicism.’

‘I think it’s all politics and that’s what I think the people of this country are saying,’ Cuomo continued. ‘It just feeds that anger and that cynicism and the partisanship. It’s a coincidence that Bragg goes after Trump and Tish James goes after Trump and Georgia goes after Trump? That’s all a coincidence? I think it feeds the cynicism and that’s the cancer in our body politic right now.’

Despite the comments about Bragg’s motivation, Cuomo says he does believe an indictment will be handed down next week while bringing up the old adage that district attorneys can ‘indict a ham sandwich’ if they want to.

‘I’m sure they’ll get an indictment,’ Cuomo said.

Bragg has been widely criticized by Republicans for attempting to indict Trump in connection with the alleged ‘hush money’ payments to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016 that many legal experts have concluded is a weak and politically motivated case.

Top House Republicans have demanded in the form of a letter that Bragg testify to Congress about the indictment and turn over documents related to the case warning that the indictment could ‘erode confidence in the evenhanded application of justice and unalterably interfere in the court of the 2024 presidential election.’

Bragg’s office responded defiantly to that letter saying that ‘we will not be intimidated by attempts to undermine the justice process nor will we let baseless accusations deter us from fairly applying the law.’

Bragg sent a letter to the Republicans saying that their inquiry was ‘an unlawful incursion into New York’s sovereignty.’

Republicans pushed back on that letter with another letter on Saturday arguing that their actions have a legislative purpose and noting that Bragg did not deny their accusations that the case is politically motivated.

Bragg’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

Rep. Nancy Pelosi this week publicly called out San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone after he barred her from communion in the churches he oversees.

‘I have a problem with my archbishop – well, the archbishop of the city that I represent – but I figure that’s his problem, not mine,’ the former speaker of the house said in an interview with Georgetown University’s Center on Faith and Justice in Washington, D.C., noting that she had five children in six years. 

Pelosi, 82, said she asks congress members who are pro-life if they have had as many kids in the span of six years. ‘You want to talk about this subject, OK? We go right to the one issue, because everything else, we are pretty much in sync when it comes to the social compact of the Catholic bishops and the rest. But they are willing to abandon the bulk of it because of one thing and that’s the fight that we have.’ 

In a letter published last May, Cordileone wrote that Pelosi should not present herself at Mass and said that priests would not allow her to receive communion if she did attend. 

‘I am hereby notifying you that you are not to present yourself for Holy Communion and, should you do so, you are not to be admitted to Holy Communion, until such time as you publicly repudiate your advocacy for the legitimacy of abortion and confess and receive absolution of this grave sin in the sacrament of Penance,’ Cordileone wrote in the letter. 

SUPPORT AMOUNTS AMONG US BISHOPS BARRING PELOSI FROM RECEIVING COMMUNION 

The Archbishop added that he had previously written to Pelosi on April 7, and stated that ‘should you not publicly repudiate your advocacy for abortion ‘rights’ or else refrain from referring to your Catholic faith in public and receiving Holy Communion, I would have no choice but to make a declaration, in keeping with canon 915, that you are not to be admitted to Holy Communion.’ 

Pelosi did not comply with these requests, according to Cordileone’s May letter. 

Last summer, Pelosi did receive communion at the Vatican in a mass marking the feasts of St. Peter and St. Paul presided over by Pope Francis. 

Pelosi called the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade last year an ‘insult’ to women. 

‘It’s a slap in the face to women about using their own judgment to make their own decisions about their reproductive freedom,’ she said at the time, adding that it would be ‘on the ballot’ in the 2022 midterms.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Pelosi and the archbishop for comment. 

Fox News’ Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report. 

Former Vice President Mike Pence appeared to take a jab at President Biden over a congressional investigation into his son Hunter Biden’s business dealings in China and Ukraine.

‘The American people deserve to know what was going on here. They deserve to hold this president and this administration accountable,’ Pence said in an interview Friday on Fox Business’ ‘Mornings with Maria.’

Pence was asked by host Maria Bartiromo about an investigation by the House Republican majority into the younger Biden’s business connections with companies in China and Ukraine and whether those ties influenced decisions by Joe Biden during his years as vice president in President Barack Obama’s administration or during his current tenure in the White House.

