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Parents do not own their children and have a moral (and I would argue a legal) obligation to respect the inherent rights children have as persons. Those rights include the right to an open future, a future in which they can freely exercise all their rights as adults. That open future is jeopardized or denied when children are indoctrinated or otherwise negatively impacted by their parents' religious belief. As the U.S. Supreme Court famously held an adult has the right to make a religious martyr of themselves, but they don't have the right to make religious martyrs of their children. When it comes to medical care, or any other issue that has the potential to harm child or deny their rights, children's rights must trump parental rights.

Perry Bulwer - Canada

posted 5 years, 2 months ago
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