Gov. Newsom Destroys Parents’ Rights; Elon Musk Announces Move of SpaceX from CA

By Rebecca Friedrichs and Roger Ruvolo

What would inspire Elon Musk to post: “This is the final straw. Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas.”

Policies crafted by so-called teacher unions, that’s what. And their latest assault on families (AB 1955) – Elon’s “final straw” — was just signed into law by Governor Newsom.

This law, in one broad sweep, deprives legions of parents the right to protect their own children from secret transgender manipulation and sexual predators. What a contrast to the “Yes, parents matter” message promoted by Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin Monday at the Republican National Convention. 

Unlike Youngkin, who won the support of families, Newsom and his allies are a menace to California.

Newsom and the Democrat Supermajority who passed this bill are intentionally betraying their constituents in service to themselves and a deceptive agenda. 

How else to explain the gagging of people tasked with educating and protecting children?

AB 1955, like most bills coming out of Sacramento, is full of deceptions and distortions. 

The deception begins with the title: “the SAFETY Act.” 

Despite its name, the law prohibits anyone involved with public schools from giving any truthful information to parents asking about a child’s transgender status — putting children in DANGER of being manipulated by the ever-increasing sexual activists running our government schools. The law explicitly denies parents the right to protect their own kids.  

For the sexual predator, it doesn’t get much SAFER than that.

The SAFETY Act comes a few years after another sick law — the deceptively named California Healthy Youth Act — which is used to sexualize kids with pornographic materials and activities. What’s “healthy” about that? 

Deception and distortion are key tactics used by zealots subverting our nation. And neither of these deceptively named and distorted pieces of legislation actually have anything to do with protecting children. That’s why Musk is pulling his SpaceX headquarters out of California along with hundreds of other companies that have already fled the state. 

But Californians have fought hard against these wicked laws, yet special-interests always prevail. 

Sonja Shaw, Chino Valley Unified school board chair, traveled to Sacramento with hundreds of other Californians to testify against “the SAFETY Act.” She watched in “disgust and anger” as special-interest groups such as the PTA, unions and lobbyists all sang the praises of a bill that criminalizes telling truth to parents. 

Shaw says the bill violates the 14th Amendment and is “a direct attack on the fundamental role of parents and the sanctity of the family, and aligns with a Marxist agenda.”

What’s safe about any of that?

This, and thousands of other communist-like assaults on our families, is why our organization, For Kids and Country, is standing proudly as a coalition partner at the first annual March for Kids on August 31st, in Washington, D.C. We’ll stand in protection of families and against government tyranny that threatens our sacred rights to protect our own children.  

Shaw adds that AB 1955 “was designed to destroy families and control our kids.”

Destruction and control come directly from the Communist Party. In 1963, our government was already so concerned about the communist threat inside America that the 45 Goals of the Communist Party were read into our Congressional Record. No. 41: “Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents…” Clearly AB 1955 is the latest step in that direction.

Shaw, like those of us uniting at the March for Kids, vows to rally like-minded people to protest this latest attack on families. Her own board took action to require honesty with parents — an action that evoked a lawsuit from union-supported California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

AB 1955 was rushed through at lightning speed to prevent local school districts from adopting policies that ensure parents are protected. AG Bonta, Gov. Newsom, and their Democrat supermajority are hell bent on lying to parents while empowering outsiders — with very questionable motives — to have unfettered access to our kids. 

That’s why Shaw’s district is part of a lawsuit challenging AB 1955.

Hopefully the passage of this diabolical law, and the attention Elon Musk has brought to it, will awaken more people to the nightmares inside our government schools. Half our kids cannot read or perform grade-level math. They don’t know history, culture or science. And partisans are teaching our children racism, lies, bigotry, and class warfare, while manipulating them to champion wicked attacks on their own parents.

Orwellian, isn’t it?

Much must change to get the country back to its freedom-loving roots. Cleaning up the filth in our nation’s legislatures and our government schools are two of them. 

A version of this op-ed appeared in the New York Post 7/17/2024.

Roger Ruvolo is a longtime newspaper editor and a contributor to For Kids & Country. For Kids and Country is a coalition partner with March for Kids.