In contrast with the non-existence of a sweeping general right of a parent to direct medical treatment of a child in violation of state law, a parent’s recognized substantive due process right to make decisions concerning the care of his child is plenty broad to require that the government not hide information about the child from the parent.
In an important ruling last week (in Mirabelli v. Olson), federal district judge Roger T. Benitez ordered Escondido school district officials not to enforce against objecting teachers a school district policy that forbade them from informing a parent that his child identifies as a new gender or wants to be addressed by a new name or referred to by new third-person pronouns. Passing over for now some intricacies presented by the fact that the plaintiffs in the case are teachers, not parents, I will highlight this powerful paragraph from the opening of the opinion:
If a school student suffers a life-threatening concussion while playing soccer during a class on physical fitness, and the child expresses his feelings that he does not want his parents to find out, would it be lawful for the school to require its instructor to hide the event from the parents? Of course not. What if the child at school suffers a sexual assault, or expresses suicidal thoughts, or expresses aggressive and threatening thoughts or behavior? Would it be acceptable not to inform the parents? No. These would be serious medical conditions to which parents have a legal and federal constitutional right to be informed of and to direct decisions on medical treatment. A parent’s right to make decisions concerning the care, custody, control, and medical care of their children is one of the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests that Americans enjoy. However, if a school student expresses words or actions during class that may be the first visible sign that the child is dealing with gender incongruity or possibly gender dysphoria, conditions that may (or may not) progress into significant, adverse, life-long social-emotional health consequences, would it be lawful for the school to require teachers to hide the event from the parents?