Arent was on her way to the St. Vincent de Paul homeless shelter when she was ambushed by protesters outside her South Cottonwood home.

"Why aren't you helping our families?" shouted Stephanie Muir, whose four children were taken from her by DCFS 5 1/2 years ago.

"I have been helping," Arent said. "I don't know why you are picking on me," she added. But before she drove away she told Muir she'd be happy to meet with her later.

Daniel Newby, one of the group's organizers, said Arent has voted against family rights. "She's an embarrassment," he said.

But Arent said later that she was totally blindsided by the protest and didn't have a clue why they targeted her.

"I've always tried to balance rights of parents and rights of children," she said. In fact, her parental choice bill that would allow asthmatic children to carry inhalers with parental and physician consent has widespread support.

Some of Arent's neighbors found the ambush obtrusive.

"This is Christmas Day!" yelled Arent's neighbor who refused to let protesters onto his property to hand him fliers.

Robert Latham, an attorney who has handled many child protective custody cases, said a couple of hours of knocking on doors and passing out fliers is the least he could do for the parental rights movement that has been gaining momentum in recent months.

"For many of us, just representing clients in court isn't enough," he said. "We need to do more."

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E-mail: donna@desnews.com