November 17, 2005 -- House Asks Review of Court Case on Parents’ Sole Right to Give Sex Ed

The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday adopted a resolution expressing concern that a three-judge panel of a federal appeals court “infringed on parental rights” when it ruled November 2 that parents do not have a constitutional right to be the only providers of sex education to their children. The resolution asks for further consideration of the case, Fields v. Palmdale School District, by a full panel of judges on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The case decided November 2 involved an objection by several parents to a survey administered by Palmdale, California, schools that asked questions about various forms of trauma encountered by students, including sexual. In its ruling, the Ninth Circuit panel held that parents “have no constitutional right … to prevent a public school from providing its students with whatever information it wishes to provide, sexual or otherwise, when and as the school determines that it is appropriate to do so.” In the resolution adopted November 16, the House of Representatives said that ruling “undermines the fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing of their children.” The Ninth Circuit is not obliged to rehear the case, and has not announced whether it will do so.