Parental Rights in Virginia

Virginia Parental Rights News

UPDATED: You’re Invited: Two Virginia Events Focused on Parental Rights and Education

March 21, 2023

We want to invite you to consider attending two exciting events this spring in the Commonwealth of Virginia that will provide you with resources and encouragement on how you can join in the fight to protect children by empowering parents. First, our president Will Estrada is one of the featured speakers at the Second Annual…

Be sure to sign up for alerts!

Virginia State Law and Parental Rights

Protected

We did it! Thanks in part to your support, Virginia passed a statute in 2013 to protect the role of parents. Virginia law Section 1-240.1 provides:

A parent has a fundamental right to make decisions concerning the upbringing, education, and care of the parent's child.

Don't Miss a Critical Issue!

Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to keep posted on parental rights in both your state and nationwide. Through our volunteer network, we monitor the law in all the states. We then pass on important updates and action items.

Virginia Courts and Parental Rights

Affirmed, and Protected Under Statute

L.F. v. Breit, 736 SE 2d 711 - Va: Supreme Court (2013):

"The relationship between a parent and child is a constitutionally protected liberty interest under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.7 Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57, 65 (2000); Wyatt v. McDermott, 283 Va. 685, 692, 725 S.E.2d 555, 558 (2012) (“We recognize the essential value of protecting a parent's right to form a relationship with his or her child.”); Copeland, 282 Va. at 198, 715 S.E.2d at 19. Indeed, the Supreme Court of the United States has characterized a parent's right to raise his or her child as “perhaps the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests recognized by this Court.” Troxel, 530 U.S. at 65. Any statute that seeks to interfere with a parent's fundamental rights survives constitutional scrutiny only if it is narrowly tailored to serve a compelling state interest. McCabe v. Commonwealth, 274 Va. 558, 563, 650 S.E.2d 508, 510 (2007); see also Washington v. Glucksberg, 521 U.S. 702, 721 (1997)."