Purcellville, Va.—Two dangerous amendments, which would have outlawed homeschooling in France, were recently defeated.

The amendments prohibited homeschooling unless there was a health or handicap problem with the child. But even if the family could prove a health or handicap exception the government would still visit the family every year and their curriculum would be provided.

Philippe Bas, the French Minister of the Family, stepped out in opposition to the amendments. “As they are, I am not favorable to these amendments, I find them too restrictive,” Bas said.

HSLDA Senior Counsel Chris Klicka agreed with Bas’ analysis of the amendments. “HSLDA immediately wrote an email to our members, and within a couple of days hundreds of calls and emails started pouring in to the French Embassy,” he said.

A French official acknowledged the effectiveness of the lobbying effort when he called to say, “We were blindsided by the controversy brought to our attention by hundreds of phone calls and emails, so we quickly contacted Paris.”

Thankfully homeschool freedom was preserved in France.

Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) is a 23-year-old, 80,000 member non-profit organization and the preeminent national association advocating the legal right of parents to homeschool their children.