HALL MONITOR: “YES” on protecting Families’ Rights and Responsibilities in South Carolina (HB 3485)

Name: South Carolina House Bill 3485, Families’ Rights and Responsibilities 

Summary: House Bill 3485 establishes the fundamental right of parents to direct “the upbringing, education, health care, and mental health” of their children. 

Status: In House Judiciary Committee

Sponsors: Representatives Josiah Magnuson, Robert May, Adam Morgan, Mikell Burns, William Chumley, Bobby Cox, April Cromer, Patrick Haddon, Stewart Jones, John Gregory Kilmartin, Steven Wayne Long, Donald Ryan McCabe, T. Morgan, David O’Neal, Melissa Lackey Oremus, Jordan Pace, Ashley Trantham, Joseph White, Marvin Smith, Mark Willis, John McCravy, Travis Moore, Roger Nutt, Anne Thayer, Richard Yow, Leon D. Gilliam, Thomas Pope, Matthew Leber, Brian Lawson, Robert Harris, Thomas Beach, Randy Ligon, Brandon Guffey, William Hixon, B. Brandon Newton, Cally Forrest. 

Breakdown: South Carolina House Bill 3485 establishes the fundamental right of parents to direct “the upbringing, education, health care, and mental health” of their children. This includes the right to access their child’s school and medical records. It ensures that state employees—including school officials—may not hide information about the child from his or her parents. Nor may state employees encourage children to hide information from their parents. 

South Carolina House Bill 3485 would require school districts to adopt parental inclusion policies. This would ensure parents have access to learning materials and the ability to opt their children out of lessons they deem inappropriate. 

The bill further requires that medical professionals receive parental consent before recommending or providing treatment on a minor child. 

Why does PDE Action support this bill? 

Parental involvement in a child’s life and education is key for the child’s success. Unfortunately, schools are increasingly pushing parents out of their child’s education. More than 1,000 school districts in the United States have parental exclusion policies, which say that parents may not be notified if and when a child decides to use another name and pronouns at school. House Bill 3485 would ensure that a parent’s right to direct the upbringing and care of their child does not end at the schoolhouse door. Rather, it ensures that parents are actively involved in supporting their child at school.