For Barrett, fighting for parents’ rights has been transformative—and nearly a full-time job.
There was a time when the #OurKids messaging campaign never would have gotten off the ground. The basic principle embodied in the Rhode Island Parents Bill of Rights Act—that children belong to their parents, not the state—was understood by everyone. As the United States Supreme Court famously observed almost a hundred years ago, “the child is not the mere creature of the state; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right, coupled with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations.”
To protect our children, we should defer to the parents who “nurture” and “direct” them—not to the state.
Barrett sees Glenn Youngkin’s victory in Virginia as an encouraging sign for parents everywhere who want to take back their moral authority to nurture and direct their own children. And she is hopeful that Rhode Island parents, now awakened and organized, will indeed prevail in November. If she’s right, the winners will be the kids.