Parental Rights in New Mexico

New Mexico Parental Rights News

Celebrating the First 250 and Dedicating Ourselves to the Next

By Elizabeth Schatzinger • July 2, 2026
As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we still “hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” We also believe these rights include the liberty of parents to direct the upbringing, education, and care of their minor children without undue government interference. As we celebrate the first 250 years, we dedicate ourselves to the preservation of this fundamental right, to secure the vital role of the family in our republic for the next 250 and beyond. Happy Anniversary, America, and Happy Independence Day.

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New Mexico State Law

At Risk


New Mexico does not have a state statute that explicitly defines and protects parental rights as fundamental rights.

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New Mexico Courts

At High Risk!


Precedent from the New Mexico Court of Appeals favors best interest of the child without affording parents the protection of strict scrutiny standard.


  • In re Guardianship of Victoria R., 201 P.3d 169, 173, 177 (N.M. Ct. App. 2008), the NM Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court's decision to award guardianship of a child to "psychological parents," to whom the mother had voluntarily given placement of the child, because evidence of potential psychological harm to the child overcame the presumption in favor of the biological parent, id. at 177; the court did not employ strict scrutiny, noting that "only Justice Thomas, in a concurring opinion, relied upon a fundamental rights-strict scrutiny analysis" and that "some authorities, noting that only Justice Thomas expressly relied upon textbook fundamental rights-strict scrutiny analysis, have read Troxel as moving away from the rigid strict scrutiny mode of analysis of state legislation that impinges on parents' control over the upbringing of their children," (id. at 173 n. 4).
  • Williams v. Williams, 50 P.3d 194, 200 (N.M. Ct. App. 2002) affirmed an order of visitation, over the objection of the parents, based solely on statutory factors including the best-interest of the child with no apparent presumption in favor of the parents' decision; "We agree with Parents that, as a general proposition, Troxel does require courts to give special consideration to the wishes of parents, and appropriately so. However, we do not read Troxel as giving parents the ultimate veto on visitation in every instance. Troxel may have altered, but it did not eradicate, the kind of balancing process that normally occurs in visitation decisions.”