Parental Rights in Texas
Texas Parental Rights News
15 Years of Protecting Parental Rights—Together!
The month of February marks the 15-year anniversary of ParentalRights.org. Because of you and your generosity—with financial support, grassroots action, volunteering, calling or emailing your state and federal legislators, and more—we as an organization can celebrate 15 years of protecting children by empowering parents. It’s been a team effort, and we’re just getting started. Over…
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Texas State Law and Parental Rights
Protected
Texas Family Code Sect. 151.003 declares the following:
"A state agency may not adopt rules or policies or take any other action that violates the fundamental rights and duty of parents to direct the upbringing of the parent's child."
Don't Miss a Critical Issue!
Texas Courts and Parental Rights
"Strict Scrutiny" Applied to Parental Rights
Texas courts have repeatedly recognized the rights of parents to oversee the care of their children as a fundamental right deserving of the strict scrutiny standard.
In In re Pensom, 126 S.W.3d 251, 254 (Tex. Ct. App. 2003), a Texas Court of Appeals ruled, "Because a fundamental right is implicated here [that is, parental rights], we apply strict scrutiny and will uphold the statute if it is narrowly tailored to serve a compelling government interest," citing Troxel, 530 U.S. at 79 (Souter, J., concurring) and 80 (Thomas, J., concurring).