To: Governor Kay Ivey

Grandparents Rights in Alabama

We as grandparent are wanting the right to be in our grandchild's life, we want it on a case by case decision. We feel that we can make a difference in that child's life with a grandparent involved in their lives.

Why is this important?

There are many grandparents out there who have been denied the right to see their grandchildren and all because of divorce or death of the grandparents child. We feel that this is uncalled for the grandchildren should have the freedom to know his or her grandparents and have them in their lives. This not only hurts the grandparent but it can cause lasting damage to the child if the said grandparents have been in their lives for a long time. It can make the child feel abandoned by the grandparents. I have friends very dear to me be denied access to their granddaughters since the death of their son and it is so tragic. Not only are they dealing with death of a son but they are also dealing with the fact they cannot be in the granddaughters lives. We must stop this, this isn't good for the child involved nor is it good for the grandparents. Giving the parents the right to choose is unthinkable, we are just going back to the fact that the parent rules the decision, which is pointless. We need to set new guidelines that prevent this from happening. There are good honest grandparents out there that want to add their wisdom and love in their grandchild's life.