HM 557

1	House Memorial
2	A memorial to the Congress of the United States, urging
3	Congress to propose to the states for ratification an
4	amendment to the United States Constitution relating to
5	parental rights.
6
7	WHEREAS, the right of parents to direct the upbringing and
8	education of their children is a fundamental right protected by
9	the Constitutions of the United States and the State of Florida,
10	and
11	WHEREAS, our nation has historically relied first and
12	foremost on parents to meet the real and constant needs of
13	children, and
14	WHEREAS, the interests of children are best served when
15	parents are free to make childrearing decisions about education,
16	religion, and other areas of a child's life without state
17	interference, and
18	WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court in Wisconsin v.
19	Yoder held that "This primary role of the parents in the
20	upbringing of their children is now established beyond debate as
21	an enduring American tradition," and
22	WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court in Troxel v.
23	Granville produced six different opinions on the nature and
24	enforceability of parental rights under the United States
25	Constitution, creating confusion and ambiguity about the
26	fundamental nature of parental rights in the laws and society of
27	the several states, and
28	WHEREAS, a number of members of Congress have introduced
29	joint resolutions that propose an amendment to the United States
30	Constitution to prevent erosion of the enduring American
31	tradition of treating parental rights as fundamental rights,
32	commonly referred to as the Parental Rights Amendment, and
33	WHEREAS, the Parental Rights Amendment will add explicit
34	text to the Constitution of the United States to forever protect
35	the rights of parents as they are now enjoyed, without
36	substantive change to current state or federal laws respecting
37	these rights, and
38	WHEREAS, such enumeration of these rights in the text of
39	the United States Constitution will preserve them from being
40	infringed upon by the shifting ideologies and interpretations of
41	the United States Supreme Court, NOW, THEREFORE,
42
43	Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
44
45	That the Florida Legislature respectfully petitions the
46	Congress of the United States to propose to the states an
47	amendment to the Constitution of the United States to read as
48	follows:
49	ARTICLE ___
50	Section 1.  The liberty of parents to direct the upbringing
51	and education of their children is a fundamental right.
52	Section 2.  Neither the United States nor any State shall
53	infringe upon this right without demonstrating that its
54	governmental interest as applied to the person is of the highest
55	order and not otherwise served.
56	Section 3.  No treaty may be adopted nor shall any source
57	of international law be employed to supersede, modify,
58	interpret, or apply to the rights guaranteed by this article.
59	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
60	dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
61	President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
62	United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
63	the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.