Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen is leading a 23-state coalition in a federal court case defending parental rights after a Delaware father alleged that school officials violated his constitutional rights by concealing his child’s gender identity decisions from him.
The coalition filed an amicus brief Monday in Heaps v. Delaware Valley Regional High School Board of Education, urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to overturn a lower court ruling that upheld a school board policy allowing staff to withhold information about a student’s gender identity from parents.
“The district’s policy upends centuries of natural and constitutional law,” Attorney General Knudsen wrote in the brief. “It gives ultimate decision-making authority to children and displaces parents from their longstanding, primary role in ensuring their child’s safety and well-being.”
At the center of the case is Christian Heaps, a father whose daughter has been diagnosed with ADHD, high-functioning autism, and anxiety. According to court documents, Heaps and his daughter’s medical providers crafted a treatment plan focused on her mental health needs. However, the school district allegedly promoted her “social transition” without informing Heaps, in accordance with its policy.
The coalition argues that such actions violate the constitutional rights of parents, citing longstanding legal precedent that recognizes a parent’s right to direct the upbringing of their children as a fundamental liberty protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.
“The right of parents to direct the care and custody of their children is perhaps the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests recognized by the Supreme Court,” the brief states. “But the right preexists the Constitution itself and is an intrinsic human right.”
The brief also notes that no major medical organization recommends facilitating a child’s gender transition without parental involvement, particularly given the potential for lasting psychological and physical consequences.
The 23-state coalition includes attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and the Arizona Legislature.
Knudsen emphasized that the case is about more than policy—it’s about protecting a foundational American principle.
“Parents—not government officials—have the primary role in raising their children,” Knudsen said. “When schools circumvent parents on life-altering decisions, they not only violate constitutional rights, they undermine the trust and partnership needed between families and schools.”
The case is currently pending before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
By: BSH staff