A new law, effective this month, establishes and details the “inalienable” rights of parents in Oklahoma.
HB1384, commonly referred to as the “Parent’s Bill of Rights,” establishes that no governmental entity can have the final say on a parent’s right to make what he or she feels is the best decision for their child’s physical and mental health and educational upbringing.
Rep. Sally Kern, R-Oklahoma City, was one of the lawmakers responsible for authoring the bill. She said her motive for the bill was to limit what she feels is the government’s steady encroachment on the rights of parents. Many of the rights detailed in the bill, she said, were common sense.
“It’s a shame you have to do something like that in statute,” Kern said. “You would think that would be something everyone would recognize – that children are dependent on parents.”
Kern said that the core unit of any society is the family and “big government” is threatening that by infringing on parental rights.
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