Fostering Strong Families
After four years of the Biden administration pushing radical gender policies in various programs in the federal government, the Trump administration is making great strides to root out the harmful ideology. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has made this a top priority. At the same time, the Supreme Court has also been acknowledging and respecting parental rights. These actions help to strengthen families and protect children.
At the State of the Union, President Donald Trump featured a young woman by the name of Sage Blair. While in high school, Sage, who was confused about her gender identity, was encouraged by a school counselor to use male pronouns and the boys’ bathroom. The counselor did not inform her parents that she was being ‘socially transitioned’ at school, nor about the intense bullying that followed. As a result, she did not receive any help for her mental health challenges, which drove her to run away. Tragically, Sage was drugged and sex trafficked for months. After finally reuniting with her family, she was given the help she needed and is now living a full life as a female.
Other children do not have such happy endings. Yaeli Galdamez was a young teenager from California who suffered from depression. She expressed her confusion about her gender identity to school officials and told them her mother was opposed to her identifying as transgender. These officials secretly encouraged her to join an LGBT group and called Child Protective Services. Yaeli was removed from her home and placed in a group home, where she was able to access hormone treatments instead of the help she needed. At age 19, she committed suicide. Her mother, Abigail Martinez, Yaeli’s mom, has become a vocal advocate for parental rights, filing several friend-of-the-court briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge state laws that allow courts to remove children from parents who do not affirm their child’s gender identity.
This week, the Supreme Court issued a temporary but important parental rights decision in the case of Mirabelli v. Bonta. The case stemmed from a law passed in the state of California that allows school personnel to secretly assist students to ‘socially transition’ to another gender without telling the parents. One family found out about their daughter’s gender dysphoria only after she attempted suicide. After moving her to a new school, the teachers continued to refer to her as a boy despite her parents’ clear directions. They claimed they were obligated under state law to keep that information from her parents. Her parents, along with other Catholic parents who had similar experiences, joined together to challenge the law.
The federal district court stopped the policy from going into effect (called an injunction) while the case made its way through the courts. Soon after, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the injunction. Thankfully, the Supreme Court stepped in and the law that allows schools to keep secrets from parents is once again on hold, because they said the parents are likely to win based on their claim that the state is violating their free exercise of religion and due process rights. The Supreme Court’s majority opinion stated:
Under long-established precedent, parents − not the State − have primary authority with respect to “the upbringing and education of children.” The right protected by these precedents includes the right not to be shut out of participation in decisions regarding their children’s mental health.
Following this decision, the HHS’s Administration for Children and Families (ACF) sent letters to all 50 states clarifying that refusing to ‘transition’ a child does not equal abuse and neglect. In 1974, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) was passed, which provides federal funding to states to implement guidelines and procedures that prevent, assess, or prosecute child abuse. States such as California have misinterpreted CAPTA to punish parents who believe biological sex is unchangeable. The letter states:
As the agency that oversees the CAPTA, it is ACF’s position that removing a child solely because a parent declines to affirm a child in an identity that does not correspond with his or her sex, refuses to condone sex-rejecting interventions for the child, or otherwise seeks to exercise reasonable parental judgement regarding their child’s upbringing does not constitute abuse or neglect under CAPTA…
In a press release, ACF Assistant Secretary Alex Adams stated:
Parents have the right to raise their children according to their sincerely held religious beliefs and moral convictions. When states overstep their bounds, ACF will take action to deter inappropriate policies that drive unnecessary interactions with child welfare systems. This is one such example.
Additionally, ACF is encouraging states to adopt a clear definition of “abuse and neglect.” This is important not only for parental rights, but also to encourage more Christian families to be involved in the foster care system. Currently, people who are religious are 50% more likely to be foster and adoptive parents than those who do not subscribe to a religious belief. However, good parents are being disqualified from fostering simply because they disagree with the radical gender ideology of the Left. Now, with ACF’s help, states have begun to back away from this requirement. Vermont and Massachusetts have recently announced that this will not be a disqualifier for foster families. With the significant shortage of foster homes available to children who are in the system, ACF does not want children stripped from their families because of beliefs about biological sex. The goal is to provide enough safe homes for those in the system, not turn away Christian families who want to open their hearts and homes to children in need.
Over the last year, all three branches of government have delivered strong rules, policies, and decisions that protect children. To stay up to date on how you can help with these efforts, sign up for our emails and alerts on our website here.
