House Judiciary panel advances bill to codify parental rights after hours of testimony

The Indiana House Judiciary Committee voted 9–3 to advance Senate Bill 143 on a party-line leaning margin after a day of testimony from parents, health‑care trainees, attorneys and policy advocates.

Senate Bill 143 would make parental rights—"the right to direct the upbringing, education, health care and religious instruction of a minor child"—a fundamental right under Indiana law and allow parents to sue a governmental entity that "substantially burdens" those rights unless the government meets strict‑scrutiny standards. The bill includes exemptions stating that nothing in the statute authorizes child abuse or neglect determinations to be avoided.

The measure’s sponsor, Senator Brown, told the committee SB 143 is intended to "rightsize the ship in respect to parental rights," saying the bill applies to unemancipated children under 18 and would require governmental actors to meet the highest legal standard before interfering with parental…