damn good idea

[otaku]

The Speaker of the South Australian Parliament, Peter Lewis, says people should be licensed to have children.

Mr Lewis has criticised Australia's family law system while giving evidence to a federal parliamentary inquiry into whether separated parents should have equal custody of their children by default.

Mr Lewis is also patron of a separated fathers' support group called the Richard Hillman Foundation.

He says the Family Court wrongly presumed women made better parents than men and that people can have children too easily and ought to be licensed.

"How is it that if someone wants to become a parent, you can have a child?" he asked.




source

 

[carlyp]

Im not sure how you would do it (im sure you could though) but I reckon its a good idea. I dont know for sure but perhaps it would lower child abuse and sexual abuse numbers? Surely it would. If it does it can only be a good thing surely.

 

[Zeke]

I've suggested that exact idea a number of times. I think that there are people out there who are obviously not equipped to raise children.

 

[Syd]

Originally posted by Zeke
I've suggested that exact idea a number of times. I think that there are people out there who are obviously not equipped to raise children.

And others who just shouldn't be allowed to reproduce!

 

[BomberGal]

I don't like the idea. You can't put restrictions on something that is so natural as reproducing to contribute to the survival of your own species. People have children because that's nature. It's life. You can't take away such a basic right. You can't license that - it's going too far in attempts to play God.

 

[ozzult]

You need a license to get married, you need a license to drive a car, you need a license to shoot a gun, you need a license to hunt, you need a license to travel to other countries.


You should need a license to have children.



The only problem is, how do you police it, what do you do if someone has a child without a license?

 

[Slax]

One way not to have to pay for an abortion. Sorry mate my girlfriends pregnant and we don't have a licence you'll have to give her an abortion.

Stupidist thing I've ever heard.

 

[beckybiglands]

Policing its going to be interesting...
I dunno if its such a good idea, I can see why people would think of such an idea, abuse, poor, etc etc, but i can juse see this leading to a war on what makes you a suitable parent/s... obviuosly a large percentage of people wouldn't agree with same-sex couples etc...
its just gonna cause more crap... bad idea

 

[Bomber Spirit]

I can sort of see the thinking behind it. It could screen out some potentially abusive parents - for starters, anyone convicted of sexual abuse against children or any form of domestic violence would be automatically rejected.
But it's totally unenforcable. If a child comes along and their parents don't have a breeding license, what happens? It may not even be intentional - contraception isn't always 100% successful.
Interestingly, there's a direct inverse link between wealth and birth rate; so the richer they are the less likely they are to have children. So if financial security is to be used as a criteria to issue a breeding license it won't work - the more likely someone is to be approved, the less likely they are to apply. And the government scrutiny and bureaucratic red tape involved would put it in the too-hard basket for some; so Australia's birth rate would fall even further.

 

[Minkus_Swan]

I now have a vision of kids walking around with wristbands of their birth licence number.

Suppose we could do what China does. I think the government there doesn't give the parents any benefits, if they don't have a licence for the child.

 

[Milkman]

I'm not handing over my right to decide whether I have kids or not. Over my dead body.

 

[evade28]

Originally posted by ozzult
You need a license to get married, you need a license to drive a car, you need a license to shoot a gun, you need a license to hunt, you need a license to travel to other countries.

and how many of those are natural?? in every culture, all over the world? none. having kids is.