Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear the case of Indiana parents who were appealing the state’s decision to remove their transgender teen from their home.
The parents argued that their religious beliefs required them to raise the child based on the child’s sex at birth. The state said the parents lost custody of the transgender girl not because of their religious beliefs but because of the need to address the child’s eating disorder.
Mary and Jeremy Cox filed their petition with the nation’s high court in September 2023 after the Indiana Supreme Court declined to hear the case. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court, without comment, declined to hear the case.
“No other loving parents should have to endure what we did,” the Coxes said in a joint statement Monday in response to the Supreme Court’s decision. “The pain of having our son taken from our home and kept from our care because of our beliefs will stay with us forever. We can’t change the past, but we will continue to fight for a future where parents of faith can raise their children without fear of state officials knocking on their doors and taking their children away from them.” Mary and Jeremy Cox said in a joint statement.
The Coxes’ attorneys, Lori Windham of the Becket Fund for Religious Freedom and Joshua Hershberger, criticized the state’s actions but also expressed hope for the future.
“What Indiana officials did to Mary and Jeremy was a shocking attack on parental rights. Loving parents should not lose custody of their children because they disagree with the state about gender. We are confident that the Supreme Court will ultimately protect this basic right and ensure that parents can raise their children consistent with their religious beliefs,” the statement said.
The Indiana Attorney General’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Background
In 2019, Mary and Jeremy Cox were informed that their child identified as a transgender girl. But because of their religious belief that God creates human beings with immutable sex — male or female — they said they could not refer to their child using pronouns and a name inconsistent with what was established at birth.
In 2021, The Indiana Department of Child Services began investigating the Coxes after receiving two reports that they were suspected of abusing or neglecting their child.
DCS alleged A.C. was a child in need of services due to the neglect and the parents actions were endangering A.C.’s health.
The CHINS petition alleged that A.C. did not feel mentally or emotionally safe in the home and was “more likely to have thoughts of self-harm and suicide” at home “due to mental and emotional abuse.” The petition also claimed that A.C. had an untreated eating disorder and that the Coxes had withdrawn A.C. from school and were unaware of if they would be enrolled in a new school. The petition further claimed the parents had stopped any therapy for A.C.’s mental health issues.
The trial court held a hearing on the matter and concluded A.C. was a CHINS. It also ordered A.C. to be removed from Coxes’ home. The court also ordered unsupervised visitation between the parents and A.C. “’so long as certain topics’ (a category left undefined at the time) ‘are not addressed.’”
A.C. was also ordered to continue eating disorder treatment and to undergo a psychological evaluation.
According to the state, at the final dispositional hearing, DCS explained that its goal was reunification but that A.C.’s medical issues needed to be resolved.
The case is M.C. and J.C. v. Indiana Department of Child Services, 23-450.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.