“A bill to protect the right of parents to direct the upbringing of their children as a fundamental right.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section states congressional findings recognizing the fundamental, pre-political right of parents to direct the upbringing, education, and health care of their children—citing Supreme Court precedents such as Pierce v. Society of Sisters, Meyer v. Nebraska, and Troxel v. Granville—and declaring that strict scrutiny is the appropriate judicial standard for government actions interfering with those rights. The section further declares the purposes of the Act to protect that parental right while acknowledging parents' responsibilities for their children's education, nurture, and upbringing.
This section defines key terms for purposes of the Act: (1) government, encompassing any branch, department, agency, instrumentality, or official (or person acting under color of law) of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any U.S. territory or possession; (2) parent, meaning a biological parent, adoptive parent, or individual granted exclusive right and authority over a child's welfare under state law; (3) child, an individual who has not attained 18 years of age; and (4) substantial burden, any action that directly or indirectly constrains, inhibits, curtails, or denies parents' rights to direct their child's upbringing, education, or health care (or compels contrary action), including withholding benefits, assessing penalties or damages, or excluding from government programs.
This section establishes the liberty of parents to direct the upbringing, education, and health care of their children as a fundamental right and prohibits government from substantially burdening that right absent a compelling governmental interest of the highest order pursued through the least restrictive means. It specifies protected parental rights to direct the child's education, moral or religious upbringing, and physical or mental health care decisions (including access to and review of all medical records) and clarifies that these rights are inalienable, comprehensive, and supplemental to other federal, state, or constitutional protections. The section excludes application to parental actions causing serious physical injury or death to the child and authorizes parents to raise violations as claims or defenses in federal or state court or administrative proceedings, subject to Article III standing rules.
This section (1) adds the Families’ Rights and Responsibilities Act to the list of statutes eligible for reasonable attorney's fee awards to prevailing parties (other than the United States) in judicial proceedings under 42 U.S.C. 1988(b) and (2) expands eligibility for such awards in administrative proceedings under EAJA (5 U.S.C. 504(b)(1)(C)) to include adjudications under that Act as well as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993.
This section makes the Act applicable to all federal laws and their implementation, whether statutory or otherwise and whether adopted before or after the date of enactment. It further establishes rules of construction providing that (1) the Act's protections of parents' fundamental right to direct their children's upbringing, education, and health care are in addition to existing federal, state, and constitutional protections; (2) the Act must be construed to provide broad protection of that right; (3) the Act does not authorize any government to burden that right; and (4) subsequently enacted federal laws are subject to the Act unless they explicitly exclude its application by reference.