Prioritizing Parental Rights
7/18/24
Last week I attended a conference with our national legal partner Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), leaders of other Family Policy Councils from around the nation, and other social conservative groups and leaders. We explored legislative opportunities to advance the cause of faith, family, and freedom in our respective states. One of the many topics discussed during the conference was that of protecting parental rights… an issue near and dear to our hearts at IFI.
You may not know this, but Indiana is not doing a great job of protecting parental rights – both objectively and compared to other states. One prime example is the Cox family, who had their child stolen from them by the Indiana Department of Child Services because they refused to accept radical transgender ideology and deny their Christian beliefs. Another example is school counselor Kathy McCord, who was fired from her position in the South Madison County School district for publicly explaining that the district was requiring staff to lie to parents about their children seeking “gender support plans.” We are still waiting to see both of these situations rectified, and we continue to call on DCS, the governor, and our legislators to take action to prevent these scenarios from ever occurring again.
Tennessee is one state that has enshrined parental rights in its state law, protecting parents’ fundamental right to guide the upbringing, education, and health care of their children. We desperately want to see this implemented in our state, and we believe that through your financial and spiritual partnership, we can see it happen in the 2025 state legislative session. We must prioritize protecting parental rights in Indiana.
Additionally, we hope you will join us in praying for the victims and their families of Saturday’s attempted assassination of President Donald Trump. We are living in tumultuous times, and the grace of God is needed now more than ever to guide our nation. We need to be in prayer that God will guide and protect our nation’s leaders, and that no further acts of violence will take place in the months leading up to the November election.