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Statement

So-Called ‘Parents Bill of Rights’ Is All Wrong for America’s Moms, Families – A Toxic Plan That Will Create More Division, Damage to Our Kids and Communities

March 21, 2023
Paid Family & Medical Leave, Equal Pay, Maternal Health, Reproductive Justice, Early Care & Education, Gun Control, Health Care

Lisa Lederer, 202/371-1996

Statement of Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director and CEO of MomsRising, the online and on-the-ground organization of more than one million mothers and their families, on the so-called ‘Parents Bill of Rights’ (H.R. 5) House Republicans are poised to pass this week:

“The badly misnamed ‘Parents Bill of Rights’ the House GOP plans to vote on this week is all wrong for America’s moms, kids, families, and educators. It is a recipe for censorship, bullying and book bans, and for division based on race, sexual orientation, and gender identity, masquerading as a bill of rights. If it were to become law, the Parents Bill of Rights would create more division by pitting educators against parents. It would do enormous damage to our kids, schools and communities.

“America’s moms want schools to be safe and inclusive and to value diversity; for parents to be respectful; and for educators to be able to be honest about their identities and allowed to teach our country’s truths, good and bad, and the values that got us to where we are today. We want our children to learn about the history and obstacles faced, and overcome, by members of our Black, Brown, AAPI, Native American, immigrant, religious-minority, LGBTQ+, and other communities. We want our students to be able to access unbiased health information. We want all our youth, regardless of income, disability, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity, to be safe and included in schools that prepare them to contribute to and succeed in our society.

“And we want a society that rejects ‘us vs. them’ and puts in place the caregiving and other supports that will allow all families to succeed. MomsRising has more than a million members and we have been working closely with moms in every state for more than a decade. What this country’s moms want from Congress is affordable child, elder and disability care; paid family and medical leave; fair pay; health care and medications we can afford; vastly improved maternal health care for all of us; the ability to make our own decisions about if, when and how many children to have; and laws that will end the scourge of gun violence and keep our children, streets, schools and communities safe.

“Coming soon, we will release the Moms Rising for Freedom Agenda with ten key policies lawmakers should support that moms across the nation really want, instead of the divisive and harmful policies in the ‘Parents Bill of Rights.’  That is how we build a society in which we can all flourish and thrive.”

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MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, decrease discrimination against women and moms, and to build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.