Parental rights are emerging as one of the major civil liberties movements of this generation — and one of the greatest conflicts between the right and the left in this country. For example, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled schools can hide a change of gender in young children from their parents. Now, Colorado is poised to pass a law that would threaten the custody rights of parents who “deadname” or “misgender” their own children. If a parent does not adopt a child’s new pronouns or name, they could be found to have exercised “coercive control” and lose custody in divorce proceedings in favor of a more enlightened parent.
As someone who grew up in an Italian family, I must confess that I thought “coercive control” of a parent was called . . . well . . . parenting. I can still remember my Sicilian mother brandishing a broom in front of our door to prevent one of my sisters from going out with a boy that she did not like. She simply declared “I gave you life, I can take it away” and my sister went back upstairs.
I admit the Italian parental style can be a bit shocking for outsiders and misunderstood by many. (My Irish father would sit bemused in the kitchen). In reality, it was all drama but you knew that it conveyed not anger but love.
Under the new proposal, House Bill 25-1312, Colorado would use the “Kelly Loving Act” to make “deadnaming” and “misgendering” children a factor in child custody disputes. Referring to your child’s biological gender or given name or pronoun would now be considered harmful and abusive, inviting a court to take your child away from you as a coercive parent.
“Section 2 provides that, when making child custody decisions and determining the best interests of a child for purposes of parenting time, a court shall consider deadnaming, misgendering, or threatening to publish material related to an individual’s gender-affirming health-care services as types of coercive control. A court shall consider reports of coercive control when determining the allocation of parental responsibilities in accordance with the best interests of the child.”
So the state will require parents to adopt a gender, name, and pronoun that they believe are harmful for their children. Many such parents may believe that a young child should proceed slowly and not make such changes as they consider the implications of such decisions.
One question is whether this would be limited to custody proceedings or eventually expand to families generally. If this is deemed abusive or harmful during custody battles, it would also be presumably abusive or harmful outside of such proceedings. The fear is that the underlying conclusions could support a view of a household being abusive and not being in the best interests of the child.
Notably, the Supreme Court will now be considering a Colorado case involving a ban on counselors offering “conversion therapy” for children. Under the state rule, a counselor can lose her license if she agrees to such counseling at the request of her parents. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit tossed the challenge, ruling that conversion therapy is harmful and the rule is part of an effort to regulate the healthcare profession.
Rep. Lorena Garcia, D-Denver, insisted that:
“This bill is the bare minimum of what we can do as a state, and the fact that we have to legislate for people to not bully and misgender and deadname people because of whatever insecurities they might have is sad to me. Why can’t we just respect one another? Why can’t we just understand that someone else’s identity has nothing to do with me or you?”
The bill passed the committee on a straight party vote with Republicans in opposition. I believe that the Democrats are not just ignoring parental rights but political realities. They will find that this is not a partisan issue. It is a primal issue. For parents, Democratic politicians like Garcia fail to “understand” that it has a lot “to do with them.” They are the parents of these children. If Democrats do not “understand” that, they are likely soon to find that out.
Any discussion of state mandated coercive parenting, must obviously start with conservative states that force women to give birth against their will.
Draconian anti-abortion laws force women of lesser means to become parents.
That is the REAL coercive parenting.
How about being responsible using contraceptives and not murdering a human being? Too difficult right.
Oral contraceptives are not 100% effective.
Women may forget to take a pill on one day
Condoms break.
Women are raped.
CHILDREN are raped, and some states force these children to give birth.
A fetus may have a severe defect. Some states do not allow abortions, forcing a woman to give birth to a child who requires care beyond the woman’s ability to provide. And these same conservative states want to cut Medicaid, making it even harder for a woman to cope.
ANTI-ABORTION LAWS ARE BY DEFINITION THE ULTIMATE FORM OF COERCIVE PARENTING!!!!
In comparison, the number of trans-gender children is infinitesimally smaller than the number of children who are born against the woman’s will.
Just like it’s coercive parenting for the state to tell me I can’t take a shotgun and shoot any boy I don’t like who dates my daughter?
How about letting people live. If she gives birth and sees the baby, chances are she changes her mind (happens all the time), or if not she can give the child up for adoption. Your only desire is for the shedding of innocent blood. You hide it in euphemisms such as “reproductive choice” — but everyone knows what’s really going on, and your weasel words don’t hide it anymore, not with the advent and wide availability of sonograms.
Putting aside the simple solution of adoption, Joseph Mengele would have been in full agreement with your pro-abortion leftist views.
Adoption is not a SIMPLE solution.
