| | Eric said:
It seems that what is suggested here is that there is an implicit contract between parent and child, in which the parent assumes responsibility for the child's welfare until the point wherein the child can "fend for himself." If the parents wish to break the contract, it is incumbent upon them to find another party to assume the responsibility.
But in the legal realm, once we decide that such an anomaly is illegal and deserves a punishment, it implies that the child is the property of the state, since the state would in effect be acting as the "injured party." Having accepted the principle that the child is the property of the state, it follows that further laws can be enacted that hold parents guilty for any sort of parenting the state would deem irresponsible or neglectful.
I say:
The idea of calling such is troublesome because it implies an obligation that can be terminated with mutual consent. It is actually an mandatory obligation that ends only when the child can fend for itself or alternate care is found for said child. However, I think we both have the same idea.
In an actual abandonment case, the child is the injured party because he is the one who cannot fend for himself. The state merely acts as an agent for the child's behalf. And as such has extremely limited means to pursue legal redress. In a proper society, he is not property of the state as no human is the property of another, but his abandonment is child abuse and should be punished. When you choose to have a child (meaning if you decide to carry a pregnancy, wanted or not, to full term) you have the responsibility for either caring for that child till he can care for himself, or you must find an alternate caregiver for your child.
(Special! Limited Time offer. Adopt one Mongoloid or Caucasian and get the Mexican half price. Includes free spatula, great for pancakes and spankings!! Act now, supplies are limited).
It is precisely because the child is not an adult that he must be under an adult's care and supervision. If the parents fail on that count and fail to find him alternative caregivers, it becomes necessary for the state to intervene to find alternate care because failing to do either basically is a death-sentence to a child who having been born has at least the right to live. However, there must be strict objective laws that strictly delimit how the state can intervene so that the rights of all do not get trampled upon. I support strict sentencing for parents that would recklessly abandon a child.
Adam
"Say, I think this Caucasian is defective. And where the hell is my spatula? ARGGH!" Pianoman
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