by Diana Claude

Created on: September 17, 2009   Last Updated: September 18, 2009

Do grandparents have a legal right to visit their grandchildren? Apparently not anymore!

Once upon a time, grandparents had some rights under The Visitation Rights Enforcement Act, November 12,1998. Devoted grandparents could take ease knowing that they could at least see their grandchildren anywhere in the United States as long as they already had visitation in the state they lived in. Although this law did not impose any federal decision regarding grandparents visitation in any state, it seemed as if the courts would look upon grandparents as having some worth, as long as it was in the best interest of the child.

In 2000, grandparents had the rug pulled out from under them. The United States Supreme Court heard the case of Troxel v. Granville. In this case, grandparents Gary and Jenifer Troxel, petitioned the court to allow them to visit the children of their late son. They wanted two weekends a month. The mother, who was a fit parent, objected to this. The turning point happened when the mother's attorney argued that in the absence of any evidence that the children were being harmed, the parent should have absolute power as to who should be allowed to visit her children. This was an attempt to take the power out of the hands of the state and give it to the parents. It worked, and thanks to Justice Sandra Day O'Conner, who represented the majority when stating: " that so long as a parent adequately cares for his or her children, there will not be any reason for the state to inject itself into the private realm of the family, to further question the ability of that parent to make the best decisions concerning the rearing of that parent's children." In plain English, the Supreme Court ruled that as long as they are fit, parents have the right to decide what is best for their child.

The death knoll for grandparent's rights gets even worse. In some states the word grandparents has been changed to Third Party Visitation, which means everyone except the parents. Even worse than that, a third party who petitions for visitation must prove in a preponderance of evidence, that is, overwhelming, that the child would be significantly harmed if they were not allowed visits with their grandparents. This is a sticky-key, how can one show significant harm when they are denied the relationship in the first place?

In my personal opinion, for what it is worth, this law is discriminatory. It assumes that all parents always make decisions in the best interests of their children. I've known some parents who are self-centered and make decisions based on their own best interests and not their child's. All we have to do is look at the number of children in foster care to know that. It also doesn't take into account whether or not the child loves grandma and grandpa. If they can't have access to their children, how can a loving relationship be nurtured?

This law is also anti-family, in saying that the only family that matters to a child is the parents. Forget about aunts, uncles, brothers, sister, cousins, and other siblings. Letting a parent separate a child from his family is about as stupid as allowing a parent to isolate his child from school or friends. It can't be healthy for a child to be denied the love and support that grandparents and other family members can bring into a child's life. I hope that grandparents will wake up and continue to encourage their legislators to lobby to overturn this ridiculous law.

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