AMAC Exclusive – By Shane Harris
![](https://static-asset.amac.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/02115611/biden-parental-rights.png)
After a historic year for parental rights legislation in 2022, a slew of similar bills are gaining steam in state legislatures across the country this year. But in Washington, President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats are stymieing progress on a federal parental rights bill – something which could be a major liability as the 2024 campaign cycle inches closer.
In March, House Republicans passed a landmark parental bill of rights that enshrines many of the principles found in popular state-level bills throughout the country and builds on a slate of policies first proposed by former President Donald Trump during his first term. A fact sheet on the bill released by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce affirms that “parents have a God-given right to make decisions for their children” and pledges to “make clear to parents what their rights are and clear to schools what their duties to parents are.”
Those duties include offering parents the opportunity to speak at school board meetings, making all curricula, budgets, and spending public, notifying parents of any violent activity at school, keeping student data private, and obtaining parental consent before performing any medical treatment.
In response, House Democrats introduced a resolution that makes clear the stark differences between the two parties on the issue. Despite calling the resolution a “counter-measure” to Republicans’ bill, Democrats titled it a “Bill of Rights for Students and Parents,” saying that it would advance an “inclusive, aspirational, and affirmative vision for public education.”
The Democrat resolution is conspicuously lacking in specifics, and is primarily comprised of vague overtures to left-wing talking points like “inclusivity” and “equity.” Instead of advancing any policy changes, the resolution merely affirms that the House of Representatives believes certain things about education; in other words, it preserves the status quo.
With a Republican majority in the House, Democrats’ resolution stands virtually no chance of passage. However, Democrats in the Senate appear equally determined to block the Republican bill that passed last month, and President Biden has said that he opposes the bill.
It thus appears as if progress on parental rights at the federal level will likely remain mired in partisan gridlock for at least the remainder of this Congress. Nonetheless, passage of a substantive and sweeping parents’ bill of rights through the House is still a notable achievement and sends a clear message to voters about where the Republican Party stands on the issue.
At the state level, legislators in 26 states introduced a total of 85 parental rights bills in 2022 according to FutureEd, a nonprofit organization that tracks education issues. Of those, six were signed into law.
Perhaps the most notable was Florida’s HB 1557, titled the “Parental Rights in Education Act,” but which Democrats and the mainstream media dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay Bill.” Despite the inflammatory moniker, however, the legislation merely prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-3 – topics Republicans argued that parents, not teachers, should introduce to children.
Biden called the law “hateful” when asked about it last year, and it touched off an ongoing battle between Florida Republicans and Disney, which has leaned heavily into left-wing social politics in recent years.
Last week, the Florida State Board of Education approved a request from Governor Ron DeSantis to expand the bill to grades 4-12, sparking more outrage from the left. However, polling from last year found that 61% of registered voters supported the language in the original bill, suggesting that DeSantis’s move might be more popular than Democrats hope.
A legislative push for a parental bill of rights is also underway in New Hampshire, where supporters of legislation that would require schools to ensure curriculum transparency and keep parents informed about changes to their children’s self-proclaimed gender identity, gathered outside of the statehouse in Concord last week. Opponents of the legislation staged their own demonstration, but supporters of the bill “outnumbered liberal paid staffers nearly 2-to-1,” according to one source present.
The bill received a hearing before the House Education committee, and supporters are hopeful that it will pass into law with Republicans in control of the House, Senate, and governor’s mansion. A poll from February found that a large majority of New Hampshire voters support the provisions of the bill, including a majority of Democrats. A separate survey late last month found similar results.
Republicans in the Texas Senate passed a parental bill of rights of their own earlier this month, which Governor Greg Abbott has said he would sign into law upon passage by the Texas House of Representatives. In addition to establishing new guidelines on classroom discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity and mandating curriculum transparency, the Texas bill also expands school choice in the Lone Star State, empowering more families in failing schools to seek other options.
All of these developments will likely prove a useful campaign tool for the GOP heading into 2024, as vulnerable Democrats are sure to face questions on parental rights during their campaigns. With the right framing and outreach to voters, parents’ rights can be a winning issue for Republicans for years to come.
Shane Harris is a writer and political consultant from Southwest Ohio. You can follow him on Twitter @Shane_Harris_.
Dems WANT Your kids for Transgender & Indoc
WHY would you want the Government telling YOU how you can raise YOUR child??? Were they the ones that went through 9 months of pregnancy, birthing, and feeding and loving your baby??? Then when in hades would you want them teaching things to your child they have NO business doing??? All this transgenderism is making “children” sterile, any parent that thinks this is fine is nuts, there are no other words for this, NONE. Your’e being replaced by millions of foreigners that don’t believe in that happy horse pucky, but will vote for the Democrats because they think they will grant them our citizenship.
I don’t know when my Democratic elected officials in the State and Federal Governments lost their morals and the difference between right and wrong and why people keep voting for them.
Parents grandparents awake. The democrats are about to make the government parents and grandparents over your children and grand children. And Brandon is the head supporter.
Fight if you want to raise your children. The government will make sex slaves out of them.
And also a way to reduce the population.
You think mutilating surgery is big business now. If parental rights are taken away it will be huge. They have been sterilizing children in India for years and called them polio shots. What did the COVID vaccin do? It is all connected. That anyone could or would vote for Brandon and his regime is beyond me. And they think they can win this, for they know their brainwashing and manipulation has worked.
WAKE UP YOUR CHILDREN WILL THANK YOU!!!!!
I love this article. I’m so glad our parents bill passes in Texas, last I heard, it was failing.
Now we need a new law that says parents have the right to raise their own kids? That’s just plain STUPID! Please God save us from this demonic administration. May they all go to Common Sense Reeducation Camp until they are fit to re-enter society! There they will have Woke washed out of their mouths with a bar of soap and other old fashioned remedies that were used by those who made our nation great.
