Parental Rights Movement

National conservative group Moms for Liberty brought about 100 members from 20 states to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to lobby lawmakers and promote a "parents pledge" spelling out support for parental control over children’s education, medical care and moral upbringing. Co‑founder Tina Descovich said members are expected to meet with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R‑La., and other Republicans and Democrats and that some lawmakers will join President Donald Trump in signing the pledge. The group’s stated priorities include eliminating school‑based health clinics, opposing any school policies it says circumvent parental authority, guaranteeing parents full access to curricula and evaluations, and pushing schools to maintain sex‑specific sports and restrooms and use pronouns based on biological sex. Founded in 2021 around opposition to COVID‑19 school restrictions, Moms for Liberty has since grown into a multi‑state network and its formal sit‑downs with the House speaker underscore how parental‑rights and transgender issues remain central to Republican culture‑war strategy heading into the 2026 midterms, even as critics online frame the agenda as an attempt to roll back LGBT protections and school‑based health services.