Urgent: MD Parental Rights Bill Heading to Committee

Maryland SB566, Family Law—Fundamental Parental Rights, is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee this Wednesday, March 15, at 1:00pm. Parental Rights Foundation president Will Estrada plans to be on hand to testify, but we also need your help.

This bill guarantees that “[a] parent has the fundamental right to direct the upbringing, education, care, and welfare of the parent’s child” and that “[t]he State or a political subdivision of the state may not infringe [these rights] unless the State or political subdivision demonstrates…that the…infringement is (1) necessary to achieve a compelling government interest; (2) narrowly tailored to achieve the compelling government interests; and (3) the least restrictive means to achieve the compelling government interest.” 

This is a terrific bill that will require state actors to treat parental rights 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).

HB666, the companion bill to SB566, was heard in the House Judiciary Committee on February 22 and is still awaiting further action by that committee.

Today, we are asking you to contact your Maryland Senator and urge support of SB566 in the Senate. If they are on the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, ask them to vote “Yes” on the bill in committee. If not, ask them to vote for the bill when it comes to the Senate floor.

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

I am calling to ask my senator to support SB566, Fundamental Parental Rights. The vital role of a parent in the life of a child must be protected. It’s time for Maryland law to catch up with a hundred years of U.S. Supreme Court precedent and protect these rights with the respect they deserve. If my senator is on the Committee on Judicial Proceedings, I ask him or her to support SB566 at Wednesday’s hearing and to vote it out of committee.

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

We also invite as many as are able to attend the hearing in person Wednesday, March 15, at 1:00 pm in the East Miller Senate Building, Room 2, Annapolis. Our own Will Estrada will be present to testify in favor of the bill.

Thank you for standing with us to protect children by empowering parents through common sense legislation like SB566 in the Maryland legislature.

Sincerely,

Michael Ramey

Executive Director