The younger Biden served on the board of the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holdings from 2014 to 2019 and also worked on investments with Chinese companies. Republicans zeroed in on those dealings as Joe Biden successfully ran for the White House in 2020.

And the scrutiny of Hunter Biden has intensified since the GOP won back the House majority in November’s midterm elections. Democrats repeatedly charge that the Republican-led investigation is a political ploy to weaken the president.

Pence, who is likely to launch a White House run in the coming weeks or months, appeared to take a shot at Biden, saying, ‘I can’t really relate. I mean, when I was vice president, my son wasn’t sitting on the board of foreign corporations. He was sitting in the cockpit of a fighter jet, serving the United States in the Marine Corps.’

The former vice president regularly mentions his son, Michael, as well as his son-in-law who serves in the Navy in speeches and interviews.

Hunter Biden served in the U.S. Navy Reserve but was discharged shortly after his commissioning due to a failed drug test. Biden’s struggles with drug addiction have been well documented.

Former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, the president’s son who died from a form of brain cancer in 2015, was a major in the Delaware Army National Guard who served in the Iraq War.

President Biden on Friday officially announced a new deal with Canada for both countries to be able to turn back illegal migrants at their shared border — as well as a new global effort to combat fentanyl smuggling.

Fox News Digital previously reported that the agreement means that migrants who attempt to cross illegally between ports of entry into either country will be returned, which officials anticipate will deter irregular migration at the U.S.-Canada border. It updates a 2004 Safe Third County Agreement, which did not deal with illegal immigration.

Additionally, Canada is committing to accept an additional 15,000 migrants over the next year from the Western Hemisphere, as part of its commitments made under the Los Angeles Declaration last year — which committed nations to a regional response to the migration crisis. 

Such a move would be accepted to lessen the pressure facing the U.S. southern border, which has faced a historic migrant surge since 2021.

In a speech to the Canadian Parliament on Friday, Biden said he applauds Canada’s commitment to take 15,000 migrants as part of the regional response to the crisis.

‘At the same time, the United States and Canada will work together to discourage unlawful border crossings and fully implement the updated Safe Third Country agreement,’ he said. ‘Finally, as we advance our shared prosperity and security must never lose sight of our shared values, because our values are the linchpin holding everything else together. Welcoming refugees and seeking asylum seekers is a part of who Canadians and Americans are.’

The agreement marks a diplomatic victory for President Biden, who had championed a regional approach to the crisis when he unveiled the Los Angeles Declaration at the Summit of the Americas last year along with other leaders.

‘We know that safe, orderly and legal migration is good for all our economies,’ he said. ‘But we need to halt the dangerous and unlawful ways people are migrating and the dangerous ways. Unlawful migration is not acceptable, and we’ll secure our borders, including through innovative, coordinated actions with our regional partners.’ 

The move comes amid an increase in migrant encounters at the northern border which, while not as substantial as the historic surge being seen at the southern border, has left some authorities overwhelmed, with one sector reporting an 846% increase. Fox News recently reported that Border Patrol was appealing for volunteers to deal with the surge, which was attributed to ‘Mexican migrants with no legal documents.’

There were over 109,000 migrant encounters at the northern border in FY 2022, up from 27,000 in FY 2021. The border, which is 5,525 miles, only has 115 ports of entry. 

It comes after the administration announced a new rule last month that when implemented will bar illegal migrants at the southern border from claiming asylum if they have entered through another country without claiming asylum there first.

Meanwhile, the U.S. and Canada renewed their commitments to thwarting the trafficking of deadly drugs like fentanyl — which is primarily trafficked from Mexico into the U.S. and is responsible  for over 70,000 U.S. deaths a year.

In his remarks, Biden called fentanyl, which is 50-100 times more potent than morphine and can be fatal in small doses, a ‘killer.’

‘And almost everyone knows someone who has been affected by this, lost a child or lost a friend. Canada and the United States are working closely with our partner Mexico to attack this problem at every stage and the precursor chemicals shipped from overseas to the powders to the pills to the traffickers moving into all of our countries.’

Biden said that the U.S. and Canada are announcing ‘a commitment to build a new global coalition of like-minded countries led by Canada and the United States to tackle this crisis.’

