Fighting for More Parental Rights in New Jersey

Along party lines, the New Jersey Senate Health Committee has passed two pieces of controversial legislation, S1188, and S1970. The bills now move to the New Jersey Senate and Assembly, where they will be voted on.

S1188, which lowers the age of behavioral health care treatment from 16 to 14, is sponsored by Raj Mukherji (D-Hudson). Mukherji’s bill would allow middle school-aged children to receive health counseling without the consent of their parents. Meanwhile, S1970, which lowers the age of consent from 16 to 13, is sponsored by Joe Vitale (D-Middlesex), who is the same legislator who is blocking efforts to have Billy Cray’s Law, a bipartisan bill that would install security cameras in special group home common areas, passed in committee. Vitale’s bill would allow middle school-aged children to consent to behavioral health care treatment without the need to notify their parents.

New Jersey elected officials These bills have been criticized by parental rights activists, who constantly interrupted the hearing. Numerous parents who testified were worried they were being blocked out of their children’s lives. One of these activists is Shawn Hyland, the Advocacy Director at the New Jersey Family Policy Center. “We strongly oppose these bills because of the well-documented evidence for teenagers facing health struggles to have a successful outcome of treatment,” Hyland said. “More parental involvement is necessary. Not less.” Our government is actively trying to take the rights of parents away by making it less accessible for parents to watch over their children.

“The eminent domain of parenting is what I would call this latest nightmare for families. Sadly what is happening is nothing new, it is predictable in fact, since we have a gaggle of virtue-signaling moral relativists running our state. So expect it to pass while the radical Marxists pat themselves on the back for doing so. The worst is yet to come, ask anyone who lived through it under Mao, Khrushchev, Castro, etc. It is an intentional next step in the managed decline of the Garden State at the hands of these postmodernist elites in Trenton who make it their job to follow the old communist playbook.” Said Grant Van Eck, AF-Northeast Hub Manager and former Oakland, NJ Councilman. “All the worst regimes in history and present, like we have here in NJ today, must disrupt the institution of the family. Part of that process is to seize children from parents along with everything else they take by force from their populations. It is the natural evolution of totalitarian states, confiscation and expropriation is all they know how to do well. The only societal incentive is turning one against their loved ones and neighbors. Given that the family unit is the greatest threat to their goal of total subjugation it makes perfect sense for them to want to do this and whatever they have planned next once this succeeds. It has been 40 years since Stone v. Graham and it shows how forgotten the 5th Commandment is to our elected leaders.”

Acting against parents has been a common theme amongst members of the modern Democratic Party. Shutting out parents while letting kids make decisions they are not old enough to make. These two bills are no exception to this theme. The time is now more important than ever to stand up for young children. The government should not be telling parents what is best for their children. Only parents know what is best. Supporting pro-education and school choice groups such as Yes. Every Kid. is essential to allowing students to get a quality education without the need to be brainwashed by an anti-American political agenda.