The Supreme Court’s Paxton decision is a landmark victory for families and children across America. In a long-awaited ruling, the court affirmed what millions of parents already know deep in their hearts: that our children deserve protection from the predatory influence of online pornography.
By upholding Texas’s age verification law in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, the court clarified that states have the constitutional authority to protect children. The 6-3 ruling included an opinion from Justice Clarence Thomas, and Justice Elena Kagan wrote the dissent.
Even in her dissent on behalf of the three opposing justices, Kagan noted, “No one doubts that the distribution of sexually explicit speech to children, of the sort involved here, can cause great harm. Or to say the same thing in legal terms, no one doubts that States have a compelling interest in shielding children from speech of that kind.”
This decision is not just a win for Texas. It is a green light for every state that wants to protect its children online, and a powerful affirmation of the 23 states that have already passed similar laws. The court recognized that requiring users to verify their age online before accessing adult content is constitutional.
At Family Policy Alliance, we are overjoyed. For years, “Big Porn” has operated without limits or accountability. According to Common Sense Media, 73% of teenage respondents ages 13 to 17 have watched pornography online. 54% of the teenagers reported first seeing pornography by the time they reached the age of 13.
That means children, many still in elementary school, are being introduced to graphic, degrading, and deeply harmful content long before they are emotionally or mentally prepared to process it. With pornography so easily accessible online, it has effectively replaced parents as the primary source of sex education for many children.
The results are devastating: rising rates of sexual violence, teenage depression, unplanned pregnancies, and even human trafficking. Behind these outcomes is a billion-dollar industry that profits from addiction and exploitation.
But with this ruling, the Supreme Court has delivered a sharp rebuke to the pornography industry’s legal arguments. In siding with Texas and the 22 other states that have enacted similar laws, the court has empowered parents to reclaim their role as the primary educators and protectors of their children’s innocence.
As the lead opinion rightly observes, age verification does not infringe upon the rights of adults. The ruling protects children from material that no decent society would ever present.
This decision marks the beginning of the end of “Big Porn’s” cultural monopoly. It is the start of restoring decency to our public discourse around sexuality and human dignity.
At Family Policy Alliance, we are proud to have worked alongside our state Family Policy Councils to help pass age verification laws in 23 states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.
We are pleased to stand alongside lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, parents, and citizens who believe that protecting children should never be controversial. We are honored to continue leading the charge through our Let Parents Parent campaign, which equips families and legislators with the tools they need to protect children from the dangers of the internet.
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But we will not rest until every state enacts meaningful protections against the unfiltered spread of online pornography. We will not stop until Congress takes action. Every child in America deserves to grow up learning about love, intimacy, and self-worth from their parents, not pornography.
This Supreme Court decision is a victory. Let parents parent, let children be children, and let’s continue to work together to build a future where every child is safe from online harm.
Craig DeRoche is the CEO of Family Policy Alliance and the former Michigan Speaker of the House. Family Policy Alliance advances biblical values through civic engagement for a nation where God is honored, religious freedom flourishes, families thrive, and life is cherished.