This panel examines the politicization of
parenthood. Recently, politicians have taken many controversial issues and
framed them in terms of “parents’ rights.” States have introduced bills allowing
parents to sue school districts for teaching about systemic racism, sexual
orientation, or gender identity. Texas law now allows a man that impregnated a
person who went on to have an abortion after six weeks of gestation to sue the
abortion provider for damages – a “father’s right” that never previously
existed. On the other hand, parents authorizing gender-affirming medical care
for their transgender children have been accused of child abuse and neglect.