Is greater equality occuring in the abortion debate?

It's about time greater equality in the determination of the termination of life was addressed. MJM

 

New Ohio Abortion Legislation: Fathers Will Have Final Say

July 2, 2011

By Jeffery M. Leving

 

Legislation in the Ohio House of Representatives (House Bill 252) requires written consent from the father of an unborn child in order to perform an abortion.  The bill will put to test the “it’s my body, it’s my right” notion of pro-choice activists by adding the rights of the father of the unborn child into the equation.  Ideally, the decision of abortion should be a consensus between both parents, with both parties being involved in any decisions regarding the child.

This is a significant legal and social issue where parental rights are heavily unbalanced due to the fact that a father plays no role in a matter as critical as his unborn child’s life.  If a woman decides to keep her child, the father is required to pay child support regardless of whether he wanted to keep the child or not, or face future jail time.  A father currently has no say.  Alternatively he cannot opt-out of parenthood, but a woman can: She can do so by abortion.

Under the Ohio Bill, a woman must have written consent from the father; if a woman is claiming rape, she must file a police report, provide other court documents or an official complaint of the incident.  If the woman chooses to undergo an abortion in this case, the physician must have “reasonable cause” to believe the woman’s claim of rape and thus, perform an abortion.  In cases where the father may be unknown, a list of all potential fathers must be submitted to a physician.  They will all be contacted and summoned to a paternity test.  If the father is not found, no abortion can be performed.  The bill would turn abortion without a father’s permission or naming a “false biological father” into a first-degree misdemeanor with a maximum $1,000 fine.  A second occasion of providing false information would be considered a fifth degree felony.

“When the fetus is viable, no person shall perform or induce an abortion on a pregnant woman without the written informed consent of the father of the fetus,” the bill text reads.

more here...

A good read on the sad state of marriage in the UK. A snippet follows:

Tyndale: Great Britain needs to sort out the stinking mess of marriage, family law and divorce courts

Jul 17 2011 by George Tyndale, Sunday Mercury 

"It’s no coincidence that the demise of marriage has taken place against a background of rising numbers of couples “cohabiting.” New figures also show that almost half of all babies in England and Wales are born outside wedlock.

Can it be right that 46.8 per cent of babies are born to unmarried mothers? And what hope is there for future generations if the trend of having children with whoever you fancy goes unchecked?"

http://www.sundaymercury.net/news/columnists/george-tyndale/2011/07/17/tyndale-great-britain-needs-to-sort-out-the-stinking-mess-of-marriage-family-law-and-divorce-courts-66331-29056000/

Ontario couples now have to attend mediation before court in divorce

A good first step at improving Family Law process in Ontario. 

 

Ont. couples must now face mediation before divorce

The Canadian Press

Date: Sunday Jul. 17, 2011 10:45 AM ET

TORONTO — Starting Monday, every Ontario couple hoping to end their marriage will have to attend an information session on alternatives to going to court and must meet for mediation before getting a divorce.

The new rules will help alleviate some of the pressure on Ontario's family court system and will save those hoping to get divorced time and money, said Chris Bentley, the province's attorney general.
"Going to court and having a court battle in family proceedings can be enormously costly, take a lot of time and probably most significantly be very emotionally damaging to children and to the two individuals," he said.

Couples will have to attend the information session before they can file a divorce case in court.
If they still insist on going to court after that, they will first have to attend a mediation session organized by the attorney general's office to try settling their differences.

Despite the two-step process, some in the legal community think the initiative isn't as effective as it could be.

Judith Huddart, a family lawyer and president of the Ontario Collaborative Law Federation, said the sessions don't advise those considering divorce about their options early enough in the process.
"I know how frustrating it can be for people to be told that they have other options after they've already hired a lawyer and started forward in a litigation route," she said.

While Huddart supports making the program mandatory at all courts, she said providing more information for couples when they are first thinking about divorce would be an even more effective way to get the cases out of provincial courtrooms.

The new program will only reach those who have begun the process of going to court, she said.

She estimated just getting to a first court hearing will often cost around $5,000 in lawyer's fees.

