AB963 would prohibit the state from infringing on the fundamental right of parents or guardians to direct the upbringing, education, health care, and mental health of their children.
The Assembly passed AB963 on February 22, 2022, by a vote of 60 to 34 (Vote 209). We have assigned pluses to the ayes because the upbringing, education, health care, and mental health of children belongs to–and is a fundamental right of–parents, not the government. Parental rights, as with all other rights, freedoms, privileges, or immunities of American citizens, are protected by the Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Nothing in AB963 authorizes a parent or guardian to abuse or neglect a child in violation of state law.