West Virginia has enacted what is labeled a “Parents’ Bill of Rights” amid concerns about parents’ rights to direct their children’s upbringing in other states.
West Virginia’s Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed House Bill 2129 into law Monday. The measure is scheduled to take effect on June 22.
The bill outlines several examples of rights that are “reserved to the parent of a minor child in this state without obstruction or interference from the state, any of its political subdivisions, any other governmental entity, or any other state institution.”
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Those rights include “the right to direct the education and care of his or her minor child” and “the right to direct the upbringing and the moral or religious training of his or her minor child.”
The legislation also gives parents the right to enroll their children in either public schools, private schools (including religious schools) or homeschool programs.
Under the law, parents will have “the right to access and review all school records” related to their children and “the right to make health care decisions” for their children unless they are prohibited by law.
The measure gives parents more of a legal framework for a defense in any court proceeding.
The Republican-controlled West Virginia House of Delegates passed the measure in an 87-9 vote, while the Republican-controlled West Virginia Senate approved it in a 32-1 vote. The votes in both chambers fell closely along party lines, with nearly all support coming from Republicans and all opposition coming from Democrats.
While the vote in the House fell along party lines, one Senate Democrat joined Republicans in supporting it.
“Parents love and know their child best, and they have the right and duty to direct the upbringing and care of their children. In no world should the government intrude on parenting choices just because it disagrees with the parents,” Jordan Carpenter, a lawyer with the religious freedom legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, said in a statement.
“The West Virginia Parents’ Bill of Rights ensures parents remain free to guide the upbringing, education, and health care of their children without undue government interference,” Carpenter added.
Parents in other states have sued school districts for various parental rights issues, such as failing to inform them that their child wished to identify as a member of the opposite sex or not allowing parents to opt their children out of pro-LGBT teachings.
In 2021, January Littlejohn sued the Leon County School District, maintaining that the Florida public school system colluded with her daughter “to deceive us so that we would never have known she was going by an alternate name.”
While school officials referred to Littlejohn’s daughter using a male name and pronouns at school, they used the teenager’s given name when communicating with the concerned parent and her husband.
In 2023, parent Aurora Regino sued the Chico Unified School District in California for taking the same course of action with her trans-identified daughter. Meanwhile, in Colorado, a bill that could have the effect of removing children from the custody of their parents if they do not embrace the minor’s stated gender identity continues to advance in the Democrat-controlled legislature.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
