See this picture?

This is a roll call vote from the Maryland State House of Delegates on an amendment to House Bill 522. Here is the summary of the bill without the amendment:

This bill, as it says, requires county boards of education to accommodate students who need to participate in telehealth appointments during the school day.

Sounds okay, right? I mean, kids may need to have a telehealth appointment during the school day and they need privacy. You probably think this will allow kids to address their health concerns while in school and without having to miss much class time.

One problem. Nowhere in this bill is there a provision for the parents or legal guardians of the child to give consent or be notified about this telehealth appointment. Yes, you read that right.

That means that little Sally can have a telehealth appointment with her doctor to arrange a variety of procedures ranging all the way from determining symptoms of strep throat to getting birth control to getting an abortion or even hormone blockers. All without parental knowledge.

Or imagine that little Tommy gets hurt during a violent incident in his school and has to have a telehealth appointment and no one notifies his parents.

In the House, Delegate Jesse Pippy attempted to add an amendment in the bill that would require parental notification and/or consent for a child to have a telehealth appointment at school. That's the vote in the picture.

So, what do you see? Those green "y's"? They stand for "yes, we support the amendment." The red "n's" stand for "no, we don't support the amendment." The "no's" outvoted the "yes's" overwhelmingly and was along party lines. Therefore, no amendment. Students will be able to have telehealth appointments in school without the consent or notification of a parent or guardian.

Parents won't know until they get the insurance bill months later and wonder what happened. If they have Medicaid, that may not ever happen.

You may think this is no big deal. After all, it's just one thing. What is important is that this is one more way that the government of Maryland has stripped parents of the right to control or even be aware of what is happening in the lives of their children. Other bills that deny parents their rights are the bills that mandate local schools to teach sex education as it applies to gender and different forms of sex without a parental opt out, bills that demand that parents take children for mental health counseling when the school thinks they should, and bills that keep gender transition information away from parents.

Bills that promote parental rights or a parent's right to have input on their child's education, choose private school, or homeschooling are shot down very quickly. Wouldn't want competition for the state schools would we.

Delegate Mark Fisher on Calvert County said it best as he testified to get the amendment added to HB522:

Delegate Fisher nailed it.

Here's the real kicker.

These elite people who voted against the amendment and don't want parents notified or given the ability to give consent won't have to worry about their parental rights ever being stripped from them. They will send their kids to expensive private schools. They will be able to direct the lives of their children. They will have a say in everything that happens to their child. They'll have the best medical care that they will direct. No one will convince their child to have puberty blockers or expose their young children to explicit sex. They just don't want YOU to have that right.

Why? Because taking away YOUR rights gives them power.

State control will be for the rest of us and our children. Ask Wes Moore. Ask Vanessa Atterbeary. Ask Dana Jones who sponsored this bill and voted against the amendment.

We do have warriors out there for us. Warriors like Delegate Jesse Pippy and Delegate Mark Fisher who sponsored, along with other Republicans, this bill:

2024 Regular Session - House Bill 1027 First Reader (maryland.gov)

And Delegate Miller with this bill:

2024 Regular Session - House Bill 1430 First Reader (maryland.gov)

And Senator Ready et al with this bill:

2024 Regular Session - Senate Bill 438 First Reader (maryland.gov)

There are others and we thank them all.