A Catholic couple in Indiana, Mary and Jeremy Cox, are appealing to the Supreme Court after their child was removed from their home for not using the child’s chosen name and pronouns due to religious beliefs.
Indiana officials investigated the Coxes, found no abuse, but cited distress over gender identity disagreement.
“Keeping a child away from loving parents because of their religious beliefs—even when the state admits there was no abuse or neglect—is wrong and it’s against the law,” Becket vice president and senior counsel Lori Windham said. “The Court should take this case and make clear that other states can’t take children away because of ideological disagreements.”
The Coxes sought therapeutic care for their child’s mental health struggles.
The state placed the child in a “gender-affirming” home despite no abuse findings.
“DCS does not comment on ongoing litigation,” the Indiana Department of Child Services stated.
“This is what every parent is afraid of,” Mary and Jeremy Cox said. “We love our son and wanted to care for him, but the state of Indiana robbed us of that opportunity by taking him from our home and banning us from speaking to him about gender.”
“We are hopeful that the Justices will take our case and protect other parents from having to endure the nightmare we did,” they added.
The Coxes argue against the removal, stating it violates their rights and religious beliefs.
They seek Supreme Court intervention to prevent similar cases nationwide.
State officials said the child “should be in a home where she is [ac]cepted for who she is.”
“If this can happen in Indiana, it can happen anywhere,” Windhamn said. “Tearing a child away from loving parents because of their religious beliefs, which are shared by millions of Americans, is an outrage to the law, parental rights, and basic human decency. If the Supreme Court doesn’t take this case, how many times will this happen to other families?”
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