Texas voters will decide whether to add language to the state constitution to provide that parents have the right “to exercise care, custody, and control of the parent’s child, including the right to make decisions concerning the child’s upbringing” and the responsibility “to nurture and protect the parent’s child.”
In Texas, a two-thirds vote in each chamber, amounting to 100 votes in the House and 21 votes in the Senate, is required to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. The amendment was introduced as Senate Joint Resolution 34 (SJR 34). It passed in the Senate by a vote of 31-0 on March 11. The House passed an amended version by a vote of 112-22, with 16 members not voting or absent, on May 14. Republican support was unanimous for all voting members, while Democrats in the House were divided, with 32 favoring the amendment and 22 opposing it. The Senate concurred with the amended version by a vote of 31-0 on May 20.
State Sen. Bryan Hughes (R-1), author of the amendment, argued for the need for the amendment due to the possibility of changing case law, saying the amendment would “provide clarity for lawyers, judges, and parents. Parents’ constitutional rights are scattered over a hundred years of case law. This resolution is designed to put all well established law in one place in the Constitution.” The amendment received endorsements from Texas Values Action, Texas Right to Life, Texans for Vaccine Choice, Family Freedom Project, Texas Home School Coalition, Texas Public Policy Foundation, and Texas Eagle Forum during the legislative process.
In 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed parental rights under the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause. In the 6-3 decision of Troxel v. Glanville, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor writing for the majority said, “[t]he liberty interest at issue in this case—the interest of parents in the care, custody, and control of their children—is perhaps the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests recognized by this Court.” The case concerned a Washington state law that allowed any person to petition a court for visitation rights over a parent’s objection if the visitation is found to be in the child’s best interest.
Texas considered a similar amendment during the 2023 legislative session. Senate Joint Resolution 70 would have established a right in the Texas Constitution for parents or legal guardians “to exercise care, custody, and control of the parent’s child and to make decisions for the upbringing of the parent’s child, including but not limited to decisions regarding the education, moral and religious training, and health care of the child.” SJR 70 received support from Senate Republicans along with nine Senate Democrats. Three Democrats voted against the measure. The constitutional amendment did not receive a vote in the state House before the legislature adjourned on May 29, 2023.
There is a related amendment that has passed the Senate and is awaiting consideration by the House Public Education Committee. Senate Joint Resolution 12 would establish a right for parents to direct their child’s education, including accessing teaching materials and attending governing board meetings within the public school system or choosing an alternative to public school. A similar amendment was also proposed during the 2023 legislative session, but it also did not receive a vote in the state House.
Texas is one of 25 states that have a Parents’ Bill of Rights in state law. The law provides that parents have the right to access their child’s student records, copies of state assessments, and teaching materials, among other provisions.
Voters in at least one state, Colorado, have decided on a similar ballot measure to establish parental rights in the state constitution, including the right to “direct and control the upbringing, education, values, and discipline of their children.” In 1996, the Coalition for Parental Responsibility collected enough signatures to have a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment certified for the ballot as Amendment 17. The ballot measure was defeated, with 57.7% voting ‘No’. Amendment 17 would have made Colorado the first state to provide a constitutional right for parents to “direct and control the upbringing, education, values, and discipline of their children.” The ballot measure would have amended the Colorado Constitution’s section on inalienable rights. Kristine Woolley, executive director of the Coalition of Parental Responsibility, said, “It seems to me parents ought to be given respect. Government elitists have something to lose if I as a parent have more of a voice.” Fofi Mendez, campaign manager for the opposition organization Protect Our Children, said, “The Parental Rights Amendment is about a small group suing teachers, doctors, nurses, librarians, movie theaters and schools to impose their views on everyone else.”
The Texas amendment is the eighth to be placed on statewide ballots for the Nov. 4, 2025, election. Texas voters will also be deciding on amendments to:
- Authorize the state legislature to exempt $125,000 of the market value of personal tangible property used for income production from taxes;
- Prohibit noncitizens from voting in state and local elections;
- Provide for a property tax exemption on animal feed held by the owner of the property for retail sale;
- Establish the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas with $3 billion from the general fund; and
- Prohibit the following types of taxes:
- A tax on unrealized capital gains,
- A tax on a decedent’s property or the transfer of an estate, and
- A tax on entities that enter into transactions conveying securities or on certain securities transactions.
The legislature has introduced 288 constitutional amendments during the 2025 legislative session. Democrats filed 107 (37.2%) of the constitutional amendments, and Republicans filed 181 (62.8%) of the constitutional amendments.
The state legislature is set to adjourn on June 2.
Additional reading: Texas 2025 ballot measures