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Ohio House committee hears heated debate over 'Affirming Families First' bill and parental-rights language
Summary
Sponsors told the committee House Bill 693 would protect parental rights and bar child-welfare agencies from proactive screening or databases of a child's sexual orientation or gender identity; opponents pressed sponsors on judicial impacts, the bill's 'parental alienation' definition and the evidentiary basis for allegations about county practices.
Representatives Gary Click and Josh Williams appeared before the House Judiciary Committee to sponsor House Bill 693, the ‘‘Affirming Families First Act,’’ which they said would clarify that affirming a child’s biological sex is not abuse or neglect and would prevent child-welfare agencies from proactively screening for sexual orientation or gender identity or maintaining databases of that information unless case-specific needs justify it.
"It is not unlawful to raise your son as a boy, or your daughter as a girl," Representative Gary Click said, arguing the bill protects parental decision-making and opposes what…
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