HCS/HJR 26 - Upon voter approval, this constitutional amendment declares that parents have a fundamental right to exercise exclusive control over the care, custody, and upbringing of their minor children, including all decisions involving the discipline, education, religious instruction, health, medical care, place of habitation, and general well-being of such minor children. Parents have the right to choose to educate their children in public schools, private schools, or in-home education to prepare them for future obligations in life. Neither the state nor any political subdivision, nor any agency, entity, or person acting on behalf of the state or any political subdivision, shall act to deny or impair the fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing, education, and care of their children. However, the fundamental right of a parent to control and direct the care, custody, and upbringing of a minor child may be modified by a court of law when a parent has been found guilty or pleads guilty to certain crimes listed in the amendment. The fundamental right may also be modified when a parent has been found by a court of law by clear and convincing evidence to have committed child abuse, child neglect, or medical neglect, or as a result of adoption, child abandonment, mental incompetency, marital dissolution proceedings, or through the voluntary consent of the parent of a child. Nothing in this amendment shall be construed to confer upon a parent the right to compel a minor child to undergo an abortion, to empower a parent to enroll his or her minor child in a public school outside the area of that child's residence except as otherwise provided by law, or to diminish the authority of peace officers and law enforcement officials to take necessary actions in emergency situations to protect the life, health, and safety of minor children. This amendment specifies the situations that would constitute such necessary actions. ADRIANE CROUSE
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