Staff attorney for West Virginia Gretchen Morrison and Policy Counsel Janice Lorrah recently sent letters to the West Virginia Legislature in favor of three bills. Two of those bills completed the legislative process and were subsequently signed by Governor Morrisey. [pictured left]
[Pacific Justice Institute] congratulates West Virginia for its efforts to protect students in public schools and to preserve the parental rights of its citizens to direct their children’s lives as they see fit.
West Virginia passed HB 2129, a new “Parental Bill of Rights,” creating enumerated rights of parents in the state. The new law confirms that parents may direct their children’s medical care, religious and moral instruction, and educational program, and may access their minor child’s school records. This law includes:
The right to direct the education and care of his or her minor child.
The right to direct the upbringing and the moral or religious training of his or her minor child.
The right to apply to enroll his or her minor child in a public school or, as an alternative to public education, a private school, including a religious school, a home education program, or other available options, as authorized by law.
The right to access and review all school records relating to his or her minor child.
The right to make health care decisions for his or her minor child, unless otherwise prohibited by law.
Enrolled Committee Substitute for HB 2129.
Perhaps equally important, the new Parental Bill of Rights provides a private right of action for parents to sue for injunctive relief under the bill. It also provides a defense should the parents need to stand up for themselves in any court in the state. This stands in stark contrast to states like California, which have passed laws infringing on parents’ rights to remain informed and make medical decisions for their minor children.
West Virginia has also passed SB 154 to prevent local school districts from mandating sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) instruction. In other states, such curriculum often results in students being forced to learn about the LGBTQ lifestyle and tends to promote those values as morally acceptable, often against the religious viewpoints of parents and students. Some states and school districts allow for parents to opt out of so called “Family Life Instruction” in health classes; other states, like Washington, have passed laws mandating ‘SOGI’ theories be taught without any opt-outs. The problem with these curriculum mandates is that they typically present only one side of controversial issues. Other states’ instruction on LGBTQ theories typically has a goal of changing the moral and religious views of students on human sexuality and gender identity to normalize an alternative lifestyle.
The new law also requires parents to be informed by a school administrator should their child make a request to alter his or her school records or request some sort of accommodation related to gender identity at the school. Unlike public schools in California, schools in West Virginia will not be hiding information related to a child’s welfare from parents to further a political agenda. Pacific Justice Institute celebrates the West Virginia Legislature for working to pass common sense legislation banning instruction in classrooms designed to implement one controversial view on social theories. PJI also welcomes the state’s instilling of parents’ rights into its statutes, ensuring parents can raise their children as they best see fit.