Lest we forget, when scotus ruled against ny gun laws, demon party reaction was to flout the ruling. States can pass all the parental rights bills they want, but demon party officials can ignore them. Not trying to be a downer but reforming the teachers unions is no longer possible. Even that would only be a partial step. The colleges of so called education would also have to be reformed. While thats a worthy goal it does nothing for kids alive today. The only viable solution is private schools or home schooling. I believe its even worth considering taking on the teaching ourselves as gparents if our kids cant. Or funding one of the plug in home schooling options.
That a parent must fight the state over the parental rights is beyond nightmare or absurd Kafka and Orwell make room for Biden and co
The idea that a parent’s bill is necessary or whatever it’s called at the state or federal level, is insane. Basically, not too many years ago the rights of parents to decide what’s best for their children was a given. There was no thought or argument about who was responsible for their children. It was naturally their parents or guardians. Now suddenly it’s necessary to put this into legislation to be voted on and passed. Don’t get me wrong; I’m 100% for the parent’s rights legislation. What I’m saying is, what happened to our society for this to be a question at all? Only the lunatic fringe would have questioned this time and God-honored concept in the past. Now suddenly in 2023, it’s something the Democrats are questioning? Most of us know It’s now time for the very old, disgusting, insane, and moribund Democratic Party to just fade away and disappear. Soon, our society will demand it.
We need to never lose sight of the power of prayer – no matter what your beliefs are, there is only One God and HE absolutely loves the children of HIS creation There will be judgment to pay for all of the abortions, and now add to that all of the mutalations being done, and the weaponization of the baby shots, our population will decrease until even Klaus Schwab will weep about the deaths of the children, and he will find no sympathy.
The best situation for all concerned would be for the Dems to just publicly keep up their opposition to parental rights at their every gathering and rally, so no one can be confused or misled about their true sensibilities (or lack thereof) or intentions. Children are not property of the state, nor of the political parties who would have it so.
At this point-how an individual can vote for Dims and enter the house of The Heavenly Father is just unimaginable!
It’s time to start slapping people around. These SOBs sound just like the Soviets which they can’t be until they take all of our guns. They should be reminded of the Declaration of Independence, especially the second paragraph which enumerates abuses and usurpations as well as the remedy.
Democrats and the Teacher’s Union are taking advantage of the Dopey president Biden, so the parents suffer while students become indoctrinated with CRT and other dumb crap! Students are there to learn! By The Way, Obama had no problem with CRT, stick it in your BIG mouth WEINGARTEN, this has got to STOP. Obama’s been silent lately, you only see him on campaigns for Democrats with his smile and Big mouth along with OPRAH that came out and supported John Fetterman!!!
Our rights and freedom come from God, not government.
what is happening is the same thing that has happened in Germany, Russia, Korea, China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Venezuela, etcetera in the years of post WWII, which is socialism, I:E communism. We as a free country have had it good and have allowed ourselves to be unvigilant and lazy.when it comes to our duty about political matters and those we place in power, such that we have been ambushed by the criminal element of this nation. Believe it or not we are in the hands of a pack of criminals who are willing to sell this nation out for thier own gain. Whether we like it or not we are to blame. Nothing in this life is beyond critique. So to critique is to improve and clean up our country. Live and let live is a false philosophy.
I am sure that the Democrats are more than willing to give up the care and rearing of their children. lol I guess then you don’t have to be responsible for the way they turn out. Absolve all responsibility and accountability or maybe the Democrats don’t have kids. I guess it works for them because at the end of the day they don’t care where their kids are, whom they are with, what they are doing (so long as they don’t do it at home). I love my children and grandchildren and I thank God that He has given me the ability to raise my children in a God-pleasing way.
To see the past examples of Germany, Russia, China, and all those involved in socialism and their failure, what makes the Democrats can do it better. I know they can’t without the guidance and help form God!
It’s almost impossible to indoctrinate the children if their parents are involved in their children’s education.
Adolph Hitler opined: “Give me your children for 8 hours a day and they’re mine forever.”
Sadly it’s taken years for so many parents to wake up to the deliberate indoctrination that’s been the “school” system for several years. Twisted “history”, agenda’s…some down right disgusting. Sad so many parents can’t find the time to home school their kids. There are great, and historically accurate sources to be gotten for teaching. A very dear friend, a single mom, worked a long day at a correctional facility and still home schooled her girls in the evening. It can be done, you just have to want to do it. As for colleges there are also some NON-federally funded colleges that have great courses on history, government etc. Hillsdale College and Patrick Henry College are just two of them.
Every body read the book. Naked Communists
Families are waking up and fleeing government run schools.
Atlas Shrugged used to be a work of fiction. Now its like reading todays newspaper.
Very good , important article Shane, it points up something fundamental in the respect for truth that some have , and others lack. I am referring to the Parental Bill of Rights, passed by House Republicans in March that is specific in what parents should have in order to protect their God given rights concerning their children and what responsibility schools have to the children. Whereas the Democrats resolution as you indicated is vague, and refers to left wing language like equity and inclusivity. Let’s hope Truth will win , in fact , let’s do more than hope truth will win , let’s use everything possible politically to see that truth scores a victory in this issue. With this article you did a great deal to help make it possible, Well Done ! Victory for Truth defends Liberty . Let Liberty be the watchword. This is the United States of America and respect for truth, honor and liberty need to be part of the foundation for this country.
which parents, the right only wants right wing parents to have rights, not those on the left, left center, center, or even right center
the right used to be for freedom but now the right is worse than the left, which is still awful, when it comes to freedom, reagan was number one when it came to freedom