Harris victory will usher in 'most anti-parent, extremist' gov't in US history, Moms for Liberty claims
The parental rights advocacy group Moms for Liberty told its supporters this week that an "anti-parent, extremist government" could take root in the United States if Vice President Kamala Harris is elected president in November.
Moms for Liberty released a "Letter to American Parents" on Wednesday, urging them not to vote for the Democratic presidential ticket of Harris and running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Authored by the group's co-founders, Tina Deskovitch and Tiffany Justice, the letter warns that a "potential Harris/Walz presidency" would "give way to the rise of the most anti-parent, extremist government America has ever known."
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While the letter did not explicitly tell American parents to support the Republican ticket of former President Donald Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, it highlighted what it characterized as concerning positions taken by Harris and Walz.
"In the extremist view of Harris-Walz, the family is viewed as a threat to the government's power," Deskovitch and Justice wrote. "We have heard this thinking before, whether it was called socialism in Cuba or Marxism in Russia or Maoism in China."
"Each operates on the belief that by weakening the family unit, the state can exert greater influence over individuals," they added. "This is exactly what Walz just recently did with his 'Trans Refuge law' which grants legal protection to children who travel to Minnesota for so-called gender affirming care, including puberty blockers, reconstructive genital surgery, and hormone therapy, as well as the medical practitioners who provide it."
The Minnesota law referenced in the letter is House File 146, which Walz signed into law last year that, among other things, shields individuals who provide surgical and hormonal interventions to gender dysphoric children from prosecution in other states.
The law was the topic of an exchange between Vance and ABC News' Jonathan Karl earlier this week, with Vance pushing back on Karl's assertions that the law doesn't allow the government to "kidnap" children from their parents.
"What I just described to you, I would describe as kidnapping," Vance said. "You should not be able to take people's children away from them if you disagree with decisions about gender reassignment. Yes, he has proposed that, Jon."
Moms for Liberty claimed "the replacement of parents is underway in Minnesota, as children are encouraged to view the state as their ultimate guardian."
The letter quoted an opinion column published by the Minnesota-based news outlet Alpha News, stating that "Academic achievement is no longer the primary goal in Minnesota" regarding education.
The editorial suggested that "Walz's education focus is transforming the students' values, attitudes, and beliefs into the woke worldview."
While the letter did not include as many examples of "anti-parent" attitudes expressed by Harris, it declared that "California and Minnesota, the states Harris and Walz hail from, are great examples of the dangers that government poses to parental rights."
"Both Walz and Harris support telling school kids that there are more than two sexes and that they may have been born in the wrong body," the letter continued.
"They push for Title IX language that now makes transgender a 'protected class,' meaning that schools can punish kids for as little as using the wrong pronoun with a peer. Moms for Liberty wants to sound the alarm LOUD AND CLEAR: Harris and Walz want power and control. Not freedom."
Moms for Liberty, which helps elect conservative school board members in school districts nationwide, says it is "dedicated to fighting for the survival of America by unifying, educating and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government."
It is one of several advocacy groups that have popped up in the past few years as concerns about parental rights have emerged in American political discourse.
The group is not without its critics, as the far-left civil rights activist group Southern Poverty Law Center labeled Moms for Liberty "an antigovernment organization," claiming that it advances "conspiracy propaganda" as well as "hateful imagery and rhetoric against the LGBTQ community."
"In its efforts to combat anything that it considers 'woke ideology,' Moms for Liberty commonly propagates conspiracy theories about public schools attempting to indoctrinate and sexualize children with a progressive Marxist curriculum," stated the SPLC.
"Moms for Liberty has been at the forefront of the battle for book bans, which often includes labeling teachers and librarians who have books deemed inappropriate as groomers and also reading excerpts of books aloud without context at school board meetings to raise alarm in other parents."
In a statement given to The Christian Post last year, Moms for Liberty rejected SPLC's characterization of their work, arguing that their chief goal was to empower parents.
"Name-calling parents who want to be a part of their child's education as 'hate groups' or 'bigoted' just further exposes what this battle is all about: Who fundamentally gets to decide what is taught to our kids in school — parents or government employees?" they stated.
"We believe that parental rights do not stop at the classroom door and no amount of hate from groups like this is going to stop that."
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: [email protected]
