Dr David van Gend, spokesman Family Council of Queensland
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Queensland's Surrogacy Bill violates a child's birthright to a mother and a father, says the Family Council of Queensland, and the Australian Christian Lobby wants the bill amended or rejected.
Children "are not pets and should not simply be given to anyone who wants one," says the ACL.
The State Parliament is set to vote Wednesday on the 2009 bill, which would decriminalise non-commercial surrogacy for both heterosexual and homosexual couples, and single people, Zenit reports.
"This Bill should have been about altruistic surrogacy as a 'last resort' for an infertile couple," the Family Council of Queensland said in a letter to the Parliament written by family doctor David van Gend. "But no, under that respectable cloak this bill smuggles in an oppressive proposal to deprive children of their birthright - their fundamental right to enter the world, as all of us did, with both a mother and a father.
"There is a grave necessity - and duty - to reject a bill that would, through normalizing same-sex and single surrogacy, intentionally and wantonly deprive a child of her birthright and her most profound psychological need: to have both a mother and a father."
The Family Council of Queensland has also launched a campaign called Kids Rights Count, which seeks to inform the public on how and why surrogacy of any type is harmful to children.
The ACL Managing Director Jim Wallace said in a statement that the Surrogacy Bill 2009 represents a piece of radical social engineering legislation which will alter the natural make-up of the family.
"The Bligh Government knocked back same-sex adoption, but is now going against the logic in that decision by creating situations where a surrogate child could end up with two mummies or two daddies or even just one parent - rightfrom birth," Mr Wallace said.
"This is experimenting with children's lives and at this stage they have no way of really knowing just how devastating the effects on the children will be, or the extent of identity confusion that will result. We've already had to make amends to a Stolen Generation and a Forgotten Generation - is this the next one?"
FULL STORY AND STATEMENT
Surrogacy seen as threat to children's rights (Zenit)
Children are not pets says Christian lobby (Australian Christian Lobby)
LINK
Family Council of Queensland - Kids Rights Count campaign