4 hours Ago
THE IDEA that children are property, and that we are writing laws to reinforce this idea, is deeply offensive to me. Children are not possessions. They are gifts.
And parents have a sacred responsibility to nurture, protect, and guide them into adulthood. As children grow, their needs change. Their independence grows.
Their voices matter. And yes, they have rights: the right to an education, the right to medical care, and the right not to be abused. But New Hampshire Republicans are systematically dismantling those rights.
In the past few weeks alone, House Republicans have advanced bills that prioritize parental power over child well-being, while simultaneously gutting the few state systems designed to protect vulnerable children. They passed a so-called “Parental Bill of Rights,” a bill that dangerously conflates parenting with ownership and could leave LGBTQ+ youth, in particular, more isolated and at risk. At the same time, they voted last week to eliminate the Office of the Child Advocate, the very agency created in response to one of the most horrific child abuse cases in recent memory: the murder of Harmony Montgomery.
The Office of the Child Advocate was established to ensure that children in state care don’t fall through the cracks. In the years since its creation it has uncovered systemic failures, brought abuse and neglect to light, and helped ensure accountability at agencies like DCYF. It has been a voice for children who cannot speak up for themselves.
The decision to eliminate it is not about saving money. It’s about silencing oversight. If you’re a parent, you should be asking: who benefits when we dismantle the very office tasked with protecting abused children? Who wins when lawmakers create bills that shield abusive parents from accountability? Who asked for this? It certainly wasn’t the majority of Granite State families.
We are witnessing the codification of a disturbing worldview, one that sees parental control as absolute and children’s rights as negotiable. It shows up in HB 10 , a bill that protects abusive parents under the guise of “parental rights.” It’s in HB 148 , HB 211 , and HB 377 — bills that override doctors and parents of transgender youth, denying medically necessary care.
It’s in HB 324 and HB 1419 , which would allow a vocal minority to censor books and restrict information from all children. And it’s in the ongoing campaign to dismantle public education through funding cuts, curriculum attacks, and private school voucher schemes using taxpayer dollars to divert public monies to private and religious schools. This isn’t about empowering families.
It’s about control. The House GOP state budget passed recently makes this even clearer. In addition to cutting the Office of the Child Advocate, it defunds programs that support the mental health and development of children, slashes higher education, and creates an income tax for families trying to access basic healthcare through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
They are undermining the systems that give children a chance to thrive, while giving handouts to the wealthy and special interests. I don’t know how to bridge this ideological divide. It is very, very deep.
But I do know this: Most parents love their children deeply. They want them to grow up healthy, safe and strong. The laws we pass should reflect that shared goal — not the fringe beliefs of a party intent on turning kids into political pawns.
We must reject this dangerous agenda. Children are not property; they are people. They deserve a government and a future that sees them that way.
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