COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, along with 25 other state attorneys general, is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm the rights of parents in determining their children’s education and religious upbringing.
In an amicus brief, Yost and his counterparts challenge a ruling by a U.S. Court of Appeals that upheld a Maryland school district’s decision to deny parental requests to opt their children out of lessons on sexuality that conflict with their religious beliefs.
“District officials have overstepped their authority with an unconstitutional ban on parental discretion,” Yost said. “They have no right to overrule parents who raise religious objections to sex education.”
The case, Mahmoud v. Taylor, stems from a policy enacted by Montgomery County Public Schools—Maryland’s largest school district—which in 2023 prohibited parents from opting their children out of classwork involving “pride storybooks.” A group of parents sued the school board, arguing that the policy violated their religious rights, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled in favor of the school district in May 2024.
The attorneys general argue that the ruling endangers First Amendment protections and a parent’s fundamental right to oversee their children’s education. They assert that the decision “permits a local school district to impose its preferred ideology on young, impressionable minds—over their parents’ religious objections.”
The coalition is calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the lower court’s decision, highlighting that nearly 90% of states allow parents to opt their children out of sex education. The brief also notes that Maryland law itself mandates public schools to permit such opt-outs for “family life and human sexuality” instruction.
Yost is joined in the brief by attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Wyoming, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia. The Supreme Court is expected to hear the case later this year.
