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Proposed California bill would allow child to have more than two parents
By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
July 5th, 2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
July 5th, 2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
A bill under now before California lawmakers would allow children to have more than two parents. The bill, SB 1476, introduced by Sen. Mark Leno (D) from San Francisco, would amend California's current two-parent-per-child law, allegedly in order to protect the best interests of the child. Of course, the implications of this on the children, the family and the society are serious.
Leno is quick to point out that the bill is not meant to expand the definition of who can qualify as a parent, but rather to eliminate the limit of two per child. Of course, such a cavalier dismissal of the very nature of the family and condescension toward a two parent family reflects an agenda.
The bill arises from a 2011 state appellate court case in which a young girl had two mothers. When one of the mothers was sent to prison and the other was hospitalized, the girl's biological father wished to care for her. The court ruled that the biological father could not be a legal guardian because of California's current law allowing only two parents per child.
In the end, the state took custody of the child.
Leno said the law would have limited application in California and is similar to legislation already present in other states such as Delaware, Maine and Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia.
The bill is scheduled to be considered by the Assembly Appropriations Committee on July 9, after it passed in the Senate in late May.
Opponents say that the bill would create confusion in the minds of impressionable children. Association of Certified Family Law Specialists President Diane Wasznicky said it would create an exception to California's formula for child support payments.
Benjamin Lopez, a legislative analyst for the Traditional Values Coalition, also blasted the bill as a new attempt to "revamp, redefine and muddy the waters" of family structure in the drive to legalize homosexual marriage.
Under the proposal, families with three or more parents would share custody, financial responsibility and visitation for the child, based on a judge's determination of each parent's wealth and the time spent with the child.
The legislation does not place any limit on the number of recognized parents a child could have. Leno called the possibility of a child having five or six parents "laughable." However, such a "laughable" possibility is now on the horizon.
© 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.