Free Republic

WASHINGTON — Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Monday that his department will monitor Florida’s implementation of a controversial new education law that restricts classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity to determine whether it violates federal civil rights law. Mr. Cardona’s statement hints at potential legal ramifications for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decision Monday to sign the legislation, which critics have called the “don’t say gay” bill, into law. But it does not specify what actions the Biden administration could take in response. “By signing this bill, Governor DeSantis has chosen to target some of Florida’s most vulnerable students...

It has been a long and painful month in the Florida legislature for opponents of the state’s Trumpist governor Ron DeSantis and his loyal band of rightwing Republicans. A slew of bills has advanced attacking everything from diversity rights, abortion protections and free speech in schools, in addition to a proposal that would legally shield white people from feeling “discomfort” over the state’s racist past..... The issues that Republicans see as a priority for Florida are red meat to DeSantis’s conservative base. They include the 15-week abortion ban bill, which received a chaotic hearing on Thursday, and moves to give...

The father of a Beachwood Elementary School student who had close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 initially refused take his son home to continue classes while quarantining and angrily shouted at school staff after being called by the school nurse, authorities in the New Jersey community said. John Wehrle eventually took the boy from school after being told by the police school resource officer that the Division of Child Protection and Permanency would have to be notified if the student didn’t leave, Beachwood police said in a statement. In a phone interview Friday morning, Wehrle said that...

School districts in Florida will be allowed to impose mask requirements after a district judge on Friday blocked an executive order from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) banning the mandates. Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper ruled in favor of a group of parents who sued DeSantis over his executive order, arguing it was unconstitutional. He ruled the order is "without legal authority" and is by definition "arbitrary" and "capricious." Cooper issued an injunction stopping the Department of Education from taking any action against local districts that require masks in schools without a parental opt-out. Cooper said the state's new...

SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio Domestic violence: East Antisdale Road A girl, 17, and her father got into a physical altercation June 22 after the man wanted to see her cell phone because he believed there to be provocative photos of her and another person. The man was able to view pictures on the phone of his daughter in sexual positions with a male, whom she said was her boyfriend. No charges were filed in the incident. Arrangements were made for the girl to stay with a family member for the night, and Child and Family Services was notified of the incident.

Virginia Democrats mistake their legislative control as a mandate for extreme liberal social re-engineering — and it shows where the rest of the party is headed. For the first time in 26 years, Virginians voted a Democrat majority into both the state’s House and Senate. Four weeks into the General Assembly, the new majority is voting in laws restricting parents’ rights, removing religious protections, and disturbing rights traditional to Virginians.“The aggressive onslaught of hostile legislation is new this year,” said Victoria Cobb, president of the Family Foundation of Virginia. “Virginia has never even had a public policy discussion about forcing...

Full title: Pediatrician Warns 'Equality Act' Would Strip Parental Rights, Force Catholic Hospitals Out of Business, and End Girls' Sports The Daily Signal sat down with Dr. Michelle Cretella, a pediatrician and executive director of the American College of Pediatricians, to discuss the "Equality Act" and its impact it would have on parental rights, doctors' oath to do no harm to patients, as well as the effect it would have on Faith-based organization who oppose transgender ideology, and even its impact girls' sports. Dr. Cretella warned the "Equality Act," despite its name, would unfairly strip parents and moral conscientious health...

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Canada ordered that a 14-year-old girl receive testosterone injections without parental consent. The court also declared that if either of her parents referred to her using female pronouns or addressed her by her birth name, they would be considered guilty of family violence. As previously reported, Maxine* was encouraged by her school counselor in BC’s Delta School District to identify as a boy while in seventh grade. When Maxine was 13 years old, Dr. Brenden Hursh and his colleagues at BC Children’s Hospital decided that Maxine should begin taking testosterone injections in...

Two recent bills proposed by state legislators in Illinois and Iowa reveal a disturbing perspective on parental rights that’s becoming more prevalent in our country: the belief that parents cannot be trusted to care for their children. The Swiftly-Defeated Illinois Bill In Illinois, a little over a week ago, Democratic state Rep. Monica Bristow introduced House Bill 3560. That bill sought to amend the school code to require the Child Protective Service unit of the Department of Children and Family Services to investigate the home of a child being homeschooled “to ensure there is no suspected child abuse or neglect...

Let’s say you and some of your friends decide to gather your young children together a couple of days a week for a few hours of free play. Maybe you switch off who leads the gaggle of kids each week, allowing for some shared free time and flexibility. Sounds like a great arrangement for all, right? Your kids get to play freely with their friends, and you get some occasional free babysitting. According to government officials in Washington, DC, arrangements like this are violations of the law. They are cracking down on what they call an illegal “child development facility”...

