How Your Vote Affects Children’s Rights
I’ve recently been challenged to think of parental rights in a new way. As I said in a previous article about parental rights, children ultimately belong to God, but He has entrusted them to their parents—whom He will hold accountable for how they are raised. As a parent of three, I have a right to raise my children as I see fit. I believe that I am best equipped to make decisions regarding my children, not the schools or the government. You may want to read our full article on What the Bible Says About Parental Rights.
A friend recently challenged my thinking to balance it with the rights of children. She was greatly influenced by the book “Them Before Us,” by Katy Faust and Stacy Manning. Although I’m not readily embracing every tenet of the book, some of the authors’ insights gave me a new perspective on how we should correctly define children’s rights and parental rights.
I thought I’d share some of the ideas with you as we all prepare for an election cycle in which these topics will be on the ballot. Many elected officials say that it is “in the best interests of the child” to offer them “gender affirming care,” and that children have a right to attempt a gender transition without their parent’s knowledge. They say children have a right to access pornographic books in school. They paint your support of a parent’s right to be informed and to direct their child’s upbringing as an attempt to suppress the rights of children.
What Rights Did God Give Children?
I appreciate how Katy Faust points out that every child has some basic natural rights:
- God gave every child the right to life. They have this right from the moment they exist at fertilization.
- Katy says that God gave children the right to be raised by “the two people responsible for their existence.” While this is not always possible in a fallen world, we can all agree with the studies that find that children do best with both a mother and a father. In instances where death or divorce causes separation, or even when a child has loving adoptive parents, those children frequently long for (and will search for) their biological parents. So the policies we vote for should strengthen, not weaken, the family bond.
- Children are not miniature adults and have a right to innocence. They need to be protected from pornographic books, which some adults have recklessly introduced into school libraries—and fought to keep there. Most parents, not the schools, are the ones who know what their child is capable of handling when discussing topics like sexuality.
- Children have a right to reach maturity without being chemically or surgically castrated. Children need protection from adults who would damage their healthy bodies through surgeries and a life-long dependence on cross-sex hormones.
How do we Balance Parental Rights with the Rights of Children?
It boils down to morals and priorities. When we correctly understand children’s basic rights, we see that parents have the God-given right and responsibility to protect those rights. Sadly, as America lost its moral compass in the 60’s and 70’s and the sexual revolution ran rampant, the desires of adults became paramount, and children were left to deal with the consequences.
From no-fault divorce, to abortion, to the redefinition of marriage, we have been trained to consider only the desires of the adults involved, not the consequences for children, who are more vulnerable and deserve protection.
Anti-child Actions in the Public Arena
I am shocked by recent examples of elected officials—or people appointed by elected officials—who claim to act in a child’s best interest while driving a wedge between them and their parents. Consider the “trans refuge” laws in California and Minnesota, which could allow the state to take custody of a child whose parent is protecting them from receiving cross-sex hormones or surgery.
Or consider the fact that over 18,000 schools (reaching over 10 million students!) do not tell parents if their child starts identifying as the opposite gender. Those policies are not just anti-parent; they are anti-child . . . when you correctly define children’s rights.
Who knows their child best? As a parent, my answer is the parents. Who is most likely to try and stop their child from attempting something terribly harmful like a gender transition? Their parents. Sadly, we’ve all heard stories about parents who will push their children to transition. That is why it is also important to pass laws to protect children from pornographic library books and from sterilizing, life-altering medical procedures.
What Policies Affect Children’s Rights? More than You Might Think
I believe that marriage between one man and one woman is the only legitimate marriage—because marriage is about more than the adults involved. Children need their mother and father.
This is why I don’t support policies that encourage absentee fathers and divorce—it harms children.
That is why I believe in religious liberty for faith-based adoption agencies who do not place children with same-sex couples—because children naturally do best with a mother and father.
And this is why I commit to protecting the sanctity of life—because children have a right to life.
Make no mistake, the radical Left’s policies of “sexual rights” are harming children. And Judeo-Christian policies promote what’s truly best for children.
We have the chance to stand up for these vulnerable children in every election. It is an urgent duty. The policies that harm them are getting more bold and even more radical. We must cast informed votes, and enlist our like-minded friends to do the same. If we don’t, both parents and children will continue to have their true rights disregarded.
