PR: Bills filed in NC House and Senate Aim to Restore Parental Authority in Medical Decisions
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 26th, 2025
Contact: Ashley Vaughan
[email protected]
BILLS FILED IN NC HOUSE AND SENATE AIM TO RESTORE PARENTAL AUTHORITY IN MEDICAL DECISIONS
Two bills, HB 519 and SB 759, were filed in the NC House and Senate that aim to restore to parents the right to consent for diagnosis and treatment of serious medical conditions for their minor children. Currently under NC law, children – not parents – have the right to consent for sexually transmitted diseases, substance abuse, and emotional disturbance. Because of this, parents are being left out of important medical decisions that may have life-changing ramifications, and the burden of managing those conditions is being left to children alone. Furthermore, parents are being excluded from deeply personal and value-laden situations that they have a right to speak into as the ones responsible for the upbringing of the child.
NC Values Coalition strongly supports these bills. Press Director Ashley Vaughan said, “Parents should have the right to make decisions about their child’s medical care. Let’s be clear: children can’t manage complex treatment plans or navigate the healthcare system alone. They aren’t ready to weigh the benefits versus the risks of psychiatric meds, or to comply with the strict regimen required to manage HIV. And they should not bear the physical and emotional toll of addiction recovery alone. Parents are being sidelined when their children need them the most, and it is time for North Carolina to fix this problem.”
Officially titled “Parents Bill of Medical Rights”, the bills were introduced just days after a landmark decision by the NC Supreme Court, Happel v. Guilford County Board of Education, reaffirming parents’ rights as being a fundamental Constitutional right. Chief Justice Paul Newby wrote in the majority opinion that parents have the right to direct the upbringing of their own children – including giving consent to and making medical decisions for their children. “If the General Assembly doesn’t pass this bill repealing the old statute that takes away parents’ rights to consent to medical treatment of their children, then a parent will inevitably file a lawsuit to have the statute declared unconstitutional,” said Vaughan.
The bills are sponsored in the House by Reps. Jennifer Balkcom, Donnie Loftis, Larry Potts, and Heather Rhyne and in the Senate by Sens. Jim Burgin, Benton Sawrey, and Dana Jones.
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PR: Bill Introduced to Protect Parents and Facilitate Adoption and Foster Care
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 25th, 2025
Contact: Ashley Vaughan
[email protected]
BILL INTRODUCED TO PROTECT PARENTS AND FACILITATE ADOPTION AND FOSTER CARE
Senate Bill 442 was filed which aims to shield parents from losing custody of their children, and to facilitate adoption and foster care. Parents should never be required to affirm dangerous and unscientific gender transition interventions in order to parent, adopt, or foster children. There have been cases around the country of parents losing custody of minor children for refusing to support social and medical gender transition interventions, including in Indiana, Ohio, California, and Illinois. Currently in North Carolina, social workers are directed to assess whether children in foster care are at risk of ‘maltreatment and rejecting behaviors’ including parents refusing to affirm gender identity or sexual orientation. Court rulings and policies like these are not only wrong, they are also in direct conflict with legal precedent on parental rights. The North Carolina Supreme Court has just ruled in Happel v. Guilford County Board of Education that parents have a fundamental Constitutional right to direct the upbringing of their own children—including medical decisions—and government imposition of gender identity ideology on parents violates this principle.
NC Values Coalition Executive Director Tami Fitzgerald applauded the bill, saying “Parents should have the freedom to raise their children according to their values and make decisions for their well-being without fear of the government taking their child away. There is growing consensus in the US and abroad from a scientific perspective that the harms of gender transition interventions – including cancer, heart disease, bone problems, sterility, and mental health problems – make these treatments dangerous for minors.”
The bill, officially titled “Parents Protection Act,” is sponsored by Sens. Jim Burgin, Benton Sawrey, Amy Galey, Timothy Moffitt, and Norman Sanderson.
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PR: Men are Men and Women are Women bill Introduced in NC Senate
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 25th, 2025
Contact: Ashley Vaughan
[email protected]
MEN ARE MEN AND WOMEN ARE WOMEN BILL INTRODUCED IN NC SENATE
Today, a bill was filed in the NC Senate that aims to define “male” and “female” by biology in NC law and to restrict men and boys from entering women and girls’ private spaces. The bills mirror President Trump’s recent executive order ‘Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government’ which declared that Federal policy will recognize the “biological reality of sex” and restricts men from entering women’s private spaces in federal agencies and facilities.
NC Values Coalition Press Director Ashley Vaughan applauded the bill, saying, “North Carolina must return to the common sense understanding that men are men, women are women, and men should not be allowed to rob women of their safety and privacy by invading their private spaces. Defining male and female by biology in North Carolina law is important because when men can identify as women it invalidates hundreds of laws and policies designed to protect women. We need to protect women and girls in private spaces where they are vulnerable. North Carolina schools should never allow children to be on the front lines of the gender ideology confusion. And North Carolina correctional facilities must protect female inmates from predatory male inmates claiming to be women. Trump got this right, and now North Carolina needs to get this right.”
If this bill becomes law, NC will join a growing number of states seeking to protect women from the harmful effects of gender ideology. Six states do not allow sex to be changed on birth certificates, and three states define “sex” by biology. Fourteen states have passed laws to segregate private spaces by biology, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals just upheld a similar law passed by Idaho unanimously.
The bill introduced today only designate private spaces by biology in K-12 public schools, rape crisis centers, local confinement facilities, domestic violence shelters, juvenile detention centers, and prisons.
The bill sponsors are Sens. Overcash and Sawyer.
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