What about a woman who cannot, or does not want to endure an unwanted pregnancy because of her poor financial resources and lack of insurance??
She could perhaps qualify for Medicaid, but conservative states with abortion laws are hell bent on cutting Medicaid.
What about a child who is raped. Should she be forced to give birth and miss school, putting her at a disadvantage for her future life.
Every state has exceptions for rape and incest. If that’s your argument, then how about we agree with those exceptions and argue about the others.
As usual oldmanfromkansas simply makes stuff up.
Or perhaps he is delusional and gets all his information from the voices in his head.
Alabama: No exceptions for rape or incest
Missouri: No exceptions for rape or incest
Kentucky: No exceptions for rape or incest.
West Virginia: No exceptions for rape or incest.
Tennessee: No exceptions for rape or incest.
Texas: No exceptions for rape or incest
Arkansas: No exceptions for rape or incest.
Florida: No exceptions for rape or incest
Louisiana: No exceptions for rape or incest
Nebraska: No exceptions for rape or incest
The pattern here is obvious.
All hard right conservative states who not only ban abortion, but also limit and want to cut Medicaid completely so that women of lesser means have no hope when forced to give birth.
Anonymous – how many women have been unable to get an abortion for financial reasons? What are your figures and what are your sources?
emahl85
You are completely missing the point.
I made no statements or claims about women being unable to get an abortion for financial reasons.
I pointed out that “women of lesser means have no hope when forced to give birth”, meaning that they do not have the financial or social support to care for a child. I made no statement about the inability to get an abortion for financial reasons.
Anyway, in the 10 states I mentioned financial resources are irrelevant because there is a total ban on abortions. Even if she could afford the cost, the procedure is not available.
The point is that conservative states with draconian abortion laws try to force women to give birth against their will, because abortion is completely banned. Many of these women do not want a child, or do not have the resources to care for a child. These states compound the problem by limiting access to Medicaid, and actually want to eliminate Medicaid.
In other words, STATE MANDATED COERCIVE PARENTING.
The real issue is the conservative attitude of being rabidly pro-life until the moment of birth, and then you are on your own baby.
^ Abortion industry propaganda ^
Never mentions anything about not getting pregnant in the first place. Doesn’t account for adoption as a possible alternative to killing the kid. Never mentions that abortions stop a beating heart and bring violent death to an individual with not only a beating heart but brain activity and all its bodily organs. Never acknowledges that there is something tragic about killing an unborn child. Treats it as just a “clump of cells.” Never mentions the adverse mental- and physical-health effects suffered by women who undergo abortions. Never mentions the pressure put on the woman by family members and the boyfriend. This kind of pro-abortion argumentation is very 20th century, but abortion is a multi-billion dollar industry so there will continue to be tired, worn-out propaganda to support the continued flow of blood money.
I think in southeast Asia orphanages are available. The girl leaves the infant in a drop box.
Stupid, ignorant comment.
The point is that there are women who are in no position to maintain a pregnancy.
They have social support.
They may not have a job.
They don’t have insurance to cover medical expenses.
The states that ban abortion also limit and want to eliminate Medicaid.
The pregnant female may be a child who will miss school and suffer educational setbacks.
You are an ideological idiot who wants to dictate to women about how they should live their lives.
In Florida there are abortion exceptions for rape and incest. Can’t trust anonymous.
S. Meyer – he also kind of misses the point. He makes the rookie mistake of arguing the outliers. Let’s suppose he wins the debate about the outlier situations. How much ground has he really won? Not much.
oldman
The stupidity and arrogance of your statement is astounding !!
Firstly, you assume I am male. A typical assumption by an arrogant MAGA male who believes he knows best about how women should be treated. Barefoot and chained in the kitchen.
The “outliers”, if you mean the women of lesser means, are the actual point.
They are what this argument is about.
They are the ones who are the victims of state mandated coercive parenting.
The vast majority of pregnancies are planned and wanted. This discussion is of no relevance to the situations of the vast majority of pregnant women.
There is a small, but significant group of women who, through no fault of their own, find themselves pregnant and in a position where they have insufficient financial resources and/or social support to take care of a child. In states with a total abortion ban these women are potentially forced to give birth against their will. You dismiss them as “outliers” not worthy of consideration.
Why exactly is the government allowed to intervene in the personal decisions of a woman?
I thought conservatives in general, and MAGA in particular, believe that the government should not provide a nanny state that oversees all aspects of an individual’s life.
TOTAL HYPOCRISY.
California story of a pregnant female giving birth in an unknown backyard at night. After the birth she got up and left leaving the infant. The infant was found dead the next day. After autopsy the infant was a live birth. There was no follow up story.
