Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. with Justices Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, February 24, 2026. Kenny Holston/Pool via REUTERS
Far-right MAGA Republicans, from Moms for Liberty to evangelical fundamentalist megachurches, often describe themselves as staunch defenders of "parents' rights." Liberals and progressives, they contend, fail to respect the right of parents to make their own decisions. And they typically frame "parents' rights" as being protective of children.
But Salon's Amanda Marcotte, in an article published on March 11, argues that Republicans' "parents' rights" claims easily fall apart upon examination.
"When Republicans talk about parents' rights, look for the child that is being harmed," Marcotte warns. "This rule of thumb rarely fails. 'Parents' rights' is one of those phrases that sounds good on paper, encouraging people to imagine themselves — loving and protective parents who only want the power to do right by their child. But when conservatives invoke the term, their objective is to trump a child's rights to be safe and healthy, despite what a toxic or even abusive parent wants to do to them. That reality was revealed yet again last week, when the Supreme Court blocked a California law preventing teachers from outing trans kids to religious parents."
Marcotte continues, "The injunction is temporary, but most legal experts believe it is inevitable that the Christian right-favoring court will eventually rule against a child’s ability to decide when and with whom to share their gender identity — even if they fear being beaten, disowned or thrown out on the streets."
The case Marcotte is referring to is Mirabelli v. Bonta, which, she notes, "centers around a family who is refusing to accept their high school child's self-identification as a boy."
"For decades," the Salon journalist explains, "Republicans have resisted efforts, both domestic and international, to favor children in conflict with parents who threaten their safety and wellbeing. Efforts to ban physical violence against children, protect children from spiritual abuse or ensure children's right to education are routinely undermined by Republicans in the name of parents' rights."
MAGA Republicans and the Religious Right, according to Marcotte, repeatedly show their disdain for parents who don't share their far-right views.
"When conservative parents assert a right to censor their child's education," Marcotte emphasizes, "they are also affecting what all the other kids in the classroom are able to read. Under their logic, the views of parents who take a more accepting, expansive view of child-rearing don't matter. In the GOP universe, the only parents who have rights are conservatives. There is no Republican support for parents who assert the right to help a trans kid get health care, take a pregnant child to an abortion clinic or stock the local library with a variety of books so a child can learn and explore on their own."
