A Democrat-led House committee Tuesday voted 7 to 6 to kill a Republican-authored, Senate-approved bill to assert parents’ authority to dictate what their children learn in school and what health care they receive.
The Public Health Care and Human Services Committee postponed indefinitely Senate Bill 77, which would have prevented teenagers from receiving birth control without parental approval. It would have made it a crime for a medical provider to care for a minor without parental consent.
The measure explicitly recognized parental rights as fundamental, reaffirming existing law allowing parents to take their children out of sex education and exempt them from immunization requirements.
“We can all agree parental rights are sacred,” said bill sponsor Sen. Tim Neville, R-Littleton.
Supporters say the bill is necessary to prevent unwarranted government intrusion and interference into child-rearing. Yet Democratic critics called it too broad and an assault on children’s rights.
The committee voted along party lines.
Electa Draper: 303-954-1276, edraper@denverpost.com or