Anonymous crybaby troll – no the outliers you mention are the cases of rape and incest, an extremely small percentage of abortions, and those are the hardest cases.
I didn’t assume you are male. Consistent with hundreds of years of English usage, the male pronoun is the generic. You may have a problem with that based on post-modern sensibilities, but if you do I don’t GAF.
I thought conservatives in general, and MAGA in particular, believe that the government should not provide a nanny state that oversees all aspects of an individual’s life.
I can see you’re new to this. That’s an argument that has been coming from the Left for decades, and it is not a very good one. Even small-government conservatives don’t believe innocent people should be violently killed by others. We don’t favor the abolition of laws against criminal homicide.
With your hyperbole and exaggeration, I see I have gotten under your skin. That means I touched a nerve, which means you know I’m right. Enjoy your evening.
You are a typical, ignorant, misogynistic MAGA cult member.
You believe that a fetus is a person, despite the fact that it is not capable of independent life until about 24 weeks.
You probably also believe in Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny.
Unfortunately, there it is not possible to have a meaningful discussion with a person that lives in a delusional fantasy world.
I would point out that you seem to believe that abortion is homicide.
I presume you also believe that all pregnancies should proceed to term, even in the case of fetal abnormalities inconsistent with life, and regardless of the health risks for the mother.
If you can claim that the abortion of a fetus at less than 20 weeks is homicide, then I can claim that the death of a woman from a complication of pregnancy that could be prevented by an abortion is an act of homicide by the state.
I hope you have a terrible evening.
Medicaid is unconstitutional and completely without a legal basis.
Traitors all. Proceed accordingly.
OT
The legal basis for the unconstitutional Ponzi scheme of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc., is not “general Welfare” in the Constitution but the unconstitutional redistribution of wealth in the slogan of Karl Marx:
“From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”
When I was a kid I identified as a large cat. I insisted that my parents address me as “Your magisterial feline awesomeness.” When they refused I sought custody at my paternal aunt’s home. I won the case after the judge agreed my parents were abusive for failing to comply with my pronouns.
Upon moving to my aunt’s house I had a change of heart and began identifying as a toaster. I made her address me as “Your magisterial provider of heat to bread thus making the aforementioned bread better tasting, especially with butter and jam.” She complied, and we got along famously.
I say famously because the local newspaper ran an article on us, suggesting my demands were absurd and that my aunt was what they referred to as an “enabler,” but which I referred to as a wonderful person. I sued the paper for defamation, got a runaway jury, and am now independently wealthy. This is a thoroughly American tail, or should I say, toast. Or maybe I’m toast . . . I can never quite keep track of these things.
OldManFromKS,
That was great!
That comment by OldMan was most definitely NOT great.
It was a sadly pathetic and juvenile comment from an individual who is clearly a very shallow thinker.
In other words, a typical MAGA cult member.
By the way, UpstateFarmer, shouldn’t you be out in the fields preparing for spring planting, or tending to livestock, or fixing fences or something.
You seem to be here all day, everyday.
But perhaps you are not really a farmer.
Or perhaps you employ a small army of illegal immigrants as slave labor to do the work, while you relax in the comfort of your home.
Or perhaps you are one of those farmers who collect huge government subsidies for not growing crops.
This is why normal people hate the Left. No humor, no humanity, no creativity. Just a dour looking down their nose at everyone else, taking offense if anyone is enjoying themselves, and destroying what others create. They hate that other people might actually enjoy their lives, or have any ability to imagine a life beyond the dreary dystopia that is always created by socialists and communists.
Trump, masterbator negotiator. Beautiful bond market plunging.
Has anyone noticed?
You’re all indulging freaks and perverts, and you are succumbing.
Is there no one present to ignore, defy, and vigorously oppose idiots and their idiocy?
Tell them to take their crazy ideas and —- off!
It’s not dissimilar to compelling citizens to replace the word “spouse” with “partner” from the “freak” lexicon.
—- ’em!
Politicos with the power & control may embrace the trans cult mentality while the people are enslaved by that precept. HOWEVER, the people still have the freedom of choice (to vote).
Johnathon makes a good case from the standpoint of parents. It’s poking the bear with felony stupid. In that realm, if the government punishes for not changing a child’s name, does the child have to be rebaptised in the name decided by not the parent?
