Parental Rights in Maryland
Maryland Parental Rights News
Maryland SB 378 Threatens Children, Parental Rights
We need your help today to halt a dangerous bill that threatens the health of children and the fundamental right of parents to make decisions for them. Maryland Senate Bill 387, introduced by Senator Kagan and assigned to the Finance Committee, would essentially do away with any age of consent for vaccination, depending solely on…
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Maryland State Law and Parental Rights
At Risk
Maryland does not have a state statute that explicitly defines and protects parental rights as fundamental rights.
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Maryland Courts and Parental Rights
"Strict Scrutiny" Applied to Parental Rights
- McDermott v. Dougherty, 869 A.2d 751, 808-9 (Md. 2005) Adopted a balancing test where "the constitutional right [of parents] is the ultimate determinative factor; and only if the parents are unfit or extraordinary circumstances exist is the 'best interest of the child' test to be considered."
- Koshko v. Haining, 921 A.2d 171, 186-87 (Md. 2007) held that because "the grant or modification of visitation involves a lesser degree of intrusion on the fundamental right to parent than the assignment of custody," such grants or modifications "require rigorous scrutiny," id. at 186; notwithstanding Troxel, the court noted that it typically "reserve[es] strict scrutiny review only for cases where fundamental rights have suffered "significant interference," but because there was "significant interference" with a fundamental right in this particular case, the court employed strict scrutiny, (id. at 187.)
However, this precedent is subject to change.