Oppose AB 495: Protect Parental Rights
Legislative Alerts
AB 495 undermines undermines parental authority and child safety.
Contact your state legislators and governor
Please help stop AB 495 by contacting your state legislators. Urge them to defend parental rights and oppose all legislation that undermines them.
Why it Matters
California Assemblywoman Celeste Rodriguez (D-San Fernando) introduced AB 495, the “Family Preparedness Plan Act of 2025,” which extends parental rights to any third party who claims to be a “caregiver” of a child. This legislation undermines parental authority and child safety by allowing vaguely defined “nonrelative extended family members” the legal authority to execute a caregiver authorization affidavit, granting them authority as legal guardians.
AB 495 expands the definition of caregivers to include “nonrelative extended family members” with an “established familial or mentoring relationship” with the child (teachers, clergy, neighbors, or family friends). These individuals would gain rights to enroll minors in school, consent to school-related medical care (including immunizations and examinations), and authorize medical decisions.
The bill amends Section 6552 of the Family Code to change the statutory form for caregiver affidavits to no longer require a parental signature, court seal, or background check, and can be accepted in good faith by schools and providers without further verification. AB 495 changes the caregiver’s authorization affidavit to state:
Warning to Local Educational Agencies and Health Care Service Providers: A parent’s signature or a seal or signature from a court is not required.
Pastor Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills has sounded the alarm, warning that the bill’s vague definitions and lack of safeguards make it a “human trafficker, pedophile, and kidnapper’s dream come true.” Hibbs stated on Fox News:
Legal experts have concluded that this very well might be the worst, most dangerous legislation that has ever come out of California…. If this bill passes, you have to grab your kid and leave the state for your child’s protection.
AB 495 claims it protects immigrant families by creating easily accessible legal framework for nonparents to assume authority over children without verification. While framed as protecting children from family separations due to federal immigration policies, it creates loopholes that enable abuse, trafficking, and unauthorized control over minor children. Additionally, this legislation threatens due process and child safety, and encourages overreach into family matters.
This legislation sets a dangerous legal precedent eroding parental rights. By allowing nonrelatives to gain guardian-like powers with minimal oversight, it violates parental rights to direct their children’s upbringing, as affirmed in cases like Troxel v. Granville (2000) where the U.S. Supreme Court held that parents have a fundamental, constitutionally protected right under the 14th Amendment to direct the upbringing of their children.
Contact Governor Newsom and your state legislators, urge them to oppose AB 495, protect parental rights, and prevent this dangerous expansion of caregiver authority.