House State Affairs committee backs parental-rights bill after extended debate
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Summary
After hours of testimony and wide-ranging opposition from child-protection, school and medical groups, the House/Senate State Affairs committee gave Senate Bill 190 a due-pass recommendation; supporters called it a needed codification of parental rights, while opponents warned it could delay interventions for abused or neglected children.
The House/Senate State Affairs committee voted to send Senate Bill 190 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation after an hours-long hearing that split advocates and state agencies.
Sen. Tamara Grove, the bill’s sponsor, said the measure would place parental rights on a constitutional-style footing in state law and ensure parents are involved in education and medical decisions for children unless narrow exceptions apply. "We are in a state that we are not protecting our parents and it's time that we do so," Grove told the committee.
Supporters, including legal groups and faith-based organizations, said the bill adopts a strict-scrutiny standard for infringements on parental authority and that new caveats preserve emergency medical care and abuse-and-neglect responses. Norman Woods of Family Voice Action, a proponent, said the updated draft contains clarifications proponents added after last year’s hearings.
Opponents warned the bill could hamper child-protection work, delay medical assessments and complicate abuse-and-neglect proceedings. Tiffany Wolfgang, chief of Children and Family Services at the Department of Social Services, told the committee that in situations where a parent is suspected of harm, "time matters and any delay in assessing the injuries, trauma, or immediate safety concerns puts children at risk." The State's Attorneys Association and major health and education groups echoed those concerns, citing potential conflicts with existing statutes and federal protections.
Committee members pressed sponsors on definitions and exceptions, including how the measure applies when courts have already removed a child from parental custody and how the bill interacts with current abuse-and-neglect procedures. Sponsor proponents repeatedly said emergency exceptions and court oversight were preserved in the text.
The committee debated a procedural motion to move the bill to the 40-first-day calendar; that motion failed and the panel instead approved the bill on a due-pass vote (8–5). The measure now goes to the full floor for further consideration.
What happens next: SB 190 proceeds to the chamber floor for debate. Lawmakers on both sides said they expect more scrutiny there and said they would watch closely for amendments clarifying interaction with child-protection law.