The Golden State war on parents

Today is National Parents’ Day. As my colleague wrote, “COS grassroots activists and leaders understand that for our republic to function properly and according to its founding principles, the fundamental rights of parents must not be abridged. To that end, COS volunteers are active in state legislatures from coast to coast to support legislation that protects the rights of parents and children.”

Parental rights have emerged as a defining fault line in American politics since 2021. That year, one of my most popular articles, “Parents Have a Right to Be Angry At Their Local School Board,” capitalized on the growing frustration with the American educational system. Between mask mandates, Critical Race Theory (CRT), and LBGTQ indoctrination, the classroom, and especially the school board meeting, became the focal point of the culture wars—the front lines in a long-overdue clash between parents and educators.

Since then, several states, including Florida, Tennessee, and Oklahoma, have actively championed parents’ rights to direct their kids’ education.

“Parents’ rights have been increasingly under assault around the nation,” said Governor Ron DeSantis after signing the Parental Rights in Education bill, “but in Florida we stand up for the rights of parents and the fundamental role they play in the education of their children. Parents have every right to be informed about services offered to their child at school, and should be protected from schools using classroom instruction to sexualize their kids as young as 5 years old.”

Other states, however, have taken a very different approach. Florida’s chief rival, California, for example, seems dead-set on circumventing parents from the education process in every possible way.

Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1955 into law, banning schools from alerting parents about their children’s “sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.” In other words, if a minor pupil adopts a fake gender identity conflicting with that student’s actual gender, California schools are now legally barred from sharing that information with the student’s parents.

“AB 1955 is an outrageous attempt to keep parents in the dark while schools indoctrinate kids with radical gender ideology,” blasted Harmeet Dhillon, CEO and Founder of the Center for American Liberty. “By signing the bill, Gov. Newsom is transferring power away from our local communities and centralizing it in Sacramento, blatantly undermining our democratic values.”

Unfortunately, this is not the first time Newsom has wielded the government as a work around parents.

According to Planned Parenthood, “Under California law, minors can access reproductive health care, obtain birth control, and receive abortion services without parental notification or parental consent.” After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom promoted California as a sanctuary state for abortion services. He has celebrated the state’s commitment to providing access to abortions, including for minors from other states, often without the need for parental consent.

“Under Newsom, the state of California rolled out a new abortion website, which specifically targeted minors with a section telling out-of-state minors how to get an abortion in California without their parents’ permission,” reported DeSantis. “A 14-year-old from Iowa could travel to California and get a taxpayer-funded abortion without her parents' knowledge or consent.

Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a far-left filmmaker who produces explicit documentaries about sexuality, gender equality, and toxic masculinity, praised her husband’s war against parental rights and hardline stance on abortion. “I’m proud to reside in, and raise my children in California where our Governor, Administration, and Legislature trust women, and respect our authority to make decisions about our own reproductive health and futures,” she boasted.

It is startling that we have entered an era of American politics where governments openly pursue policies that keep parents in the dark about their children. If the first step involves blindfolding the parents—those whom God has entrusted with the responsibility of raising their children—then whatever follows should be met with our utmost suspicion. What’s even more concerning is that California lawmakers and big tech oligarchs hold disproportionate sway in federal politics. This means that extreme positions, which, under a healthy federalist system, might otherwise be confined to California, could be forced on the entire nation.

We must never allow this to happen. At Convention of States, we recognize a parent’s right to raise and protect their kids as one of the most crucial liberties in America. Our co-founder, Michael Farris, has advocated for parental rights for decades.

Through an Article V convention, we can return the decision-making to you and your family, curbing California’s war on parents in its tracks.

Sign the Convention of States petition below to get started!