Home Visitations in the Health Care Bill Threaten Parental Rights

Why you might ask would I be concerned about HR 3200 which is the commonly known National Health Care Bill and it’s possible impact on home schooling families as well as other independent learning families.  Section 440 of the bill starting on page 837 is entitled HOME VISITATION PROGRAMS FOR FAMILIES WITH YOUNG CHILDREN AND FAMILIES EXPECTING CHILDREN.  This is a grant program designed to improve the well being, health and development of young children and expectant mothers.  To get these funds the states will have to identify and prioritize serving communities that are in high need of such services, especially communities with a high proportion of low-income families or a high incidence of child maltreatment.  Wouldn’t you love to have your community defined by the Federal Government in that way. 

These programs will provide referrals to other services as deemed appropriate by the inspectors doing the home visitations.  The following information represents the main points the government intends to accomplish through home visits within these defined communities.  The bill would provide parents with knowledge of  “age-appropriate child developmental, cognitive, language, social, emotional and motor domains.”   This would include how well second language learners are acquiring skills in the English language.  Further the bill would provide parents and prospective parents “realistic knowledge of age-appropriate expectations of behavior.”   Further, parents and prospective parents would be schooled in wellness issues.   Translate into the federal government deciding if your child is overweight, underweight, fed the proper diet and whether you are providing your child with government approved health care.  

I almost strangled with laughter when you consider the thousands of persons needed to bring about this training and the practicality of teaching those who have been defined by the government as financially poor or abusive parents.  Can you imagine the people who will be showing up in your house to do the following things.   “Modeling, consulting, and coaching will be provided on parenting practices”.  These practices will be intended to provide parents with the skills to interact in age-appropriate ways with their children.  The parents will be given help so they will be properly trained to identify issues related to the health, developmental delays, and social, emotional, and behavioral skills of their children.  And above all parents will be given “activities designed to help parents become full partners in the education of their children.”   So, in addition, to everything else the government wants to control we now will have government employees who will be judging whether or not your parenting comes up to federal government standards.  The founding fathers have to bouncing up and down in their graves not just spinning.  I try to envision in my own mind the people who must have been sitting around desks with premium coffee deciding that the government just has to help all we ignorant, helpless citizens out here to learn how to raise our children the government way. 

So envision for a moment the millions upon millions of families who will fall into these vague categories.  Then try to bring to mind the size of a bureaucracy that will have to be put into place to carry out even the smallest part of this provision of the bill.   Further, imagine being one of the families deemed inferior who have to open their doors to government “consultants” who by federal law are going to model and coach parents in appropriate parenting practices.  I am just sure that the government is going to provide us with the very best parental role models for these modeling and coaching sessions.  Ah, in fact, they promise to do so.  Later in the bill we find this; the government will “employ well-trained and competent staff, maintain high quality supervision, provide for ongoing training and professional development, and show strong organizational capacity to implement such a program”.  Can you just dream the size of the government agency that will try to bring this to pass.  I should note that different qualifications exist for Indian tribes.  Bless their hearts we’ve done enough to Indian tribes already.

So what is the problem with the state being able to develop a nation wide program of home visitations to a qualified class of inferior families.  First, the bill does not define anything about what really qualifies such a family as poor or abusive.  What are the income levels that will be the trigger points?  How will income levels be determined?  But more worrisome is what will constitute abuse?  Will it be whether or not you choose to send your children to school?  Don’t doubt for one moment that home schooling will likely be in the crosshairs of the federal government. 

In other countries with similarly socialistic tendencies home schoolers have been defined as abusers of children.  The simple act of not wanting to expose your children to the inferior educational programs in schools has become a criminal act in Germany.  Families are being openly prosecuted there for simply wanting to providean excellent home education for their own God given children.  So people who are devoted and interested enough to provide the best education they can for their children in the safety and love of the home environment are criminals against the state.  Every day during the school year in America somewhere a school district tries to prosecute home school families under truancy laws.  In my opinion, if you believe this cannot here, you are deluding yourself.

Do you now have any doubt what is happening here.  The “State” is taking further control of children in defiance of the natural rights of families to raise their children as they see fit.  The “State” is saying to you and I that we are not able to raise our own children in a developmentally healthy way without help from the “State”.  We are inferior to the “State”.  There is an extremely great risk here.  Specifically, Americans are in danger of seeing a slow but sure erosion of the sanctity of home and family.   I would wager that most people have not idea that these ideas are part of this horrifying bill.

If the United States government is successful in passing legislation that wrenches more control of the children of our country from their parents we are further along the road to complete government control.  Call me paranoid, so be it. A families home must remain it’s castle without governmental control other than existing laws that already cover child abuse and maltreatment.  Be vigilant America.

Home schooling parents need to oppose this bill because they are very likely to be defined as bad parents because they do not want to subject their children to the joys of government schooling.  Your basic parental rights are under direct assault in this bill.  The Health Care bill would give the government control of our families that has nothing to do with the general health of American.  This is simply making an institution of the governments desire to control more and more aspects of our lives. This bill does have an underlying purpose.  Simply put, HR 3200 America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 is a Trojan Horse. 

This bill has become a poorly disguised attempt to remake the way of life of American families in the image the govenment sees as ideal.  Can you imagine the attitude it’s implementation will take toward independent learners and home schooling families?