News Release
For Immediate Release: 2.19.26
Contact: Natalie Konstans, media@firstliberty.org
Direct: 972-941-4453
California Mom Who Lost Daughter to Suicide Over Gender Issues Urges Supreme Court to Protect Parental Rights
First Liberty Institute files friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of Abigail Martinez in International Partners for Ethical Care, Inc. v. Ferguson.
Washington, DC—First Liberty Institute filed a friend-of-the-court brief at the Supreme Court of the United States on behalf of Abigail Martinez, asking the Court to grant certiorari in International Partners for Ethical Care, Inc. v. Ferguson, a pivotal parental rights case that is seeking Supreme Court review of a Washington state law that strips parents of their right to decide what is best for their child. The Ninth Circuit wrongly held that parents can’t even bring a legal challenge to a state law that violates their parental rights –until it’s too late, when their child actually runs away from home or tries to undergo an irreversible gender transition.
In California, Martinez lost custody of her teenager Yaeli because of her Christian beliefs about sexuality, and then lost Yaeli to suicide a few years later. School officials concealed Yaeli’s struggles, then she was placed in a group home, and a judge ruled that she could receive cross-sex hormones, going against Martinez’ express wishes that her daughter receive the treatment she needed for underlying depression instead.
You can read the brief here.
“Our children are not ‘children of the State,’” said Kelly Shackelford, President, CEO, and Chief Counsel for First Liberty Institute. “When governments usurp the essential role of loving parents in the lives of their children, tragedy ensues. The Constitution ensures that states cannot target parents because of their religious beliefs, interfere with the religious upbringing of their children, or impose prior restraints on speech in their own homes. We hope the Supreme Court will act to prevent state officials from committing any more violations of parental constitutional rights with impunity.”
Abigail Martinez is a devout Christian mother from California. Her daughter, Yaeli, suffered from depression as a young teenager and later identified as transgender. Yaeli’s school encouraged her to secretly join an LGBTQ group. Yaeli was taken from her home by the parent of a transgender student, and after school officials coached her at the police station, Yaeli was removed from her mom’s custody and placed in a group home by the California Department of Child and Family Services. Instead of providing the medical care that Yaeli needed, California gave her testosterone and took her away from her mom – the one support she knew she could always rely on. After identifying as male for about three years and taking cross-sex hormones, Yaeli committed suicide at age 19.
According to First Liberty’s brief, “The Ninth Circuit’s decision represents a dangerous departure from established precedent that threatens to eviscerate parental rights by creating an impossible catch-22: parents cannot bring facial challenges to laws that interfere with their fundamental rights until those rights have already been violated, irreversibly in many cases.”
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About First Liberty Institute
First Liberty Institute is the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans.
To arrange an interview, contact Natalie Konstans at media@firstliberty.org or by calling 972-941-4453.
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