WASHINGTON, D.C. — A parent should never have to choose between surrendering their convictions and surrendering their child to the government.
Independent Women today applauded the introduction of the Yaeli Martinez Child Protection Act, legislation introduced by Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) to protect parents from adverse action by federally funded child-welfare systems for raising their children according to their biological sex or declining sex-rejecting procedures.
The legislation would prohibit federal child-welfare funds—including those administered through the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) and Titles IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act—from being used to penalize parents on those grounds. It preserves states’ authority to investigate genuine abuse and neglect.
“Raising a girl as a girl or a boy as a boy is not child abuse, and no parent should fear losing custody of a child for refusing to deny biological reality or consent to life-altering medical interventions. Government has a role in protecting children from genuine abuse and neglect, but it should never be used to override the judgment of fit parents simply because state officials disagree with how they are raising their child,” said Beth Parlato, Independent Women Senior Legal Counsel. “This legislation protects the fundamental right of parents to direct the care, upbringing, and medical decisions of their children, and Independent Women is proud to support it.”
Named for Yaeli Martinez, the legislation was introduced following her family’s experience with California’s child-welfare system. Martinez was removed from her mother’s custody after her mother declined to treat her as a boy. While in state care, Martinez was subsequently affirmed in a male identity and given testosterone. She later died by suicide at age 19.
INDEPENDENT WOMEN FIGHTS FOR PARENTAL RIGHTS
This legislation comes as Independent Women continues to advocate for parental rights and ending the chemical and surgical mutilation of minors. Independent Women’s Features (IW Features), the grassroots journalism arm of Independent Women, has documented firsthand accounts from families who say government institutions and schools have excluded parents from consequential decisions involving their children.
Most recently, IW Features profiled California father Ted Hudacko, who is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his case after a sex-rejecting procedure was performed on his then-16-year-old son without his knowledge or consent—despite a court order requiring both parents to approve any “gender identity-related surgery.” Earlier this month, Independent Women’s Law Center, together with the Manhattan Institute, filed an amicus brief in Hudacko v. Regents of the University of California, urging the Supreme Court to hear the case.
IW Features has also recently brought national attention to state and local issues, such as in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where families say gender policies in their public schools are undermining parental involvement and student privacy; and in New Mexico generally, which has declared itself a sanctuary state for the chemical and surgical mutilation of minors.
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