The Ohio General Assembly has approved a bill supporting parental rights, which includes provisions for public school students to leave campus during school hours for religious instruction.
The state's upper chamber passed House Bill 8 on Wednesday with a vote of 24-7, and the Ohio House has voted 57-31 to agree with the legislation.
The bill now goes to Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who has 10 days to decide whether to sign the bill into law or veto it, as reported by CBS' Columbus affiliate WBNS.
Primarily sponsored by Reps. D.J. Swearingen and Sara Carruthers, HB 8 assert that “a parent has a fundamental right to make decisions concerning the upbringing, education, and care of the parent's child.”
The legislation specifies that “a school district board of education shall collaborate with a sponsoring entity of a released time course in religious instruction to identify a time to offer the course during the school day.” It clarifies that students attending a released time course in religious instruction shall not be considered absent from school, and no student may leave a core curriculum course to attend a religious instruction course.
Additionally, the bill mandates school districts to ensure that “any sexuality content is age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate for the age of the student receiving the instruction”. It prohibits schools from “directly or indirectly encouraging a student to withhold from a parent information concerning the student's mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being, or a change in related services or monitoring.”
Aaron Baer, president of the Center for Christian Virtue, praised the legislation's passage, stating, “I praise God today for the leadership in the General Assembly that moved to protect parents and kids today.”
He added, “The days of the ACLU and the most fringe voices on the left driving the political debate in America are over. The age of powerful parent voices is here.”
Baer further addressed Planned Parenthood employees in Ohio public schools by the bill: “And for the Planned Parenthood employees in Ohio public schools disappointed today because they can no longer talk to 8-year-olds about their sexual orientation and gender identity, I have one message: it’s probably time to find a new line of work.”
The Ohio chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was among the critics of HB 8. In a protest letter, the advocacy group claimed that the bill “puts the privacy and safety of Ohio students at risk,” emphasizing the importance of maintaining trust between young people and their teachers or other school staff members.
“Additionally, HB 8’s provisions about ‘sexuality content’ will create a culture of censorship in our schools. Current law already allows for parental notice, review, and opting out of instruction,” the letter read.
The ACLU chapter also objected to the provision for released time for religious instruction, arguing that such programs “disrupt the school day for students who do not attend and their teachers.”
