So Exciting: I’m Going to Denver!
Above: Parental Rights Foundation president Michael Ramey with TJ Schmidt of the Homeschool Legal Defense Association and Louisiana State Representative Beryl Amedee.
Tuesday, July 23:
As I write this, I am about to fly to Denver for the annual conference of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). That’s the meet-up of conservative state lawmakers and non-profit organizations like ours to discuss policy and legislative goals, which state senators or representatives can then take back to their legislatures for introduction.
This year, I’m taking along a model to rein in the all-too-powerful child abuse pediatricians who have wreaked so much havoc on too many families across the nation. I’ll be presenting our model in a committee meeting on Friday morning, and I’ll have more to tell you about that next week.
At this moment, though, I am just feeling excited.
For starters, I’m not a frequent traveler. For me, just the idea of getting on a plane and ending up somewhere else is exciting (and maybe a little nerve-racking, if I’m honest). Though I’ve visited 24 U.S. states in my lifetime, I’ve never been as far west as Colorado, and I’ve never seen the Rockies, so I am very much looking forward to that.
Even more exciting, I hope to get the chance this week to meet some of my heroes—heroes I have worked with in the past, but never met in person before!
Heroes like Rep. Eddie Andrews, who led the charge in Iowa, not just for one session, but for two sessions to get our Parents’ Bill of Rights passed in his state.
And like Rep. Kenneth Paschal, the Alabama lawmaker I’ve known by phone and email for more than a decade, who championed the Fundamental Parental Rights act passed in his state in 2023.
And like Rep. Beryl Amedee of Arkansas, whom I’ve known by phone and email for as long as I’ve known Rep. Paschal. Rep. Amedee is our go-to resource to provide a legislative sponsor for our ALEC models every year.
For similar reasons, I look forward to meeting parental rights champions Rep. Kim Moser of Kentucky and Sen. Patricia Rucker of West Virginia, as well.
Above: Michael Ramey with Sen. Patricia Rucker
Not only have I worked with each of these lawmakers in the past, but we will have ample opportunity to work together in the future, as well. Even states like Iowa that already have a full parents’ bill of rights can still afford to improve parental rights through other, more targeted laws like this year’s model to preserve family rights in medical investigations, or like our earlier model to replace anonymous reports to the child abuse line with confidential reports.
Getting to meet these parental rights champions face-to-face will be an exciting step for me in developing these important relationships!
(If I get to make the connections I hope for, you’ll see a photo or two included in this email.)
I’m keeping this email short, as I still have some last-minute packing to do before I’m ready to catch my flight. But I look forward to having a lot to report on next week, as the ALEC conference gets underway tomorrow morning.
Thank you for supporting this effort and the many past efforts we have completed with these and other parental rights heroes across the country. Together, we will continue the important mission of protecting children by empowering parents in every state.
Sincerely,
Michael T. Ramey
President
P.S.—Would you consider a one-time gift to the Parental Rights Foundation to help defray the cost of this very important—but unusually expensive—week in the life of our parental rights cause?