Calls Needed to Advance Parental Rights Bill in Indiana

On January 17, Representative Dale DeVon introduced HB1407, an act to amend the Indiana Code concerning family law and juvenile law. The bill guarantees “the right of a parent to direct the upbringing, education, health care, and mental health of the parent’s child” and prohibits the state or any agency or subdivision of the state from infringing on these rights “without demonstrating that the infringement: (1) is required by a compelling governmental interest of the highest order as long recognized in the history and traditions of the state of Indiana; and (2) as applied to the parent and the child, is narrowly tailored and not otherwise served by a less restrictive means.”

This is a terrific bill that will require that parental rights be treated as the fundamental constitutional rights that they are, as recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court in a consistent string of cases dating back 100 years to Meyer v. Nebraska (1923).

The day it was introduced, HB1407 was referred to the House Committee on Family, Children, and Human Affairs.

Today, we are asking you to contact your member of the Indiana House of Representatives and ask them to support HB1407. If they are on the House Committee on Family, Children, and Human Affairs, ask them to support the bill when it comes up for a hearing. And whether they are or not, ask them to vote for the bill when it comes to the House floor.

 Your message, which should be in your own words, can be as simple as this:

I am calling to ask my representative to support HB1407 Relating to Parental Rights. The vital role of a parent in the life of a child must be protected. It’s time for Indiana law to catch up with a hundred years of U.S. Supreme Court precedent and protect these rights with the respect they deserve. Please support HB1407 when it comes to the House floor for a vote.

If you email your lawmaker, you might include this link to our video explaining why this legislation is so important: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cqRWQa6e28

Thank you for standing with us to protect children by empowering parents through common sense legislation like HB1407 in the Indiana House.

Sincerely,
Will Estrada
President