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With this move, West Virginia is now the 24th state to codify what both the Bible and the U.S. Supreme Court have long held: Parents — and not the government — have primary authority over their children’s education and overall well-being.
West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey, R, signed legislation on Monday creating a “Parents’ Bill of Rights ” that affirms parents’ authority over their children’s education, healthcare, and upbringing.
“The Legislature finds that it is a fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing, education, care, and medical care of their minor children,” the bill reads.
The move aligns West Virginia with 23 other states that have adopted similar laws to clarify and protect parental rights. These laws have become a rallying point for conservative lawmakers and advocacy groups who argue that increased governmental involvement in schools and healthcare has undermined family autonomy.
Del. Jim Butler, a Republican from Mason County who sponsored House Bill 2129, said the bill empowers families and returns key decisions to those closest to the child.
“We’re just trying to make sure parents have the authority to raise their own kids here,” Butler said in remarks to the House of Delegates in February.
The legislation lays out a broad framework intended to affirm that parents retain the ultimate responsibility and right to determine the course of their children’s lives, particularly in areas such as education and medical care. It explicitly provides that parents can choose how to educate their child through public school, private school, or homeschooling. In addition, parents are granted the right to access and review all school records related to their minor children.
Legal experts and parental rights advocates have applauded the bill as a necessary safeguard against potential government overreach. Jordan Carpenter, legal counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), praised Gov. Morrisey’s decision to sign the bill into law, describing it as a crucial step in preserving family autonomy.
“Parents love and know their child best, and they have the right and duty to direct the upbringing and care of their children,” Carpenter said. “In no world should the government intrude on parenting choices just because it disagrees with the parents.”
The bill also affirms a parent’s right to make healthcare decisions for their child. However, it includes specific exceptions to this authority, particularly when it comes to matters involving life-ending decisions, such as abortion for minors.
West Virginia currently enforces a near-total ban on abortion, with limited exceptions. The law permits abortions up to 14 weeks of pregnancy in cases involving rape or incest, including minors.
The Parents’ Bill of Rights does not seek to alter or challenge the state’s abortion statutes but clarifies that the law does not give parents the right to take actions or make decisions that would intentionally end life.
Supporters argue that the bill will help restore trust between families and public institutions, particularly schools and healthcare providers. They believe that parents, not bureaucrats or administrators, are best suited to make choices that reflect their values and the unique needs of their children.
Critics of similar legislation in other states have raised concerns that such measures could be used to roll back protections for “marginalized students,” such as those who identify as LGBTQ+, and they also repeated the claim of some medical professionals that such legislation could lead to an increase in child suicide risk.
Backers of West Virginia’s law contend that it is a straightforward affirmation of parental involvement, not a tool to exclude or marginalize vulnerable students. While the law does not introduce any new enforcement mechanisms or penalties, it provides a framework for parents in legal disputes involving access to school records, participation in decision-making, or healthcare consent.
Similar parental rights bills have been introduced or passed in states such as Florida, Iowa, and Ohio, often as part of broader efforts to reshape education policy and reassert local control over family-related issues. Yet, in other states like Colorado, parents’ rights are under increasing attack. Colorado’s proposed House Bill 25-1312 significantly expands state authority over children’s gender identity matters, redefining parental refusal to affirm a child’s self-declared gender as “coercive control” and classifying it as a form of child abuse, potentially leading to state intervention.
Colorado’s bill also proposes mandating that schools, healthcare providers, and even religious institutions affirm a child’s chosen gender identity, with noncompliance subject to legal penalties. The legislation also restricts free speech by compelling the use of preferred pronouns and labeling dissent as discriminatory, even allowing minors to pursue gender-affirming treatments without parental consent.
In 2024, California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 1955 into law, prohibiting school districts from adopting policies that mandate notifying parents when a student shows signs of gender confusion. This includes situations where a child uses a different name or pronouns or accesses bathrooms designated for the opposite sex.
Who should be in charge of making decision regarding a child’s education and well-being — parents or the state? Scripture and over a century of Supreme Court precedent confirm that this responsibility belongs to parents.
For most of American history, it was widely accepted that mothers and fathers — not government institutions — are the best suited to raise, care for, and make decisions regarding the education, health, and other pertinent decisions affecting the current and future well-being of their children.
Proverbs 22:6 commands parents to “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
Yet in recent years, some school officials across the country have taken troubling steps to bypass parents — introducing children to sexually explicit materials and promoting gender identity ideology without parental knowledge or consent. These actions not only undermine families but confuse children about their God-given identity.
Among some woke school leaders, there’s a growing belief that they know better than parents and that it’s somehow justified — even virtuous — to override parental authority. Despite centuries of Western societal understanding that parents should make the key decisions for their children, many schools and institutions continue to act as though they, not parents, know best and, therefore, that they should be in control of children.
By enshrining parental rights into state law, West Virginia has taken a vital step to protect families from such overreach. This law ensures that schools cannot introduce controversial topics or materials without obtaining parental approval and returning decision-making to where it belongs — with the family.
West Virginia’s parental rights law is both a return to common sense and a blueprint for other states. It empowers parents, safeguards children, and helps schools refocus on what they were created to do: provide a strong academic foundation while respecting the boundaries and roles of the parents who choose to allow those schools to educate their children.
Many K-12 schools now embrace the secular woke agenda and are hostile to Christian beliefs and parental rights. Fortunately, parents don’t have to settle for this. Liberty University Online Academy is a K-12 program designed to educate your children in the ways of the Lord while preparing them to stand firm in their faith when they graduate. Our flexible online curriculum ensures that your student is trained at your convenience and keeps YOU the ultimate educator of your children.
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