Latest news with #HeatherRaymond

Boston Globe

N.H. House approves ‘parental bill of rights'

Conservatives around the country have been pushing for parental rights legislation and demanding greater parental control in the wake of pandemic-era policies around masking, school closures, and vaccines. Meanwhile, schools have become a battleground for culture war issues about how they handle gender identity and race and the books available on these topics. Get N.H. Morning Report A weekday newsletter delivering the N.H. news you need to know right to your inbox. Enter Email Sign Up Passing a parental bill of rights this year has been a priority for New Hampshire Republicans who say parents shouldn't be kept in the dark. Advertisement 'Growing up is hard. Every family has its challenges, and every family has some difficult conversations. Keeping parents in the dark is not an answer to that problem,' said Representative Jim Kofalt, a Wilton Republican, Thursday. 'Governments do not raise children. Parents do,' he said. SB 72 would allow parents to sue schools over a violation for monetary damages and relief. Democrats argued the bill would put children in harm's way and make it harder for them to confide in trusted adults at school. Advertisement The If an immediate answer cannot be provided, it instructs that an answer be provided no later than 10 business days after the request. 'We all agree that parents have rights and schools should be working with parents, not against them,' said Representative Heather Raymond, a Nashua Democrat. 'But we also know that some parents hurt their children, and those children need help from trusted adults.' Raymond said the bill creates too high of a standard of evidence that would stop many schools from reporting suspected child abuse to the state's child protective services, inadvertently providing cover for child abusers. She said the 'clear and convincing' standard for evidence means the school would need to present video evidence to report abuse, and a child informing them of parental abuse wouldn't be sufficient. Republicans disagreed with her assessment, and said schools could still report child abuse. Both of the bills enshrine many rights parents already have, such as choosing where to enroll their child in school, receiving vaccine exemptions, and the ability to opt out of sex education. Some of the measures would be new: The bills instruct school boards to develop policies promoting parental involvement in school attendance, homework, and discipline, and to lay out procedures for parents to object to instructional material based on 'morality, sex, and religion or the belief that such materials are harmful.' Advertisement The House removed language that would've created new restrictions on health care for minors, which drew opposition. Over 200 health care providers from around the state signed a petition opposing part of the bill they say would restrict access to confidential 'The best-case scenario is that young people discuss their contraceptive and sexual health decisions openly with their families. But the reality is that not all young people are in situations where it's easy or they're able or safe to do those things,' said Dr. Amy E. Paris, an OB/GYN and director of family planning at Dartmouth Health. 'Those people shouldn't be cast aside and left without birth control and sexual and reproductive healthcare,' she said. Paris said requiring parental consent would cause fewer young people to access contraception, driving up rates of unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. Nationally, teen pregnancy rates have been going The bill would have required parental consent for health care and prescriptions, unless they were explicitly permitted in another law. While New Hampshire law is silent on contraception for minors, a federal Title X program requires confidential contraception, which could proceed, even if New Hampshire's parental bill of rights becomes law. Paris said her young patients are aware of the current political environment and worried about potential impacts to their health care. 'I think people are very worried about the potential loss of access to contraception and abortion,' she said. 'If anything I think young people have become more proactive over time about taking responsibility for their contraceptive needs.' Advertisement Amanda Gokee can be reached at