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Coming Soon to Your State
Only the
Parental Rights Amendment can protect parents from encroachment by the
federal courts or through the adoption of international law. But that
doesn’t mean we can’t find other ways to protect parental rights.
Beginning in the near future, ParentalRights.org will begin championing parental rights legislation in the several states.
While this legislation still will not protect parents against an
international treaty, or against the shifting ideologies of the U.S.
Supreme Court, it will nevertheless clarify and strengthen legal
protections for parents’ rights in each individual state.
A prime example of the benefits to this approach is the
Stieler case currently being appealed in Michigan. You may recall that
8-year-old Jacob Stieler’s Ewing’s sarcoma (cancer) was in full
remission, but the doctors wanted to subject him to additional rounds of
chemotherapy nonetheless. His parents objected out of concern for what
the drugs could do to their son’s developing body. When even the local
department of child welfare declined to side with them, the doctors went
instead to the state department, which filed suite against Jacob’s
parents.
The defense in that case, which in the first trial succeeded
in protecting the right of the parents to make medical decisions for
their son, based their argument on a simple Michigan statute which
states in part, “It is the natural, fundamental right of parents and
legal guardians to determine and direct the care, teaching, and
education of their children.” Because the Stielers are being challenged
by Michigan agencies operating under Michigan law, this section is
sufficient to protect the parents in this case.
So why not introduce similar protection in every state in the country?
In Missouri and Tennessee, efforts to introduce parental
rights legislation are already underway (though in the earliest stages
of the process). We hope that by the 2013 legislative session a
significant number of states will join the list as well.
The language we would propose will not be the same for every
state. A number of states have already passed findings or declarations
favoring parental rights, which lack force of law because they were not
passed as statutes. In those states, our aim will simply be to give
legal effect to the same language the legislature has already adopted in
the past.
For those states with no such language, we will be seeking
lawmakers to introduce the following as a matter of state law:
The liberty of parents to direct the education, upbringing, and care of their child is a fundamental right.
Neither the State nor any agency thereof shall infringe upon
this right without demonstrating that its governmental interest as
applied to the person is of the highest order and not otherwise served.
Action Items
New efforts bring new expenses, and your generous donation would be greatly appreciated. We simply cannot take the necessary steps to protect parental rights without your support.
We also need strong organizers to serve as state leaders in those states
that don’t yet have one. These leaders coordinate the efforts of
activists in your state, in order to grow local-level support and
champion efforts in your legislature.
We also need volunteers who can talk with state lawmakers to get these statutes introduced. Sometimes these volunteers will be the state leaders, but the two don’t necessarily have to be the same person.
Finally, and most immediately, we need to build our base of support in every state. If every person on our mailing list could enlist just 3 new supporters this week, we would suddenly be a half-million strong!
In our national campaign, we might survive having a few areas
where support is limited, but when it comes to these state-level
efforts, we have to gain the people where the action is – and that means
right where you live!
So please take a moment this week to consciously, actively
pursue 3 more friends who will support the Parental Rights Amendment.
Our mission enjoys the acknowledged support of 93.6% of Americans
according to a Zogby poll, but so many simply don’t know about it!
Encourage your friends to sign up at parentalrights.org/petition.
Together we can protect our children by protecting parents’
rights not only in the Constitution, but in your state as well.
Sincerely,
Michael Ramey
Director of Communications & Research |
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