Justina Pelletier

It sounds like something out of a horror movie. And yet parents in Scotland are living this nightmare right now. The government has passed and begun to implement a new law mandating a government appointed overseer for every child from birth to eighteen years of age.

No, seriously, I’m not making this up, you can read about it here. And no, I didn’t make a mistake or fall for a satire piece in The Onion. This is actually happening in our world. A government has taken the brazen step of deciding that children between birth and eighteen years old need not just one parent, not even two, but two parents and a government nanny tasked with looking out for the “wellbeing” of the child.

This new “named person,” as a recent article puts it, will have the overall responsibility from the government to “promote, support, or safeguard the wellbeing” of the child to which he or she is assigned. Being a parent myself I am under the impression that this description sounds an awful lot like what a…parent…is supposed to do. I understand that not every parent lives up to the responsibility that comes with having a child. I recognize the need that some parents create by refusing to actually be a parent. But is it really so bad throughout the entire country that every single child now needs a government appointed nanny? I highly doubt it.

So what concerns could there possibly be in having the government assign a nanny to your child?

Let’s start with this thought:

“We are talking here about a massive invasion of privacy in which an outside person is assigned, without parents’ consent, to monitor their child and make on-going recommendations for the child’s ‘well-being.’ There is not the slightest doubt that parents who refuse to take the advice of these state social workers will face probable repercussions. The very assignment of the ‘named person’ implies that someone else needs to be looking over the parents’ shoulders, knowing all sorts of information about the family and the children’s upbringing, and making recommendations. That the parents could simply blow these off without the slightest worry about further problems is a ludicrous idea.”

Invasion of privacy.

Data collection.

Undermining parental authority.

Undermining parental teaching concerning morality.

Interference with religious training.

Interference with school choice decision.

Do I need to go on? These are just a few of the many possible concerns that any parent should have regarding this insane new law. The fact that such a law was even passed is shocking. If the men and women that passed this law aren’t promptly fired from their job via the next election it will indicate that Scotland is in serious trouble. Where’s William Wallace when you need him?

It’s easy enough to dismiss this because it’s in Scotland, not America. This could never happen in America. Right? After what we’ve witnessed over the last nearly 6 years are we really so arrogant, or naïve, as to assume this could never happen here?

Let’s review one of the most shocking cases in recent memory: Justina Pelletier. Here’s a recap from The Blaze:

“Justina’s parents brought her to Boston Children’s Hospital after she was suffering complications with the flu. Prior to this, the teen had been diagnosed and treated by a physician at Tufts Medical Center for mitochondrial disease, a disease that affects the function of the cell’s mitochondria. At Boston Children’s Hospital though, the Pelletiers say they were told by doctors Justina had somatoform disorder, a psychiatric disorder, instead. When the Pelletiers disagreed with the treatment plan set forth by these doctors and tried to discharge Justina to take her elsewhere, they were accused of medical child abuse and lost custody of their daughter to the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.”

Oh yeah, the government decided that because parents who had been highly engaged with the medical condition of their daughter for years disagreed with new doctors about their daughter’s condition, they were “medically abusing” her and seized custody. No court order, no trial, nothing. They literally just took the Pelletier’s daughter from them without asking.

If you think this is an isolated incident, think again. Cases like this are starting to pop up all around the country as terrified parents are being forced into compliance with whatever doctors and government officials demand for fear of losing their kids. Does this sound like America to you?

The law in Scotland that we don’t think could ever happen here in America is already taking shape. No, it’s not on a federal level – that would cause a riot – but it is happening on a state level, quietly. Parents that are not actively engaged in the lives of their kids will soon learn that the government has been active in their lives for a long time.

Stories like these worry me. Not so much for myself, I’m an adult, I can handle things. It worries me for my kids. I worry that I will end up dead or in jail one day defending my kids and they will have to live without their father. (I’m a peaceful person until you mess with my kids.) And I worry about what they will face as parents themselves.

School are undermining parental authority be mandating sex-education classes without parental consent. Our federal government is undermining parental authority by becoming hostile to home schooling. It’s not hard to conceive that a few years, maybe a generation or so down the road the government will decide it’s a good idea to appoint a nanny for each child. If that thought doesn’t terrify you as a parent I question your parenting and might be tempted to recommend a social worker for your kids.