‘This is about public health,’ he said.

Parents cannot be required to pull their children from private schools in New York that fail to meet state-designated standards, a judge decided, striking down a key provision of rules recently passed to strengthen oversight of such schools, including those specializing in religious education.

The ruling in a state trial court in Albany came in response to a lawsuit brought by ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools, called yeshivas, and related advocacy groups over education rules enacted last fall. Under the rules, the state’s 1,800 private and religious schools must provide an education that is ‘substantially equivalent’ to that of a public school.

Opponents in the ultra-Orthodox community say the rules improperly target yeshivas, some of which focus intently on religious instruction with far less teaching in secular subjects such as English, math and science.

Judge Christina Ryba on Thursday rejected an argument that the state regulations were unconstitutional. But she said state officials overstepped their authority in setting penalties for schools that don’t adhere to them.

Specifically, she said education officials lack legal authority to make parents take their children out of schools that fall short of the requirements, and they don’t have the authority to order that those schools be closed.

Ryba said parents of those children could still receive required instruction in combination with sources, such as home schooling.

A co-plaintiff cheered the judge’s rejection of the ‘draconian penalties.’

‘In striking those provisions of the regulations, the Court agreed with parents and non-public schools across New York State who opposed these regulations,’ read a prepared statement from the group Parents for Educational and Religious Liberty in Schools.

The state Education Department said the decision validates its commitment to improving the educational experience for all students.

‘We remain committed to ensuring students who attend school in settings consistent with their religious and cultural beliefs and values receive the education to which they are legally entitled,’ read the prepared statement.

It was not clear if any aspects of the ruling would be appealed.

The Florida House of Representatives has passed a bill eliminating the requirement for an individual to obtain a permit in order to carry a concealed firearm in the state. 

The bill, referred to by supporters as a constitutional carry law, passed the Republican-controlled House with 76 yes votes and 32 no votes on Friday afternoon, Click Orlando reported.

House Bill 543 would allow lawful gun owners in the state to carry without asking the government for a permit and without paying a fee. Those who wish to still obtain a permit can do so if the bill becomes law. The bill would also not change who can and cannot carry a firearm.

‘The NRA would like to thank the Florida House for passing NRA-spearheaded constitutional carry,’ Art Thomm, the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) Florida state director, told Fox News Digital in a statement on Friday. ‘This vital legislation guarantees that law-abiding Floridians will not need government permission or pay any fees to protect themselves and their loved ones.

‘Lead sponsor Representative Chuck Brannan and Speaker Paul Renner played key roles and we thank them for their outstanding leadership throughout the process. The NRA, our millions of committed members, and Florida gun owners eagerly anticipate Florida joining the ranks as America’s twenty-sixth constitutional carry state.’

Brannan, the Republican sponsor of the bill, has referred to the measure as a ‘public safety’ bill.

‘This bill is a big step, a big step to help the average law-abiding citizen, to keep them from having to go through the hoops of getting a permit from the government to carry their weapon,’ said Brannan, Fox 13 Tampa reported. 

‘It is also not going to change who can and who cannot carry a gun. People that are prohibited now are still going to be prohibited.’ 

Constitutional carry laws, the NRA said, strengthen ‘the right to self-defense in Florida by recognizing the right of any law-abiding adult who is at least 21 years old and legally eligible to obtain a carry permit, to carry a handgun without first having to obtain government permission.’

Critics argue that easier access to concealed carry will lead to more gun violence.

‘America has seen a devastating increase in gun deaths every year and more mass shootings than days this year,’ Katie Hathaway of Moms Demand Action said during a public comment session earlier this month.

‘This legislation will not make us safer, it’s a threat to everyone’s right to feel safe from gun violence and not be shot.’

The bill will now head to the Senate where it is expected to pass and then be sent to the desk of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

DeSantis has previously signaled his support of a constitutional carry bill if it lands on his desk. His office hasn’t yet publicly commented on the bill.

There are currently 25 states that have constitutional carry or permitless carry laws on the books, meaning Florida could tip the U.S. into becoming a constitutional carry-majority nation.

Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.

Democratic House Speaker Ronald Mariano said Friday that the House won’t meet with state Auditor Diana DiZoglio about an audit DiZoglio has launched into the Legislature.

