Indiana legislators are seeking to enact legislation ostensibly intended to protect “parental rights,” but that contains loopholes undermining parental rights while allowing government interference.
Senate Bill No. 46 (SB 46) is sponsored by 15 senators. Although promoted as “the parental rights bill,” it contains certain alarming provisions.
For example, the bill states that government “may not substantially burden” parental rights “unless the burden is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest.” In other words, the bill contains a loophole allowing government interference in parental rights.
“In furtherance of a compelling governmental interest” is a very broad term, and the bill does not clarify what constitutes “compelling governmental interest.” What if a public school or other government entity decided that gender confusion, vaccine mandates, or counseling without parental knowledge were compelling government interests? SB 46’s vague text does not ensure that parents will be able to protect their children.
Another concerning provision a section allowing information about children to be withheld from their parents if a law-enforcement officer requests that such information remain private. This may sound reasonable, but this would allow school resource officers — under the authority of school administrations — to hide important information from parents. One “woke” officer could singlehandedly hide information from parents.
At first glance, SB 46 may appear like a positive bill, but it contains serious loopholes that the Left is certain to take advantage of. Instead of enacting a flawed “parental rights” bill, state legislators must remove the loopholes and focus on getting government out of education altogether.
Please contact your state representative and senator, and urge them to oppose SB 46 in its current form, and to instead get government completely out of education.
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