PRF Lawsuit Takes Positive First Step, Needs Help

The Parental Rights Foundation is in the fight of our lives for parental rights, and we need you with us to succeed!

On July 12, the Foundation filed suit in federal district court to halt a dangerous DC bill that would permit children as young as 11 to make a legally-binding decision regarding vaccinations, while keeping their parents—and possibly their primary care physician—completely in the dark.

We’ve written about this law and the danger it poses to children several times since last fall, when it was passed by the DC Council. Now we’re fighting it in court.

The Parental Rights Foundation doesn’t take cases very often. Our resources are severely limited and lawsuits are expensive.

But this case could be huge. It has the potential to set a crucial precedent at a time when laws are being passed all over the country that would remove parents from the primary role in guiding their minor children’s medical care and decisions.

Since it is in a federal court, the precedent it sets could be applied to other cases around the country.

That means this is not just for the four DC families who have filed suit with us.

This is for every teen in the country who relies on their parent(s) to know their family medical history and help them make wise and personally appropriate decisions. Historically, the courts have recognized that teens have a shared right with their parents to make those decisions as a family.

It is crucial that we preserve this historically respected view.

But, as I mentioned, lawsuits are expensive; we can’t do this alone. 

Breaking Good News: Injunction Timeline

Just in the last 24 hours we have received good news: the case has been assigned to a judge, and he and the city’s legal team have agreed to a schedule that will get a hearing and decision on the injunction part of our lawsuit by mid-August.

See, the lawsuit is in two parts. The main part claims the new law violates federal law and the constitutionally protected rights of parents as the guardians and caretakers for their children. Settling these legal questions is at the heart of our suit, but it will take some time for the court to sort it out.

So the second part is a request for an injunction—a request for the court to immediately halt the application of the law until the bigger questions in the first part of our lawsuit can be decided.

Without an injunction, thousands of parents will be required to send their children back to school in August with absolutely no guarantee that their child won’t be vaccinated in secret, against the parent’s wishes and perhaps against the child’s personal well-being.

So having the injunction hearing scheduled by mid-August is a huge and important first step.

But there is still so much to do, and such a long road ahead of us.

Country at a Crossroads

Will you stand with us as we stand up to the DC Council and state legislatures who, like DC, would put their own one-size-fits-all medical judgment in place of that of individual fit and loving parents?

Could you take a moment right now to make your best financial investment in the Parental Rights Foundation and this crucial legal effort? It’s going to take all of us to see this through and to protect children all over the country by defending these parental rights.

And after you give (or if you cannot give), could you forward this email to your family and friends who might also be interested in standing with us?

We are at a crossroads. Will we remain a place where children and teens are protected by the loving wisdom of their parents, or will government more and more make itself the arbiter of when a child is “ready” to make potentially life-changing decisions, whether it’s regarding their medical care or anything else?

Let us stand together to protect children by empowering parents to remain their family’s first and best line of defense.

Thank you for your support and partnership in this crucial venture!

Sincerely,

Michael Ramey
Executive Director