Dear Friends,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This week, I had the chance to speak about something that matters deeply to every parent and to me personally. The right of parents to make their own choices when it comes to guiding their children\u2019s upbringing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The question is as straightforward as it gets. Should parents have the authority to make decisions about their children\u2019s upbringing and education, or should government? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For most of American history, the answer was obvious. Parents had the God-given right and responsibility to direct the upbringing, education, and care of their children. This was common sense. It was natural law. That has started to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Government began inserting itself into decisions that belonged to families. Schools started teaching gender ideology and implementing policies behind parents\u2019 backs. Bureaucrats started claiming they knew better than moms and dads. Parental authority got redefined as merely one voice among many.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lot of people look at us in Idaho and think we don\u2019t have to worry about these battles because we are a red state. But we\u2019re not immune. Liberal groups challenge our commonsense laws regularly, attempting to stop conservative, pro-family legislation passed by our legislature. My office is in court every week defending them, and it matters because the consequences are real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When government decides it knows better than parents, families suffer. When bureaucrats claim expertise that supersedes parental judgment, children in Idaho lose. When schools hide information from parents or make life-altering decisions about a child\u2019s identity, education, or healthcare without parental involvement, we\u2019ve crossed a dangerous line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Parents have the right and the responsibility to guide the upbringing of their children. That decision should be left to parents and families, not liberal activists or government bureaucrats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Government doesn\u2019t know what\u2019s best for your family. You do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Government doesn\u2019t lie awake at night worrying about your child\u2019s future, praying for their safety, sacrificing for their success. You do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When we defend parental rights, we\u2019re defending something much bigger than any single policy. We\u2019re defending the natural order. We\u2019re defending liberty itself. We\u2019re defending the idea that free people in a free society get to raise their children according to their values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fight over parental rights is not going away. There are powerful interests that genuinely believe they should have more authority over children in Idaho than their own parents. They use language about equity, access, and expertise. They claim to be acting in the child\u2019s best interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Strip away their rhetoric, and you see what this really is. Concentrated power versus individual liberty. Government control versus family autonomy. Bureaucratic expertise versus parental love and judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Winning this fight requires more than good intentions. It requires constitutional clarity. Legal precision. Intellectual courage. A willingness to defend foundational principles even when they\u2019re unpopular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s exactly what my office does. We defend Idaho\u2019s laws protecting parental rights in court. We push back against federal overreach. We stand with parents who know their children better than any government official ever could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Protecting Idaho families means protecting the right of parents to raise their children according to their values. And I will never stop fighting for that foundational right.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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