Newsom Signs AB 495 Against Parental Rights

California Governor Gavin Newsom on October 12 signed Assembly Bill 495 into law.

This is the bill that allows any adult to sign an affidavit and take charge of major life decisions of a minor child without the knowledge or consent of the parent.

Under the law, the person must sign a sworn “Caregiver’s Authorization Affidavit” that they are a close relative before they can make decisions like enrolling or disenrolling a child from school. To make a medical decision, they must also attest that they tried to contact the parents first, but were unable to do so.

The kicker, though, is that the law specifically says that the school or hospital administrator, doctor, or other person receiving such an affidavit does not have to check on its validity in any way. They do not have to try to contact the parent, and they need not question the authority of the document.

And that makes the whole situation ripe for abuse, allowing bad actors to take control of minor children with the simple signing of a paper. No one is going to check anything until it is too late.

As we outlined in an earlier alert here, and as I talked with California Family Council Vice president Greg Burt on our podcast here, this robs parents of the right to make decisions regarding the upbringing, education, and care of their children by transferring that power, with very few safeguards, to some other adult. These rights, this power, is not the State’s to give away.

And it is the children who will ultimately pay the price.

Now that the bill is signed into law, the Parental Rights Foundation and our allies will be watching for cases where parental rights are violated so that we can push back on this law in court. Its unconstitutional removal of parental rights is ripe for a challenge, and we will happily do all we can to bring it one.

If you or someone you know sees their rights negatively affected by this law, please let us know right away. While we are not a law firm and don’t have lawyers on staff, we are well connected with allies who would love to take up this charge to protect California families.

Thank you for standing with us to protect children by empowering parents, even in California, where parental rights don’t seem very popular with the government.