Nearly half of states support the plaintiff’s contention that schools are forbidden by the Constitution from interfering with a parent’s right to make informed decisions about their child’s health and well-being.
Attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed an appeal this week with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in the case of Christin Heaps v. Delaware Valley Regional High School Board of Education. The case centers on a high school’s decision to treat Heaps’ daughter as a boy for several months, without parental knowledge or consent.
The appeal comes after a lower court declined to block the school board’s actions, which included referring to the girl with a male name and pronouns, despite Heaps’ repeated objections.
Heaps filed suit against the school board and several other state officials after discovering that the school had socially transitioned his daughter in secret. He contends this violated his parental rights and worsened the mental and emotional challenges his daughter faced after losing her mother.
“Parents have the right to direct the upbringing, education, and health care of their children without fear of government interference,” said Kate Anderson, ADF senior counsel. “Schools should never hide vital information from parents, let alone go against their express instructions related to the well-being of their children.”
The case has become a flashpoint in the broader cultural debate over gender ideology in public schools. Heaps maintains that the school’s actions defied both his constitutional rights and his parental authority, especially as he had already enrolled his daughter in therapy to help her process grief over her mother’s recent death and ongoing mental health struggles, including autism. Nonetheless, soon after the girl entered high school, school officials initiated her social transition without Heaps’ knowledge.
According to court documents, district employees began using a male name and masculine pronouns for Heaps’ daughter and later refused to stop, even after he directly objected. Citing district and state policies based on New Jersey’s anti-discrimination guidance, officials insisted they were obligated to honor the student’s preferred identity over her father’s wishes.
Heaps initially placed his daughter in a home-instruction program, which allowed her to be schooled in her home by public school teachers certified by the New Jersey Department of Education. However, he says that those teachers continued to use male identifiers when addressing Heap’s daughter, arguing that they were required to do so under New Jersey’s anti-discrimination guidance.
In the appeal, ADF argues that this amounts to a violation of Heaps’ constitutional rights. They also note that the father lacks reasonable alternatives to public school due to the prohibitive costs of private education and the time demands of homeschooling.
“[School district employees] continue to insist New Jersey law, state guidance, and district policy require them to socially transition Mr. Heaps’s daughter in secret,” the ADF brief states.
A multi-party amicus brief led by Montana and joined by 21 other states, along with the Arizona legislature, supports Heaps’ appeal. The states argue that the Constitution protects the right of parents to raise their children and make decisions regarding their health, education, and moral upbringing.
“Parents like Mr. Heaps have a legal duty as well as a biological imperative to keep their children safe,” the states wrote. “Correspondingly, the Constitution recognizes that parents have a fundamental right to direct the upbringing of their children and to instill in them moral standards and beliefs.”
A decision from the Third Circuit could shape how courts nationwide interpret the conflict between parental rights and student privacy in cases involving gender identity. The outcome could affect not only New Jersey but also other states with similar policies. The Third Circuit is expected to hear oral arguments later this year.
The Heaps case is one of several lawsuits across the country brought by parents who claim school districts are concealing their child’s gender confusion and gender transitions.
In 2023, the mother of a 14-year-old girl filed a federal lawsuit against a Virginia school district and a government attorney, alleging that officials concealed her daughter’s gender transition and failed to act when the girl was bullied for wearing male clothing. Due to the bullying, the girl ran away from home, where she fell into the hands of sex traffickers.
A proposed law in Virginia, known as Sage’s Law, would have required schools to inform parents of a child’s gender identity changes. The bill was defeated by Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly.
Meanwhile, California passed a controversial law in 2024 requiring school staff to conceal a student’s exploration of gender identity from parents. It mandates that teachers and other school personnel keep any student’s self-identification, preference for pronouns or names, and involvement in gender-related activities confidential, including from parents, unless the student gives explicit permission to disclose such information. The law also prevents schools from informing parents about a student’s mental health struggles connected to gender confusion.
When idealogues want to increase their power and influence, they always work to drive a wedge between children and parents. During China’s Cultural Revolution between 1966 and 1976, for example, children were manipulated by government officials into shaming, reporting on, disowning, and even physically attacking their parents as “counter-revolutionaries” or “revisionists.”
Today’s school officials in the United States may not want children to explicitly denounce or harm their parents, but those administrators, counselors, and teachers who embrace transgender or queer ideology will tell children that those who don’t are “transphobic” and “abusive.”
What’s more, these school officials actually believe that they have a moral right and a moral duty to interfere with the parent-child relationship. And given that belief system, they have no qualms with encouraging students to lie to — and hide major aspects of their life — from their parents and to place their trust in school employees over their own fathers and mothers.
Scripture makes it clear that parents are the God-given stewards of their children’s upbringing and well-being, not the state.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 instructs parents to teach God’s truth diligently to their children, and Ephesians 6:4 tells fathers to bring up their children “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
What’s more, the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently agreed with this biblical principle, recognizing over and over again that parents are best positioned to know what is best for their children and that they have the right and responsibility to make decisions regarding the physical and mental health of their children — even if, as per the 1979 case of Parham v. J.R., those decisions are “not agreeable to the child.”
The Heaps case and those like it are a call to stand for the biblical structure of family and to advocate for truth in a culture increasingly hostile to it. Christians must be vigilant in their communities, whether attending school board meetings, supporting parental rights legislation, or equipping their children with a biblical worldview.
Churches should also play an active role by supporting families dealing with confusion or cultural pressure. This includes offering biblical counseling, youth discipleship, and practical help for parents navigating these challenges.
We are called to love those struggling with identity issues, but love does not mean the affirmation of falsehood. As Romans 12:2 reminds us, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Finally, we must pray for wisdom in the courts, courage for parents like Christin Heaps, and clarity for children being led astray. This is more than a legal issue. It is a spiritual battle for the hearts and minds of the next generation.
If you like this article and other content that helps you apply a biblical worldview to today’s politics and culture, consider making a donation here.
