Indiana, Unwed Mothers And Artificial Insemination
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in General Politics, Social ProgramsThis is sure to make Indiana part of the “Are You Serious?” newscycle this week.
Republican lawmakers are drafting new legislation that will make marriage a requirement for motherhood in the state of Indiana, including specific criminal penalties for unmarried women who do become pregnant “by means other than sexual intercourse.”According to a draft of the recommended change in state law, every woman in Indiana seeking to become a mother throu gh assisted reproduction therapy such as in vitro fertilization, sperm donation, and egg donation, must first file for a “petition for parentage” in their local county probate court.
Republican Senator Patricia Miller is sponsoring the bill. Begin justification…
Sen. Miller believes the requirement of marriage for parenting is for the benefit of the children that result from infertility treatments.“We did want to address the issue of whether or not the law should allow single people to be parents. Studies have shown that a child raised by both parents - a mother and a father - do better. So, we do want to have laws that protect the children,” she explained.
When asked specifically if she believes marriage should be a requirement for motherhood, and if that is part of the bill’s intention, Sen. Miller responded, “Yes. Yes, I do.”
Personally, I think two parents are usually better than one, but the type of social engineering this bill suggests is laughable and I hope the nation laughs along with me at these legislators’ myopia.
(HT: Pandagon)
This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 5th, 2005 and is filed under General Politics, Social Programs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
October 5th, 2005 at 1:25 pm
Unfortunately you are right, the horse left this barn long ago….. and we can’t even find it let along get the horse back inside….
October 6th, 2005 at 7:49 am
I think a “petition for parentage” may be a good idea for married couples, too. Some people just shouldn’t be allowed to breed! :)
October 6th, 2005 at 1:04 pm
I thought only Louisiana could be this absurd. Not that I disagree with the notion that stable marriages make better environments for raising children, it’s just that this is another example of imposing a particular philosophy on people who might not agree.
More here:
http://hydeandgeek.blogspot.com/2005/10/social-conservatism-good-philosophy.html
October 6th, 2005 at 5:12 pm
Aren’t they forgetting one litle thing? Who gets drafted to be the husband in these cases? How is the woman supposed to get married all by herself?
Are these the same people who think gay marriage is such a threat to society?
October 7th, 2005 at 9:55 am
Actually, the best situation for children is not a 2-parent home. The best “family” for children is a stable, consistent, loving environment. As we are all aware, the divorce rate is pretty high, at over 50%, and that means that at least 50% of all 2-parent homes are probably not good environments for children (of course, probably a small percentage of divorcing couples manage to be civil, but this is still a HUGE disruption for kids, and thus, it is not a good situation).
Studies do show that 2-parent homes are better than 1-parent homes, but these people are leaving out a a lot of details. Many 1-parent homes that detract from the “scores” for the single parent category include single parents that are living in poverty. Obviously, if you are a single, impoverished female with kids and no daddy to help with anything, it’s going to make home life a little more challenging. Secondly, stable and consistent single parent situations are better than unstable and inconsistent 2-parent homes. My point is that the number of parents is just a side note because stability and consistency is the number one most important thing for children and families.
April 26th, 2007 at 10:10 am
Perhaps Senator miller forgot about the two straight A student girls who paged for her two years ago, raised by a single mom. She spoke so highly of them when I, their mother, met her. She obviously forgot her student intern a few years ago, a struggling single mom of four kids who she also praised and wrote a glowing recommendation for.
I am raising three girls on my own, and have the ambition to have more, sans the husband. Perhaps I will need to confront her personally.