We’re excited to let you know that yesterday, April 12, the Alabama House Judiciary Committee favorably reported House Bill 6 ( H.B. 6 ), The Parental Rights Protection Act! This powerful bill, introduced by Representative Kenneth Paschal , will make Alabama the 16th state in the nation to protect parental rights as fundamental in state code. Constitutional law professor and Parental Rights Foundation board member William Wagner submitted written testimony in support of H.B. 6 to the House Judiciary Committee. You can read Professor Wagner’s written testimony here. Now the battle to protect children by empowering parents moves to the full Alabama House. H.B. 6 could come up for a vote on the House floor as early as Tuesday, April 18. Please call and email your Alabama state representative and ask him or her to stand with Alabama families and support H.B. 6. You can find contact information for your Alabama state representative by typing in your address here . Your message can be as simple as the following: As one of your constituents, I respectfully ask you to stand with Alabama families and vote in support of H.B. 6, the Parental Rights Protection Act. This bill will codify existing Supreme Court precedent and preserve Alabama’s families from unnecessary and harmful state overreach. This bill reflects the fundamental truth that the best way to protect children is by empowering parents. Thank you. If you email your Alabama state representative, you can also include a link to a video we produced about the importance of bills like H.B. 6, and a link to William Wagner’s written testimony here . Then, please do one more thing: forward this email to 2 or 3 (or more!) friends and family in Alabama and encourage them to make their voices heard in support of protecting parental rights in Alabama. Together, we can make Alabama the 16th state in the nation to preserve this fundamental right! For liberty, Will Estrada President, ParentalRights.org and the Parental Rights Foundation

House Bill 6 (HB6), the Parental Rights Protection Act, was pre-filed on January 20, 2023, by Representative Kenneth Paschal and 3 cosponsors. It has been placed on the House Judiciary Committee calendar for Wednesday, April 12, at 1:30 p.m. in Room 200. HB6 seeks to protect parental rights as a fundamental right in state code and to shield Alabama families from governmental overreach. You can read the bill here . HB6 will codify existing precedent of the U.S. Supreme Court and the Alabama Supreme Court. Please take a moment today to contact as many of these committee members as you can and urge them to vote “Yes” on HB6. If one of these is your representative, be sure to contact them and let them know you live in their district. Communicate to them that you deeply appreciate their commitment to doing what is right in Montgomery, and always be courteous in your communications. Your message should be in your own words, but can be as simple as this: I want to thank you for your commitment to doing what is right in Montgomery. And I urge you to vote “Yes” on HB 6, the Parental Rights Protection Act. This bill will codify existing Supreme Court precedent and preserve Alabama’s families from unnecessary and harmful state overreach. Thank you. Below are the House Judiciary Committee Members:

House Bill 6 (HB6) , known as the Parental Rights Protection Act, was filed January 20, 2023, by State Rep. Kenneth Paschal and 3 co-sponsors to further fortify parental rights in Alabama, and to shield Alabamians from government overreach regarding parental rights. HB6 was placed in the House Judiciary Committee. We need your help. Please call and email the House Judiciary Committee chairman, Representative Jim Hill, and ask him to place HB6 on the House Judiciary Committee calendar for Wednesday, March 22, 2023. You can reach Chairman Hill by contacting the Clerk of the House Judiciary Committee, Brandy Allen Rogers. Her contact information is (334) 261-0494 and brandy.allen@alhouse.gov . Below is an example of an email or phone call message. “Mrs. Brandy Allen Rogers, my name is _____, and I’m emailing/calling to respectfully request that Chairman Jim Hill place House Bill 6 on the House Judiciary Committee calendar for Wednesday, March 22nd. I ask that HB6 be voted out of committee. This bill will protect parental rights in Alabama. Thank you for taking a moment to stand up for parental rights. Together, we will make a difference and let our voices and concerns be heard in Montgomery. Sincerely, Will Estrada President, ParentalRights.org and the Parental Rights Foundation

Maryland SB566 , Family Law—Fundamental Parental Rights, is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee this Wednesday, March 15, at 1:00pm. Parental Rights Foundation president Will Estrada plans to be on hand to testify, but we also need your help. This bill guarantees that “[a] parent has the fundamental right to direct the upbringing, education, care, and welfare of the parent’s child ” and that “[t]he State or a political subdivision of the state may not infringe [these rights] unless the State or political subdivision demonstrates…that the…infringement is (1) necessary to achieve a compelling government interest; (2) narrowly tailored to achieve the compelling government interests; and (3) the least restrictive means to achieve the compelling government interest.” This is a terrific bill that will require state actors to treat parental rights as the fundamental constitutional rights that they are, as recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court in a consistent string of cases dating back 100 years to Meyer v. Nebraska (1923). HB666, the companion bill to SB566, was heard in the House Judiciary Committee on February 22 and is still awaiting further action by that committee. Today, we are asking you to contact your Maryland Senator and urge support of SB566 in the Senate . If they are on the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, ask them to vote “Yes” on the bill in committee. If not, ask them to vote for the bill when it comes to the Senate floor. Your message, which should be in your own words, can be as simple as this: I am calling to ask my senator to support SB566, Fundamental Parental Rights. The vital role of a parent in the life of a child must be protected. It’s time for Maryland law to catch up with a hundred years of U.S. Supreme Court precedent and protect these rights with the respect they deserve. If my senator is on the Committee on Judicial Proceedings, I ask him or her to support SB566 at Wednesday’s hearing and to vote it out of committee. If you email your lawmaker, you might include this link to our video explaining why this legislation is so important: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cqRWQa6e28 We also invite as many as are able to attend the hearing in person Wednesday, March 15, at 1:00 pm in the East Miller Senate Building, Room 2, Annapolis . Our own Will Estrada will be present to testify in favor of the bill. Thank you for standing with us to protect children by empowering parents through common sense legislation like SB566 in the Maryland legislature. Sincerely, Michael Ramey Executive Director

The Supreme Court once declared, "This primary role of parents in the upbringing of their children is now established beyond debate as an enduring American tradition." Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972) at 232. So, how are we doing with that "enduring American tradition" today? Unfortunately, not so well. Even with advances in some… The post Special Report: The State of Parental Rights in America, 2017 appeared first on Parental Rights.