Decline of Mom-and-Pop Families

I pasted the teaser on an article on the trend of governments to prioritize the rights of adults over children in matters of parenthood. It occurs to me that in the most liberal society in the world Canada is not taking a lead in countering this. We are founded on the principle that the nation should defend those who cannot defend themselves. That's why the gay marriage laws never went to referendum - because if you put minority rights in the hands of the majority, no law defending the minority will ever pass.

The minority in this case is children. Who will stand up for them and their rights?

Decline of Mom-and-Pop Families

Kids Left Behind as Parenthood Is Redefined

NEW YORK, SEPT. 30, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Family structures and parenthood roles are being redefined without sufficient consideration for the needs of children. This is the warning of a report just published that describes worldwide trends in family law and reproductive technology.

"The Revolution in Parenthood: The Emerging Global Clash Between Adult Rights and Children's Needs" is published by the Commission on Parenthood's Future. The commission "is an independent, nonpartisan group of scholars and leaders," active in the area of the family, according to a press release on the Web site of the Institute for American Values. The New York-based institute is one of the organizations behind the commission.

The author of the report is Elizabeth Marquardt, a member of the commission and author of the book, "Between Two Worlds: The Inner Lives of Children of Divorce."

The report finds that worldwide trends in law and reproductive technologies are redefining parenthood in ways that put the interests of adults before the needs of children. "The two-person mother-father model of parenthood," it states, "is being changed to meet adults' rights to children rather than children's needs to know and be raised, whenever possible, by their mother and father."

The revolution in parenthood described in the publication comprises a variety of issues: high divorce rates; single-parent childbearing; the growing use of egg and sperm donors; support for same-sex marriage; and proposals to allow children conceived with the use of sperm and egg donors to have three legal parents.
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