Carol Platt Liebau: Massachusetts' Family-Destroying Legal Move
Podcasts > Townhall Review | Conservative Commentary On Today's News
Tuesday, September 22, 2026
The Supreme Court has long recognized that parents — not the state — have the primary right to direct their children’s upbringing.
But Massachusetts apparently wasn’t listening.
In December 2024, the state took a 15-year-old girl named Sophie from her home. Her school had been helping her socially transition. When her Catholic parents refused to use a male name or support a gender transition, they lost custody. Her family says they’re now barred from contacting her.
This is un-American. Massachusetts doesn’t care more about Sophie than her parents do. And holding traditional Catholic beliefs shouldn’t cost parents their child.
How Sophie chooses to live once she’s an adult will be her decision. But while she’s still a minor, disagreement with her parents — even over something this profound — isn’t sufficient reason for the state to replace them.
Sophie belongs with her family.
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