Parental Rights in Virginia
Virginia State Law and Parental Rights
Protected
We did it! Thanks in part to your support, Virginia passed a statute in 2013 to protect the role of parents. Virginia law Section 1-240.1 provides:
A parent has a fundamental right to make decisions concerning the upbringing, education, and care of the parent's child.
Don't Miss a Critical Issue!
Virginia Courts and Parental Rights
Affirmed, and Protected Under Statute
L.F. v. Breit, 736 SE 2d 711 - Va: Supreme Court (2013):
"The relationship between a parent and child is a constitutionally protected liberty interest under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.7 Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57, 65 (2000); Wyatt v. McDermott, 283 Va. 685, 692, 725 S.E.2d 555, 558 (2012) (“We recognize the essential value of protecting a parent's right to form a relationship with his or her child.”); Copeland, 282 Va. at 198, 715 S.E.2d at 19. Indeed, the Supreme Court of the United States has characterized a parent's right to raise his or her child as “perhaps the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests recognized by this Court.” Troxel, 530 U.S. at 65. Any statute that seeks to interfere with a parent's fundamental rights survives constitutional scrutiny only if it is narrowly tailored to serve a compelling state interest. McCabe v. Commonwealth, 274 Va. 558, 563, 650 S.E.2d 508, 510 (2007); see also Washington v. Glucksberg, 521 U.S. 702, 721 (1997)."