A fiery New York Magazine op-ed eviscerating the parents\u2019 rights movement as a threat to children and democracy has sparked heated backlash \u2014 with critics ripping it as \u201cdisgusting.\u201d
Sarah Jones, senior writer for the publication\u2019s politics and news offshoot, Intelligencer, published an opinion piece\u2002Saturday titled, \u201cChildren Are Not Property.\u201d
In it, Jones argues at length that \u201cright-wing Christians\u201d have embraced the parental rights movement in a bid to mold their children how they choose, \u201cmuch like any domesticated animal,\u201d she writes.
\u201cConservatives betray a conviction that a child is the property of parents. Because parents own their children, they can dispose of the child as they see fit,\u201d Jones argues.
Unsurprisingly, Jones\u2019 commentary sparked a furious backlash online, with critics fuming that the op-ed implies children should be the \u201cproperty\u201d of the state.
\u201cNarrator: What Sarah really means is that children are not property of their parents, rather, they are property of the state,\u201d California Assembly candidate Corbin Sabol tweeted.
Angry parents were quick to hit back, insisting that it is parents \u2014 and not the state \u2014 who have children\u2019s best interests at heart.
\u201cDisgusting. They\u2019re trying to shame people who believe parents are essential to the lives of their children,\u201d tweeted Republican California Assemblyman Joe Patterson.
\u201cThis is a red line for me. No one, and I mean NO ONE, has domain over my children other than me and my wife.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
California activist Denise Aguilar sounded a similar note, tweeting: \u201cIt honestly doesn\u2019t matter what your opinion is. My kids are mine.\u201d
Former federal prosecutor and California Assemblyman Bill Essayli even ripped the notion as unconstitutional.
\u201cHey Sarah have you ever heard of the Constitution? I guess you only care about the rights you agree with,\u201d he tweeted.
\u201cThe Constitution protects the fundamental right of parents to direct the care, upbringing, and education of their children. Washington v. Glucksberg, 521 U.S. 702 (1997).\u201d
Jennifer Sey, a former national champion gymnast and author, pointed out the failings of the government during the pandemic when it came to the well-being of children.
\u201c@GavinNewsom actively threatened the well-being of children in CA by keeping schools closed for a year and a half,\u201d the mom of four seethed.
\u201cNow we\u2019re supposed to believe the state has our kids\u2019 best interest in mind?\u201d
The \u201cparental rights\u201d cause has become a national lightning rod issue in the wake of the pandemic.
Conservative PACs have funneled millions of dollars to school board races across the country on the back of frustration over remote learning and school mask mandates.
In Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, won election last year with his slogan \u201cParents matter.\u201d
But the movement for decades has seen parents invoke their \u201crights\u201d in disputes related to everything from homeschooling to sex education in schools, from library books to transgender students\u2019 use of school bathrooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In her op-ed, Jones sensationally argues that at the core of the parental rights cause is conservatives\u2019 devotion to authoritarianism, which is antithetical to democracy.
\u201cParental rights are merely one path to the total capture of state power and the imposition of an authoritarian hierarchy on us all,\u201d she warns.
In Jones\u2019 telling, the only children whom conservatives truly care about \u2014 and whose rights they fervently protect \u2014 are the unborn.
\u201cConservatives claim personhood for the fetus, who cannot disobey and requires nothing but a womb,\u201d the op-ed states. \u201cThe fetus is more valuable than the child because the fetus is a means to an end: the subjugation of women. Once born, a child\u2019s value depreciates.\u201d
Jones\u2019 conclusion is that children are to be treated as \u201cpeople who have independent minds and will develop private lives of their own.\u201d
The polarizing op-ed has gone viral on Twitter, drawing more than 2.7 million views as of Thursday, along with a string of negative comments.
Jones has written for New York Magazine since 2018. Earlier in her career, she worked for the New Republic and for the nonprofit group Americans United for Separation of Church and State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n