I left California and I'm never going back — here's why no parent should raise kids there
Last year, I left California to start my first full-time job elsewhere. At the time, I thought my move was temporary. Now, though, I’m sure: Aside from a miraculous piece of divine intervention, I’m not moving back.
Of course, I’m not the only one. Young professionals like me are fleeing the state in droves, driven by the hope of better jobs, more affordable housing and better family environments elsewhere.
For some reason, the prospect of paying over $2,000 each month to live in a 500-square-foot studio apartment for the rest of one’s life isn't alluring to many. That’s especially true for a state like California, where it has become increasingly hard to find a job, any job, even as a college grad. California now suffers the nation’s highest unemployment rate — meaning it has the highest percentage of people who are looking for work but can’t find it.
As someone California-born and raised, those facts alone didn't drive me to leave. I’m confident I could have found an in-state job and, as sad as it is to say, resigned myself to a lifetime of apartment living.
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So, if not the economy, what drove me to make my "temporary" move permanent? In part, the state’s absurd move under Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom to brand itself as Woke Central — but, more importantly, the horrific message it sends to kids.
As someone who wants a family one day, I can’t imagine raising kids in Newsom’s California.
At age 5, my child could begin receiving sex-ed instruction from her public school teacher.
In middle school, she would be required by law to take a pro-LGBTQ sex-ed class covering contraception, abortion, gender identity and other issues absent any religious discussion whatsoever. As a resource, she’d be encouraged to read "S.E.X.: The All-You-Need-to-Know Sexuality Guide to Get You Through Your Teens and Twenties," a book including graphic descriptions of anal sex and bondage.
At just 11 years old (or even younger), she could be secretly "gender transitioned" by her teachers without my knowledge (thanks to a 2024 law signed by Newsom).
In high school, she would be forced to take yet another sex ed class that, depending on her school, could be taught by Planned Parenthood itself.
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Of course, some of that could be avoided by either opting out or homeschooling (though each year, the state seems to make it even harder to do either).
What’s more problematic is what you can’t opt out of: the state-sponsored culture of death that pervades the atmosphere.
Newsom, like former Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris before him, seems to be crafting a presidential campaign centered on so-called "reproductive rights" — and he’s using California as his testing ground.
Described by Planned Parenthood affiliates as a "champion" for their cause, Newsom has dedicated himself to making California a sanctuary state not just for illegal aliens, but for child murder.
Newsom recently told Louisiana Republican Attorney General Liz Murrill to "go f--- yourself" when she attempted to extradite a California "doctor" who faces criminal charges for shipping deadly chemical abortion pills into Louisiana.
Last fall, Newsom announced $140 million in emergency funds for abortion facilities across the state to help keep them open following their loss of federal funding.
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And in January, state legislators announced they’d be handing abortion vendors another $90 million.
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While California does not require abortion reporting, estimates suggest that the state saw roughly 183,240 abortions in 2024 alone, with a full 31% of pregnancies — almost one in three — ending in abortion. That’s drastically higher than the nationwide abortion rate, which different sources place at between 17 and 25%.
A number that high, in which the lives of nearly one in three babies are intentionally ended by abortion, reflects a culture that devalues life and considers it disposable.
That same culture shows itself in California’s "assisted suicide" program. The state reports that 1,281 individuals received prescriptions for assisted suicide drugs in 2023, up from 293 in 2016, the first year of the program. The rate of other suicide is also up (though that’s true throughout the U.S.). Meanwhile, embryos — preborn children — created via IVF are being lost or destroyed all over the state even as Newsom allows an explosion of IVF tourism, buying babies and a U.S. footprint.
California’s woke agenda is bad, but in most cases, it can be avoided. What can’t be avoided is the state’s promotion of a culture that treats life as negotiable and disposable. That kind of environment is no place to raise a kid.