The Constitution
The Constitution Limits My Power—It Doesn’t Give Me the Right to Rule Over You
By Delegate Chris Anders
97th District, West Virginia House of Delegates
Two hundred and fifty years ago, Patrick Henry stood in a Virginia church and declared: “Give me liberty, or give me death.” That fiery cry was not a political slogan—it was a declaration of purpose. It was a reminder that freedom is worth fighting for, even when the price is high.
As a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, I take that same message seriously. I didn’t swear an oath to a political party or to follow the latest polling data. I swore an oath to uphold the Constitution. And let me be clear: that Constitution does not give me—or anyone else in this legislature—the authority to tell parents how to raise their children. In fact, it does the exact opposite.
We live in a Constitutional Republic—not a democracy. That distinction matters. In a democracy, the majority can vote away the rights of the minority. But in a Republic, the rights of the individual are protected—regardless of popular opinion.
And the most fundamental of those rights is this: that parents, not government, have the final say over how their children are raised, educated, and cared for. The idea that government should step in and override those decisions—using the heavy hand of law and regulation—is not just wrong. It is un-American.
Now let me address something head-on. Some people hear me speak about medical freedom and assume I’m anti-vaccine. I am not anti-vaccine.
I am anti–men with guns showing up to take away parental rights. That’s what this is really about: force. The power of the state being used to coerce families into submission, to override their conscience, and to make the government—not parents—the ultimate authority over children.
If for one moment you think the patriots who froze at Valley Forge, or marched barefoot to Trenton, did so just to trade one tyrant 3,000 miles away for 100 tyrants 20 miles away, you’re mistaken.
They didn’t fight a revolution so future politicians could sit in marble buildings and tell parents what to do with their kids.
Our Founders understood something we must remember: the individual is the smallest minority, and their rights cannot be voted away.
Not by 51 percent, not by 99 percent, not even unanimously.
Government exists to protect those rights—not to infringe upon them.
This is why I support Senate Bill 460. In fact, I’ll be blunt—it doesn’t go far enough. But it’s a start. A step in the right direction.
It affirms that parents have the fundamental right to make decisions for their children without interference from the state. That shouldn’t be controversial—it should be common sense in a free society.
Lately, I’ve seen too many politicians treating elected office like a throne—using it to impose their will instead of protecting your liberty.
I reject that entirely.
My job is not to rule over you. My job is to protect your rights.
Some say, “Well, the polls support this.” Others say, “People are demanding action.” To them I say: Polls don’t matter when liberty is on the line.
Public pressure doesn’t nullify the Constitution. We are not here to do what is popular. We are here to do what is right.
If standing on principle costs me an election, so be it. I’d rather lose with integrity than win by betraying the very freedoms I swore to uphold.
At the end of the day, I need to be able to look my constituents—and my children—in the eye and say: I defended your rights, even when it was hard.
I’m no Patrick Henry. But like him, I believe we must choose freedom over the false comfort of government control. I believe parents—not bureaucrats, not lawmakers—know what’s best for their children. And I will fight with everything I have to make sure that never changes.
Because at the heart of our Republic is a simple, powerful truth: Liberty belongs to the people—not the government.
And it’s time we started acting like it.