Document Type
Arguendo (Online)
Abstract
Beyond constitutional assertions about broad parental rights lies the nuance of state laws affecting child autonomy. State laws take a variety of approaches to address the broad rights of parents to raise their children while acknowledging that these broad rights must give way in limited circumstances to promote the best interests of children. These differences under state law can be categorized into three approaches, including a bright-line, middle-ground, and extended autonomy approach. Naming and analyzing these approaches illuminates a new form of a bright-line approach—shadow parental consent—that Texas law has adopted. At first glance, the recently enacted Texas law, H.B. 18, does not appear to implicate the traditional parental consent requirements that other state laws outline. However, upon further evaluation, H.B. 18 creates a shadow parental consent requirement, which permits parents to have continuing consent authority over their child’s actions on social media through backdoor parental monitoring tools. In its current form, H.B. 18 protects the broad rights of parents to raise their children but fails to properly address the best interests of children. Instead, Texas legislators should amend the statute to respect broad parental authority while granting minors limited autonomy to protect themselves from abusive parental oversight on social media.
DOI
10.37419/LR.V12.Arg.6
First Page
71
Last Page
92
Recommended Citation
Ainsley McNally,
Bringing Parental Consent Out of the Shadows: An Evaluation of Texas H.B. 18's Effect on a Child's Best Interest,
12
Tex. A&M L. Rev.
Arguendo
71
(2025).
Available at:
https://doi.org/10.37419/LR.V12.Arg.6
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