'You Are the Expert On Your Child': House Members Introduce Amendment to Protect Parental Rights

Members of Congress have introduced a constitutional amendment that would protect a parent's right to "direct the upbringing, education, and care of their children."

U.S. Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ) submitted the Parental Rights Amendment this week written to establish parenting a child as a "fundamental right."

"Parental rights are under attack across our nation," Lesko said.

The joint resolution, H.J. Res. 36, would give parents a right to direct the education of their child, which includes the right "to choose, as an alternative to public education, private, religious, or home schools, and the right to make reasonable choices within public schools for one's child", and the government cannot "infringe" on that right. 

"Sadly, as parents have stood before local school boards and state legislatures across the country to claim that right, they've been met by government officials who declare themselves the ultimate determiners of what's best for children," said Emilie Kao, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) senior counsel and vice president of Advocacy Strategy.

"This includes growing instances of schools actively hiding controversial curricula and critical information about children's mental and physical health from parents," she added.

The ADF and the Parental Rights Foundation are a part of a coalition of organizations, parents, and leaders backing the legislation.  

 "The Supreme Court has recognized parental rights for a century, but parental rights are just too important to be left to Supreme Court precedent alone. This Amendment will enshrine these traditional rights in the black-and-white of the Constitution, preserving that parental role for generations to come," said Will Estrada, president of ParentalRights.org and the Parental Rights Foundation.

As CBN News has reported, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a bill recently that would allow minors to travel to the state and receive transgender medical treatment without their parent's knowledge or permission.

Earlier this year, a California court essentially ended the parental relationship between a father and son, giving the dad no say in stopping a scheduled medical transition for the boy, but, instead, forcing him to pay more than $200,000 for the procedure.

In Michigan, children could be able to obtain sterilizing drugs without their parents permission under a new proposal set to be voted on In November, according to The Federalist. 

"Passage of Prop 3 will also give boys a constitutional right to be castrated and girls the right under Michigan's constitution to be sterilized by way of a hysterectomy or the removal of their ovaries — all without their parents' consent," wrote Margot Cleveland.

Michigan lawmakers are pushing back introducing a bill to classify transgender procedures and surgeries on minors as first-degree child abuse.

Parental rights advocates say it is high time to stop pitting the state against parents. 

"The Supreme Court in 1923 said 'the child is not the mere creature of the State,' but many of today's bureaucrats have lost sight of that," said Jim Mason, chairman of the board for the Parental Rights Foundation and ParentalRights.org. "This Amendment will permanently codify that precedent and restore a proper respect for the vital parent-child bond in America."

The Parental Rights Foundation is calling on parents to support the legislation and contact their local representative.

"Many government actors and agencies today are working overtime to substitute a parent's decisions with the government worker's own view of what is best for a given child," a statement from the group said. "From schools to hospitals to child welfare investigators, 'experts' think they know what's best for your child better than you do."

"Mom or Dad, you are the expert on your child," it continued. "Parental rights must be established beyond debate in the black and white of the text of the U.S. Constitution."

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