U.S. judge acknowledges parental rights violated! A Minnesota mother is trying to deal with the fallout of a violation of her parental rights that led to her son being pushed through sex-change treatments without her knowledge. Anmarie Calgaro is appealing District Judge Paul Magnuson’s decision to dismiss her lawsuit over the actions by the local county, school district and health officials. The Thomas More Society said Magnuson “admitted that the boy was not legally emancipated by a court order and agreed that Calgaro’s parental rights ‘remained intact.'” Despite those facts, the judge decreed that the de facto emancipation of Calgaro’s...

The saga of Julie Goffstein and her children needs to make all of us demand better. A travesty was done to children who were ripped apart from a loving and by all accounts good mother, from their heritage and from their way of life. Moreover, the tragic injustice done in this case should send shivers down the spines of every homeschooling advocate in the nation. Julie was a loving mother of 6 boys, ages 5-15. She raised them with great care for their physical needs, their spiritual wellbeing and their personal development. Eleven character witnesses testified as to this at...

The prime minister will call for a revolution in child rearing this weekend by suggesting that all parents should attend classes on how to discipline their children. In a move likely to enrage those fearful of an encroaching "nanny state", David Cameron will say that it should be the norm for parents to receive instruction on how to behave around their offspring. As part of a speech on the family, Cameron will announce plans for a parenting classes voucher scheme, claiming that all parents need help and that there is too little state-sponsored guidance on offer. "In the end, getting...

Earlier this month, LifeNews.com reported on a high school in Seattle, Washington that is now implanting intrauterine devices (IUD), as well as other forms of birth control and doing so without parental knowledge or permission.The IUD is known as a long acting reversible contraception, and may even act as an abortifacient. So, a young teen in Seattle canÂ’t get a coke at her high school, but she can have a device implanted into her uterus, which can unknowingly kill her unborn child immediately after conception. Or, if she uses another method, she can increase her chances of health risks for...

President Barack Obama, through a statement posted Wednesday night on the White House website by adviser Valerie Jarrett, backed legislation that would ban parents from having their children counseled not to be what Jarrett called "LGBTQ+". “As part of our dedication to protecting America’s youth, this Administration supports efforts to ban the use of conversion therapy for minors,” Jarrett said in the White House statement. “Conversion therapy generally refers to any practices by mental health providers that seek to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity,” said the statement. “Often, this practice is used on minors, who lack the...

Newborn screening for medical disorders is becoming an increasingly common practice. This seems like a good thing; however, along with the potential benefits of screening, there are concerns that some states are not obtaining parental consent before doing the screening. There are also legitimate concerns that state governments will store the child's DNA in a database. No one should be surprised to learn that there is a federal program funding newborn screening, and readers of this blog should not be surprised to learn that legislation extending this program was rammed into law in the lame duck session of Congress. However,...

Huckabee has been Justina Pelletier's champion for the mast several months. Justina was abducted by Boston's Children's and Mass DCF on the grounds that her disease was all in her head - somatoform disorder.

The fate of a 16-year-old Connecticut girl at the center of a major medical custody dispute is in the hands of a Massachusetts judge, now that Bay State children's advocates have conceded Justina Pelletier should be returned to her family. In a controversial move, Pelletier was placed in the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families more than a year ago, after two reputable Boston hospitals sparred in their diagnosis of the girl. snip In what Justina's attorneys are calling a "dramatic reversal," the Massachusetts DCF filed a motion agreeing that the teenager should be returned to her...

Alan Dershowitz told Huckabee tonight that if everything we know about the #FreeJustina case is true, then this is a horrible abuse of human rights and of civil liberties. He said that Massachusetts law is clearly on the side of the parents, pointing out that if there is a conflict in medical opinion over a child under Massachusetts law, the dispute is settled by the parents, not the hospitals or the state. He even offered to help the parents get custody back of their daughter. Watch:

The last time Lou Pelletier spoke with his 15-year-old daughter was Feb. 14 — Valentine’s Day. For this father of four, though, the day held a different meaning for his youngest valentine: It marked one year since she was taken and placed in a psychiatric ward against her parents’ will. “We need help,” Lou Pelletier told TheBlaze in an exclusive interview, explaining why he made the decision to break a judge’s gag order and talk about the situation. “I’m trying to save my daughter’s life,” he said. “While still being able to live,” Jessica, one of Justina’s older sisters, added....