Update to Blog Post “Ignoring Parents” of January 18th.

The House Public & Behavioral Health & Human Services committee hearing for HB23-1003 School Mental Health Assessment has been postponed. Follow the bill page where the hearing date will be posted once it is determined. The best way to follow this bill and others is to sign up for my weekly prayer email!
In the meantime, please make your voice heard by sending an email to the committee members. You can find their emails here.

Thank you!
Carolyn Martin, Director of Government Relations

Honor your father and mother (this is the first commandment with a promise), that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land. (Ephesians 6:2-3 ESV)

In the decalogue given to the Israelites by God, the family is to be honored second only to God Himself. As our culture moves further away from faith in the one true God, the state takes on more and more of the role of the family in a child’s life. In 2019, the state gave children the right to contract with a mental health professional without a parent’s consent or even notification. Last year, we saw the creation of the Behavioral Health Department and the stripping of a provision to notify parents if a counselor discovers a child is suicidal. 

This year an introduced bill, HB23-1003 School Mental Health Assessment, grants children twelve years or older the ability override a parent’s wishes concerning a mental health assessment given in a public school. Although the bill allows parents to opt their child out of the assessment, it also authorizes the school to ignore the opt-out when the child dictates. Children can also keep parents from seeing the results of the assessment. Note: If your child participates in a part-time public-school program, this bill applies to you as well!

The question you should be asking is — does this policy respect the family as God designed it? Hardly. It encourages children to lie and takes them down a road of deception. Instead of promoting cohesion in the family, it further widens the gulf that society is bent on creating between child and parent. 

Parental rights are being undermined in the law. The foundation of homeschooling is the fundamental right of a parent to direct the upbringing, education, and care of their children. Each time they take the rights of parents away, they come closer to stripping us of our ability to educate our children without government intrusion.

The first committee hearing on this bill will be on Wednesday, January 25^th at 1:30 PM. If you are reading this, please, read the bill and email the members of the House Public & Behavioral Health & Human Services committee to let them know what you think about the bill. Consider testifying as well (follow this link to sign up for in-person, remote, or written testimony). I can’t emphasize enough how important it is for your voice to be heard!

To find out about all the other bills I am watching, make sure to sign up for my weekly prayer emails.

Trusting in the mighty power and grace of Jesus,
Carolyn Martin
CHEC Director of Government Relations
carolyn@chec.org

About the Author: Carolyn Martin

Carolyn Martin serves as CHEC’s Director of Government Relations, working for you and other liberty-loving families to protect homeschool freedom, parental rights, and religious liberty at the state capitol. Subscribe to the CHEC blog for Carolyn’s regular updates here, learn more about legal issues in Colorado here, and donate to support Homeschool Freedom here. Contact Carolyn directly at carolyn@chec.org.