The Good Citizen Podcast #354 The Growing Assault on Parental Rights with Laura Bryant Hanford
I have been sounding the alarm for some time about a simple but frightening legal strategy– interpreting the definition of child abuse or neglect to include Christian parents raising a child consistent with that child’s sex as male or female. In other words, if Christian parents do not “affirm” a child’s transgender ideology, the full weight of the juvenile courts and the state child welfare agency can be brought to bear. This can include removal of that child from the parents’ home and even a court order barring those parents from speaking to their own child about sex. For example, consider the Cox case out of Indiana. This legal standard is now codified in states such as California, Washington, and Minnesota (see the briefing in the Cox case), and Minnesota has passed a “Trans Refuge” law that allows the state to take custody of child (against the parents’ wishes) if that child is in the state for “gender-affirming care.” In this episode, I walk through this growing assault on parental rights and how to respond with Laura Bryant Hanford, a contributing editor to the Federalist and a key advocate for parental rights.
Key takeaways:
- The right and responsibility of parents—not the state—to raise their children according to their beliefs is a Biblical, pre-political principle that must be protected in state and federal law.
- Laura’s important contribution to the International Religious Freedom Act, as detailed in this article.
- The story behind Sage’s law and another heart-breaking parental rights violation out of Virginia.
- The sermon by David Platt she mentions in the interview.
- What Christian parents and churches can do to respond to this growing assault.
- The latest on the certification process for Child Advocacy Centers and the lack of evidentiary support behind medical treatment that is contrary to a child’s sex.
- Model state legislation for protecting parental rights – the Defining Abuse Child Protection Act.