For the past couple of years, far-right wing politicians have been packaging the reduction of rights for individual citizens under the label "parents' rights" as a way to make sound like they are fighting for rights rather than denying them. In almost every case, they do so with using methods that are more in line with Mao's version of communism than any of the "socialism" that they supposedly condemn. I had hoped that our citizens were intelligent enough to see through this clear use of double speak, but ... [points to everything Re-Trump-Agains are demanding].
It's not surprising that the first thing they go after is freedom of religion. They like the concept fine as long as it means any type of Christianity ... well, except for those versions they don't like ... and they don't really follow Christ's teachings themselves. However, it is their belief that the "parents' rights" to brainwash and abuse their children in the ways that they were supersedes their children's rights to think for themselves and to not suffer such abuse.
As freedom of speech is wrapped in that same First Amendment, these far-right demagogues need to make certain that people expressing themselves is definitely limited to only the views that they currently believe. In particular, Florida has gone on the attack against businesses and schools who speak out for the rights of LGBTQ and Black Americans. I warned about this a couple of years ago when the arguments started up again about Critical Race Theory (which is not what most people think it is). Today, College Board (the non-profit institution behind AP classes and the SAT) issued a public statement saying that they would not cut curriculum at the demands of state legislatures (specifically referencing Florida).
The "parents' rights" crowd aren't just fighting against College Board, but all of public education. Again, they are arguing the parents' right to decide their children's futures rather than allowing their children to grow beyond their parents' often narrow views. Public education laws were created to guarantee every child an education, one that their own parents cannot deny--as often happens when parents pull their children out of school to earn money for the family or be their own live-in caretaker.
This past month, Republican lawmakers at the federal and state levels have not only proposed, but passed legislation to remove protections against the exploitation of child labor. Among the policies they support include allowing children to work through the night, sub-level minimum wages, and working in more toxic and dangerous conditions. In comments on a bill released today, they heralded these reversions to the 1800s as "victories for parents' rights."
Religious freedoms squashed, books banned and speech censored, education that hides elements of life and history, and everyone working to do their part--yeah, those are the kinds of programs that Mao Tse Tung would get behind.