Parental Rights Amendment Introduced in Congress

On Friday, September 19, Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL-15) introduced a resolution to Congress proposing the Parental Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. By Tuesday, the resolution had been assigned a number: House Joint Resolution (HJRes) 127.

At the time of introduction, the resolution had the support of six cosponsors: Reps. Sheri Biggs (R-SC-3), Ashley Hinson (R-IA-2), Mike Collins (R-GA-10), Addison McDowell (R-NC-6), Ben Cline (R-VA-6), and Greg Steube (R-FL-17).

Rep. Mike Haridopolis (R-FL-8) signed on as a cosponsor on Monday, September 22.

In the last Congress, Rep. Debbie Lesko’s HJRes 38 accumulated only eight cosponsors in the entire two-year term; HJRes 127 is already at seven cosponsors, and the bill isn’t even a week old. This inspires me to hope we can get this conversation moving again in the months ahead.

“For too long, unelected bureaucrats and activist judges have trampled on the role of parents, treating them as obstacles, instead of the primary protectors and decision-makers for their children,” Miller told The Daily Signal on Friday. “That must end.”

The Amendment, which has been championed by the Parental Rights Foundation and our parent organization, ParentalRights.org, since 2008, simply takes longstanding Supreme Court precedent and gives it an anchor in the text of the U.S. Constitution:

SECTION 1. The liberty of parents to direct the upbringing, education, and care of their children is a fundamental right.

SECTION 2. The parental rights to direct education 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.

SECTION 3. Neither the United States nor any State shall infringe these rights without demonstrating that its governmental interest as applied to the person is of the highest order and not otherwise served.

SECTION 4. The parental rights guaranteed by this article shall not be denied or abridged on account of disability.

In order to become part of the Constitution, the resolution must be approved by a two-thirds vote in each house of Congress, then ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures (meaning 38 states).

At this point, the biggest challenge is crossing the aisle to gain the support of Democrat lawmakers, which will be necessary to reach a two-thirds vote.

Several conservative organizations are on record as supporting the Amendment, including Alliance Defending Freedom, Concerned Women for America, Parents Defending Education, Moms for Liberty, and the Family Research Council.

Support from the left, however, has been harder to find.

Still, we know that parents on both sides of the aisle believe in parental rights and want to be left alone to raise their children according to the dictates of their own conscience. If we can further the discussion, therefore, I believe we will eventually see
support come from both sides of the aisle.

What You Can Do

We can best further the conversation by adding cosponsors to HJRes 127. The more we get, the more likely the Judiciary Committee is to put the Amendment on a subcommittee hearing schedule, where lawmakers on both sides can discuss the pros and cons, the reasons and concerns.

If your U.S. representative is not already listed above, you can help by reaching out and asking them to sign on as a cosponsor. You can find your lawmaker’s contact info through this link at Congress.gov.

Then, simply call or email and ask them to cosponsor the resolution. Your message should be in your own words, but can be as simple as this:

My name is ______ and I am a constituent of Representative _____. I wish to urge my congressman to sign on with Rep. Mary Miller to cosponsor HJRes 127, proposing the Parental Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. As a parent, I want the government at every level to respect my right to direct the upbringing and care of my child(ren), and this Amendment will see that those rights are protected. Thank you for your careful consideration of this common-sense Amendment.

Together, we can further the cause of parental rights in this 119th Congress. Thank you for making your voice heard and for taking a stand!