U.S. House Disapproves 9th Circuit Decision Regarding Sex Education

Thursday, November 17th, 2005 Press Releases by IARC

Contact: Dino Teppara, IARC Spokesman
Washington, D.C.
(202) 347-1223
November 17, 2005

The Indian American Republican Council (IARC) applauded the U.S. House for voting to express disapproval of the recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision that infringed upon parental rights regarding sex education.
“The U.S. House went on record yesterday to express strong disapproval of the outrageous opinion from California, which took away the rights of parents to decide when, where, and how they would educate their children when it came to matters dealing with sex,” said IARC spokesman Dino Teppara. “To deny parents such fundamental rights and replace their judgment with teachers who know nothing about a family’s culture, faith, and values, is absolutely an abomination. This is why the IARC supports legislation splitting the Ninth Court of Appeals and why we support President Bush’s efforts to place strict constructionists on our courts, rather than judicial activists who seek to force their radical, far-left values on the rest of our country.”
The parents in Fields v. Palmdale School District brought the lawsuit after they discovered a questionnaire distributed to children as young as seven years of age, asking them personal questions regarding sexual intercourse and sexuality. “Most disturbing in this opinion by three Democrat appointed judges, was their statement that ‘there is no fundamental right of parents to be the exclusive provider of information regarding sexual matters to their children.’” The Court went further, concluding that “parents have no due process or privacy right to override the determinations of public schools as to the information to which their children will be exposed.” While noting parental involvement in raising children, the Court stated parents do not have the right “to control the upbringing of their children by introducing them to matters of and relating to sex in accordance with their personal and religious values and beliefs.”
“Shouldn’t a devout Hindu mother, who wants to raise her daughter with traditional Hindu values, have the right to opt out of her daughter’s participation in a sexuality survey? Shouldn’t a Christian, Jewish or Muslim father be able to decline such a questionnaire being placed before his son? Apparently not in this Court’s opinion, but conservative Indian Americans recognize this decision for what it is: yet another example of far-left liberals forcing their values upon an unwilling nation through the court system. But we’ll keep fighting. We will do everything we can to prevent activist judges from taking away parental rights.”

(The U.S. House passed H. Res. 547 on November 16th by a margin of 320-91, with 12 not voting. )
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