A new Oklahoma law protecting parental rights in adoption, foster care, and child welfare decisions takes effect November 1st.
House Bill 3586, known as the Right to Raise Act, protects families from being denied the opportunity to adopt or foster children solely because they use biologically accurate language or choose to raise a child consistent with the child's biological sex.
The law also clarifies that those actions alone do not constitute child abuse, neglect, or endangerment.
Republican Representative Erick Harris of Edmond authored the measure. He says child welfare decisions should be based on a family's ability to care for children, not whether parents conform to an ideological agenda. Harris says the law does not prevent authorities from bringing abuse or neglect charges when appropriate.
Harris also pointed to cases in other states involving families who say child welfare officials penalized them for their beliefs about biological sex and gender identity.
