HELENA – Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen led an 18-state coalition that filed a brief in support of parental rights in a lawsuit against an Iowa school district’s policy stripping parents of their longstanding and fundamental right to direct the upbringing and care of their children. The school district’s policies withhold information on a child’s gender identity from their parents and leave parents in the dark about their child’s mental and emotional well-being.

“Parents have a fundamental constitutional right to direct the upbringing and care of their children. School policies cannot intentionally leave parents in the dark about their child’s mental and emotional well-being,” Attorney General Knudsen said. “The courts must step in to protect these kids and stop the violation of parental rights at the hands of woke school administrators.”

The brief asks the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse the district court’s decision and grant Parents Defending Education a preliminary injunction against Linn-Mar’s policies because they inflict immediate and irreparable harm on parents by withholding information on their child’s gender identity.

“Without question, the decision to transition genders is life-altering. And when a student considers transitioning genders, parents have a fundamental, constitutional right to be involved in that decision making process,” the brief states. “Yet school districts across the country, strong-armed by ideologically driven advocacy groups, have shut parents out of the process and trampled on their fundamental rights.”

The attorneys general also note in the brief that students must get parental consent for lesser decisions, but the school district allows children to decide their gender identity without any parental input or notice.

Attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia joined Attorney General Knudsen in filing the brief.

Click here to read the brief filed Thursday.