Did Texas lawmakers vote to protect children in the state? Let’s take a look.

The 89th Texas State legislative session brought some wins for supporters of parents’ rights to protect their children from explicit materials in schools, but other bills that were expected to easily pass both houses failed to make it across the finish line.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• SB 12 and SB 13 passed, in wins for protecting children. SB 12 contained a first-of-its-kind amendment banning the ‘gender-affirming’ “social transitioning” of children in schools, and SB 13 prevents children from accessing explicit material by holding state public schools to the FCC’s content decency standards.

• SB 1396 and HB 3225 failed to pass, in losses for protecting children. SB 1396 would have disallowed national sex ed standards from groups like Planned Parenthood from being implemented in TX public schools, and HB 3225 would have protected children from explicit and pornographic material in public libraries statewide.

THE BACKSTORY:

In 2023, the Texas legislature passed SB 14, which prohibited dangerous hormone drugs, puberty blockers, and life-altering “gender-affirming” medical procedures that may result in irreversible damage to minors. Live Action has shared many heartbreaking stories by detransitioners who have testified to the blatant manipulation by Planned Parenthood and similar ‘clinics’. 

However, this has not stopped the promotion of Planned Parenthood’s ideology from being pushed in Texas schools, library books, and other explicit materials, funded with taxpayer dollars, across the state.

Planned Parenthood claims to be a top provider of transgender hormones and continues to financially benefit from the promotion of transgender ideology.

Planned Parenthood’s Trans Agenda Exposed w/Lila Rose, Chloe Cole, Nick Freitas, Riley Gaines & More

Planned Parenthood has historical and current ties with the American Library Association (ALA) and promotes the use of sexually explicit books and materials provided by the ALA as a way to bypass sex-ed program restrictions, claiming that these explicit books are “absolutely essential” for children to access.

PROTECTIONS FOR CHILDREN:

Senate Bill 12

Senate Bill 12, continues the “Texas tradition of supporting and expanding and safeguarding the rights and roles of parents in their kids upbringing and their children’s education,” according to House sponsor Rep. Jeff Leach.

The bill included an adopted amendment from Rep. Steve Toth which bans ‘gender-affirming’ “social transitioning” of children in schools — reportedly the first bill in the nation to do so. The amendment prohibits school teachers and employees from “assisting a student enrolled in the district with social transitioning, including by providing any information about social transitioning or providing guidelines intended to assist a person with social transitioning.”

Governor Abbott stated on social media that he looks forward to signing SB 12 into law and called it a “BIG win for Texas families.” 

Key provisions of SB 12 include:

• Consent Requirements: Requiring consent for any “medical, psychiatric, or psychological treatments involving their child”; and requires parental consent to opt-in to human sexuality curriculum which Leach stated will ensure “parents can make informed choices that align with the family’s values.”

• Transparency: Guarantees parents the right to fully access school records, curriculum, and library materials; 

• Bans Attempts to Work Around Curriculum Restrictions: Prohibits extracurricular student clubs centered around sexual orientation or gender identity.

Senate Bill 13

Senate Bill 13 expands parental rights and prohibits sexually explicit content in public school libraries by “establishing clear standards for school library content across the state” through “applying the same content standards used by the Federal Communications (FCC)” utilized for public broadcasts.

Bill author Sen. Angela Paxton noted, “If content is considered too indecent for television or radio during hours when children may reasonably be in the audience, then it certainly should not be in school libraries, where children are always the audience.”

She added, “With the passage of SB 13, Texas is leading the way in upholding the rights of parents and the safety of children in our schools… This is a win for transparency, local control, and protecting childhood innocence.”  

Key provisions of SB 13 include: 

• Content Standards: Outlines that school libraries cannot possess materials that align with the FCC’s definition of indecent content.

• Local Oversight of School Libraries: Establishes Local School Library Advisory Councils composed of parents, educators, and community members — who will be responsible for reviewing and recommending library materials — and includes advising on purchases and removal of books.

• Expands Parental Rights: Schools must grant parents access to their child’s library borrowing history and the school’s library catalog, and parents have the right to exclude their children from accessing specific library materials. 

• Transparency in Acquisitions and Reviews: Challenged books will be removed from student access during the review process, all proposed learning materials must undergo vetting before materials are added to collections, and transparency must be ensured in the acquisition and review of educational resources. 

FAILING TO PROTECT CHILDREN:

SB 1396 would have prohibited “the adoption or use of national sex education standards in public school,” including standards developed by the extreme Future of Sex Education (FoSE) coalition, which includes Planned Parenthood, Advocates for Youth, and SIECUS.  

HB 3225 would have restricted children’s access to sexually explicit books and materials in public libraries across Texas. As Live Action News previously noted, Llano County library advisory board member Bonnie Wallace testified in favor of HB 3225 during a house committee hearing, claiming that she found books in children’s sections that “glamorize sex with animals, sex with dead bodies, [and] sex in public while others watch and masturbate.”

HB 3225 was voted out of the House and heard in the Senate committee but failed to come to a Senate floor vote — and some parental rights groups and activists criticized Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick for failing to allow HB 3225 to be brought up for a vote.

After the bill failed to progress, State Republican Executive Committeewoman Christin Bentley tweeted that when the Lt. Governor “kills a TX GOP priority bill that protects kids from PORN in public libraries– and does it on the FINAL intent calendar day – there will be a price to pay. Texas parents won’t forget.”