DiZoglio, a Democrat who served as both a state representative and senator, said she is forging ahead anyway, She has described the audit as the first such review in a century of the Legislature that she hopes will ‘increase transparency, accountability and equity in an area of state government that has been completely ignored.’

Mariano said in a letter to DiZoglio Friday that the House’s financial accounts are already public.

Any ‘performance assessment’ by DiZoglio of House actions including ‘active and pending legislation, committee appointments, legislative rules, and its policies and procedures’ would violate basic separation-of-powers principles, he said.

Any such assessment is the sole responsibility of the House, he said, adding that voters are the final decision-makers of the performance of elected officials.

‘Therefore, given that your attempt to conduct a performance audit of the House of Representatives exeeds your legal authority and is unconsitutional, your request to meet to begin such an audit is respectfully denied,’ he wrote.

DiZoglio said she is moving forward with her review.

‘I find it disappointing that the Speaker is fighting an audit of what is happening in the people’s house, where the people’s business is conducted, using the people’s money,’ she said in a written statement. ‘We are not asking for permission and will continue conducting our audit as planned to help increase transparency, accountability and equity for everyday families.’

DiZoglio had earlier said the audit is critical, given how much legislative work is conducted out of sight.

The 200-member Legislature is exempt from the state’s open meeting law. Democrats — who hold overwhelming majorities in both chambers — routinely hold closed-door caucuses to discuss legislation away from the ears of the press and public.

‘Historically, the Legislature has been a closed-door operation, where committee votes have been hidden from the general public, and legislation has been voted on in the dark of night,’ DiZoglio said when she announced the audit.

Democratic Senate President Karen Spilka has also cited the separation of powers between the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government.

Under Senate rules, the chamber undergoes an audit every fiscal year by a public accounting firm experienced in auditing governmental entities and makes that audit public, she said.

Senate business is also made public through journals, calendars and recordings of each session, Spilka said.

Both Democrats and Republicans in Connecticut are backing a proposal to move up the date of Connecticut’s presidential primary in hopes of giving the small state a bigger say in choosing presidential candidates.

The bill, which unanimously cleared a key committee on Friday, would move the date of the primary from the last Tuesday in April of each presidential election year to the first. The legislation now awaits further action in the House of Representatives.

In a moment of political comity, the chairpersons of the state Democratic and Republican parties recently appeared together to testify in favor of the legislation.

‘For too many presidential elections, Connecticut voters have been shortchanged in the primaries by being scheduled on the last Tuesday in April,’ Connecticut Democratic Party Chair Nancy DiNardo told legislators. She noted that presidential candidates in both parties have often been selected by the time Connecticut primary voters cast their ballots.

Benjamin Proto, chair of the Connecticut Republican Party, predicted that changing the primary date could encourage more voters to engage in the primary process and possibly encourage candidate visits. That, he said, would be an ‘economic boon’ to the state.

‘We know that when the candidates come to a state, they spend a lot of money; not only on their media buys, but also within our hospitality industry, on salaries, on staff,’ he said. ‘So there’s a tangential benefit to do this, to making us a competitive state that candidates want to come to.’

Connecticut, which leans Democratic, has seven electoral votes.

On the (last) first Tuesday in April of each year in which the President 4 of the United States is to be elected, each party shall conduct a primary 5 in each town if the names of two or more candidates are to be placed on 6 such party’s ballot in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

President Biden joked with Canada’s Conservative leader Friday, saying the United States ‘unfortunately’ believes that having differing political views is an act of loyalty. 

The remark came as Biden was escorted by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau into the House of Commons where he greeted dignitaries, senators, other party leaders and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. 

‘Pierre Poilievre, leader of His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition,’ Poilievre said to Biden as they shook hands. 

‘Loyal opposition?’ Biden asks.  

‘We believe that opposition is an act of loyalty in our system,’ Poilievre.

‘We do too, unfortunately,’ the president responded before moving on to meet the next person.

Some online criticized Biden, saying while the remark may have been a joke, it reflects poorly on him. 

Biden met with Trudeau on Thursday for the first of two days of discussions on several topics. The U.S. and Canada secured a deal to return illegal migrants crossing the northern border that was slated to be announced Friday.