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Long hearing on proposed Parental Bill of Rights highlights deep divisions on student privacy and medical consent
Summary
Supporters of House Bill 10 told the Children and Family Law Committee the measure would consolidate parental protections over schooling and health care; critics—from mental-health groups, teachers' unions, medical associations and LGBTQ advocates—warned the draft is vague, could create barriers to care, chill school staff and endanger vulnerable
Representative John Packard and Representative Deborah DeSimone presented an amended version of House Bill 10, a proposed "parliamentary" parental bill of rights that would consolidate a parents' ability to direct education, medical care, and access to school materials for their minor children.
Packard said the measure "establishes the parental bill of rights" and described it as a response to parents who told him "they are the ones that are responsible for the upbringing of their children. The schools are there to teach them. The parents are the ones that are responsible for their health, their upbringing, putting a roof over their head, feeding them." DeSimone, who helped draft the substitute language, told the committee the amendment "tightened up the language" and was intended to produce a usable statutory framework.
Opposition and major themes
The hearing drew a long line of witnesses who urged the committee to vote it inexpedient to legislate (ITL) or to substantially redraft the measure. The comments fell into three main themes:
1) Medical access and confidentiality: Health-care groups, including the New Hampshire…
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