Definitely ON Topic:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/florida-high-school-teacher-loses-job-after-using-student-s-preferred-name/ar-AA1CBBeM?ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&cvid=731744d4b66e43a6b9c59bba669b99d5&ei=8
In Florida,
“If a student wants to go by an alternative to their legal name, whether that be a simple nickname or a name that correlates with a transgender identity, parents must sign a “Parental Authorization for Deviation from Student’s Legal Name Form,” according to the rule, which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in 2023.
“‘BPS supports parents’ rights to be the primary decision-makers in their children’s lives, and Florida law affirms their right to be informed,’ Murnaghan [Brevard Public Schools spokesperson] said.”
Lin, thanks for the article confirming Florida as one of the best states in the country. I note that Disney has been rather quiet.
S. Meyer: Amen. But there has been a very concerted effort to change the demographics of Florida in my adult years, and to alter its political posture to Democratic. (Florida bakeries still have the best knishes though!)
(While I do not particularly dislike JD Vance), I wish DeSantis had been on the ticket with Trump, but for competing egos and campaigns.
My choice was DeSantis, like yours. I am happy with Vance.
“But there has been a very concerted effort to change the demographics of Florida in my adult years, and to alter its political posture to Democratic.”
I am not seeing that today. I am hoping for a change in attitude from PBC and Broward. Some of my neighbors, though doing very well in business and living great lives seem oblivious to reality.
S. Meyer,
Disney has had several woke dumpster fires of movies as of late. Snow White bombed so badly, they halted production of the live-action Tangled. Also, the Florida based theme park has seen plunging ticket sales they are offering discounts.
Upstate, I remember Disney early in the game ~1973, one time alone with my wife and then with my kids. It was a wonderful place of dreams, but then it went on the wrong track. Today I find it suffocating, rude and unpleasant. I wish to tell all young families to save their money. It is not worth it.
“I note that Disney has been rather quiet.”
Possibly their board has made it clear to Disney executives that if they run the business any further into the ground than they already have through the mindless embrace of woke mantras, they will be quickly find themselves unemployed. I think that one inevitable result of Trump’s tariff crusade is that many executives who have thought themselves to have nearly untouchable job security will find that to be false. I do not have any problem with that outcome.
This all started in Colorado decades ago, boy am I glad I left.
All along everyone thought that COVID infected the respiratory system but as we see it actually breaks minds. Oh, those pesky ChiComs.
Here they go again doubling down on stupid. Even the most far left publications are explaining that the woke philosophy is causing the demise of Democratic power in America. https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/shawn-fain-is-right-america-needs-to-rethink-trade/ar-AA1CBdq0. Even Rom Emanuel has said that woke is dead. Yet somehow Colorado stays the woke course. Colorado doesn’t realize that the Democrats lost the Blue Wall because of woke. As Professor Turley states in the last sentence of his post, their comeuppance will not come without pain and the loud gnashing of molar grating against molar. Maybe when they are thrown out of office they can learn to code. Good riddance.
TiT,
That was a very good article. He is right, the Democrat party is now the white collar, college educated elite who look down on blue collar workers. And they expect those blue collar workers to continue voting for them even though their disdain for blue collar workers is on gross display.
“Maybe when they are thrown out of office they can learn to code.”
I have designed software and written code professionally. It is a discipline that requires both intelligence and rationality, two qualities nearly all politicians, and particularly the examples to whom you refer, supremely lack.
Alexandra ocasio cortez is now the leader of the Democrat party. She’s the reason there are directions on shampoo bottles.
I saw a guy last week that thought he was a turtle. If I don’t call him Mr Turtle, could I get in some legal trouble for not addressing him as Mr turtle?
Answer: (In 2024 Blue States in General)
,b>Yes in; California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington, D.C. District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington (state).
Let the other parent deal with “Mr Turtle” and when he comes to visit, give him some lettuce.
Independent Bob —If you run over him with your car, Is it murder or just roadkill?
Colorado is where parenting goes to die—if you want children, keep out.
“As someone who grew up in an Italian family, I must confess that I thought “coercive control” of a parent was called . . . well . . . parenting. I can still remember my Sicilian mother brandishing a broom in front of our door to prevent one of my sisters from going out with a boy that she did not like. She simply declared “I gave you life, I can take it away” and my sister went back upstairs.”
*******************************
Amen to that. Mom, as well as Nona (Grandma), were expert markswomen with the slipoff shoe! It did help me tune my reaction skills, however!
One entire branch of my spouse’s family originated in the rugged, soil-poor hills of Central Italy. I have witnessed some amazing thrown shoe accuracy first hand. The most effective tactic I observed, however, was the timely ear twist…
“As someone who grew up in an Italian family, I must confess that I thought “coercive control” of a parent was called . . . well . . . parenting.”…. nuff said. You didn’t have to grow up in an Italian family to think this. In fact, control virtually assumes “coercive”. If a parent cannot coerce then (s)he cannot control. Control is the essence of raising a child and directing the child’s growth. This court’s ruling is subversive of families and cannot stand.
