Blog-Worthy News

As a member of the HSLDA I receive updates by email and magazine of the legal battles that face homeschoolers. Many times the battles are not homeschool specific but issues that are jeopardizing family freedom. Today alone, there are two items to consider acting on:

HSLDA | Officials Seek to Terminate Johansson Parenthood

HSLDA has learned that Swedish officials on the Island of Gotland may be seeking to terminate the parental rights of Annie and Christer Johansson. Seven-year old Domenic Johansson was snatched by a fully armed Swedish police unit in June 2009 while on board an airplane bound for Annie’s homeland of India. Among the primary reasons given for the seizure was the fact that Domenic was homeschooled. His entire family has been denied any contact with their son for nearly a year. HSLDA and the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) filed a joint application on behalf of the Johansson family at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in June 2010 and have been working to support the family since shortly after Domenic’s seizure.

Both the ADF and HSLDA are asking for letters to be written in an attempt to renew attention to the family’s case and to encourage Swedish officials to release Domenic back to his family. The United States Supreme Court has called the termination of parental rights the family court equivalent of the death penalty. Annie and Christer have done nothing worthy of such a horrific outcome. Will you join us as fellow advocates and take a moment to write to the Swedish Social Services Committee in charge of Domenic’s custody situation? The Johansson family is grateful for your efforts on their behalf.

The link above will take you to sample letters that you can mail on behalf of this family...mine is in the mail.

The other issue at hand, and I have addressed this before, is the parents right to make decisions for their children is being taken away by the government. As a NY State resident, our policies often follow California. Well, California just signed into law a bill allowing 12 year old children to decide for themselves on the Gardisil (HPV) vaccine. Check out the link below.

California Further Erodes Parental Rights - Parentalrights.org

As a parent, I can not imagine allowing a 12 year old to make a medical decision for themselves. Beyond that issue is the issue of this vaccine being for HPV, a type of STD. Why are we promoting a STD vaccine to 12 year olds?

I encourage you to get informed and take action...all of these "little" steps lead to the same end result, the erosion of parental rights.