The California law that threatens to take a child from its parents if they don’t go along with the gender dysphoria of a five year old has nothing to do with custody battles. It is simply a way for the state to control how a child is to be educated. If a custody battle was to occur where one parent favored the transition of a child and one did not which parent do you think would gain custody in a court in California? The law plainly states that the child can be taken from the parents even if both parents are against the child being given, so called, gender affirming care. George marches in lock step with a man who once said “Give me the children for one generation and I will control the nation for generations to come”. George has found a friend.
What about the rights of parents to exercise control over what media influences their child is exposed to?
Prof. Turley wrote a whole book on “free speech”, but since these parental rights collide with the claimed free speech rights of porn operators, trans evangelizers, and infowarriors (e.g., Chinese, Hamas, Tate brothers), he simply avoids the topic. I suspect because he doesn’t want to admit that protecting children posits one reasonable, common-sense limitation on free speech.
Admitting to limitations we mostly all agree on would actually strengthen free speech culture. Ignoring “difficult” use cases merely delays the necessary public debate.
Nice try. Or you could just agree with the Prof when he’s obviously right instead of trying to find a way to oppose.
No parental rights do NOT collide with free speech rights.
In what world do you think that children have rights ?
The right to conduct your life as you see fit requires a minimal ability to actually take care of yourself.
That goes beyond children. While we may have difficulty in establishing where the edges are – as chldren grow older and more capable of taking care of themselves, or as people develop mental health conditions that leave them unable to take care of themselves, or as age infirmity and dementia effect our abilities.
The problematic nature of those edges does not alter the fact that we do not allow children and demented old people to roam the streets doing whatever they please.
“ In what world do you think that children have rights ?”
Apparently in the conservative world. They believe even the unborn have rights. You know, those unborn children they are always concerned about.
“ The problematic nature of those edges does not alter the fact that we do not allow children and demented old people to roam the streets doing whatever they please.”
Are you sure about that? There are countries where children roam free. Parents let them go to school on subways, walk, and even to to a store by way of taxi or something similar. The point is it’s not unheard, it’s entirely possible.
Yes, Protecting children is of critical importance. Government is NOT the primary protector of children – their PARENTS are.
Government is the protector of last resort – when all else has failed.
Government is not there to second guess the decisions of parents regarding their children.
It is there to protect them when parents are not, or when beyond a reasonable doubt parents are actually harming their kids.
You are free to disagree with the way others parent their kids.
Most of us can trivially find flaws in the way others parent their kids.
Shrinks do a booming business helping adults work through the purported damage their parents did to them as children.
But the evidence is damning – short of actually physically torturing your children it is hard to do a worse job at parenting than the state.
It is an old book written from a liberal perspective, but you should read “weeping in the playtime of others” – it is a dmaning indictment of government efforts to regulate childcare in the US.
It is the US system that produced Charles Manson.
Hillary Clinton was WRONG – it does not take a village to raise a child – it takes a family.
Raising children is difficult. Most parents do a poor job, but 99.999% of the time every alternative to the childs actual parents raising them is WORSE.
“ Hillary Clinton was WRONG – it does not take a village to raise a child – it takes a family.”
Sometimes a villege IS the family. She wasn’t wrong. Here the “village” wants to raise your kids according to the values of the village conservatives.
So you’re no longer a homer-sexual and you’re now against the Village People? SMH. Trolls aren’t what they used to be. Peter Hill would be ashamed of you
You focus on ideology, not parenting. It is parents who bring up children not the state, Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative. The state does a lousy job and that has been proven.
In the meantime the state should make sure you stay away from schools.
I take it you are also against the abuse by conversion therapy, electroshock therapy, lobotomies, John Say. That’s good.
I remember an interview with the English writer Anthony Burgess, who incidentally was Catholic, who said that the goal of the modern State is to supplant the natural authority of parents. In other words, the institution of the State is replacing the institution of the family. This statement seemed dubious at the time, but he has turned out to be prophetic.
This is just sickening! I live in Colorado, and we have some of the worst laws in the country!
I lived there for 44 years. Left two years ago. It is sad to see how Colorado is becoming the next California.
It really is. 🙁
Ajeanneinthekitchen – The correct term for this condition is “Left sickness”. It is everywhere these days, and it is destroying all of our lives.
That and severe TDS. 🙁