The province has been trying to fix that pricey problem by making more information about alternatives to divorce proceedings available online, said Bentley.

He added that he doesn't expect the new program will save his office or the courts any money.

The program is directed specifically towards saving time and legal fees for couples hoping to get divorced, he said -- although he hasn't been able to quantify those savings yet.

The attorney general's office will spend an extra $5.3 million a year making the program mandatory at all courts, bringing the total cost of the initiative to $8 million a year.

Those extra costs did not come from any additional funding from the provincial government, Bentley said. His office was able to redirect money from finding efficiencies in the other areas for which his office is responsible.


http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20110717/new-divorce-rules-ontario-110717/

Fathers4Justice founder Matt O'Connor on Hunger Strike

Fathers4Justice in David Cameron doorstep protest

Mr O'Connor is taking only water and lemon juice

Continue reading the main story

Related Stories

• Fathers' group scales PM's office
• Demand for longer paternity leave
• Peace protesters may be fined

A campaigner for fathers' rights has started a hunger strike outside the prime minister's house.

Fathers4Justice (F4J) founder Matt O'Connor, 44, started the protest outside the Oxfordshire home of David Cameron, a F4J spokeswoman said.

He wants Mr Cameron to honour pledges about grandparents having a right to see their grandchildren and over shared parenting.

Mr O'Connor, from Hampshire, said he would stay as long as possible.

He also wants Mr Cameron to retract comments he made describing some fathers as "runaways".

Mr O'Connor said: "The idea is to carry on for as long as I can - even if I am hospitalised."

Mr O'Connor said his only intake would be water and lemon juice.

http://draft.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7605128616297486753#editor/target=post;postID=3527340468654501100

Premier showing of 'Guilty Until Proven Innocent' A Father's Perspective

 







Many who’ve seen Janks Morton’s new documentary GUPI, have positively commented on the film and how it captures the essence of fathers experiences in family court.  From custody issues to child support to access interference to false abuse allegations the film portrays family court through fathers’ eyes. 
You are cordially invited to attend the premier showing of 'Guilty Until Proven Innocent' on July 26, 2011 at the Avalon Theater in Washington, DC.  If you can’t be there in person you can still participate and help make the evening a tremendous success.  


Please read on and learn how you can be part of this history making event.  There will be a panel discussion after the film with Janks Morton and several other special guests.
Tickets are reasonably priced at $10.00 each.  If you live in the area and can attend go to www.gupifilm.com and order online.   Here is a flyer you can download and print or circulate via the internet to let others know about the film.

Help Reach Congress
If you're not in the area, you can still be a significant part of this night.  We want as many people from Capitol Hill to see the movie as possible.  If you are not able to attend, buy a ticket(s) for a legislator.  Next week an invitation will be hand delivered to the office of each legislator when someone who lives outside the local area purchases a ticket.  We will start by inviting each state’s two Senators and then extend the invitations to members of the House of Representatives.  You can see exactly how many members of your federal delegation (Senate and House Reps) are in Washington at this link.  Order tickets here.

Become an Event Sponsor
Each individual who purchases 10 or more tickets, will be recognized as a premier co-sponsor and be listed in the event program and on the ACFC website.   All you need to do is enter the number of tickets you want in the quantity box on the order page and press the update button.  We’ll use your state and zip code information to determine which legislators to invite.
Please purchase tickets as soon as possible.   Invitations to Congress need to be distributed early next week.

Use this Coupon when Ordering

On the order page enter PREMIERSH-OFFER (make sure to include the - ) in the coupon box and all shipping and handling costs will be waived on your ticket order.  If you are attending in person, print out your email confirmation and bring it with you to the theater, that’s your ticket.  For those who have sponsored tickets for legislators, we will have that record on hand.
 
The Avalon Theater is located at 5612 Connecticut Ave. NW Washington, DC 20015.

Please email questions to gupifilm@gmail.com

Thanks in advance for participating, let's pack the house.  Help spread the word by forwarding this message to your family and friends.  

There has been a significant amount of shared parenting and family law activity recently.  We'll send an update soon.  Stay tuned.

ACFC 

Lesbians dissolve partnerships more than Gays in U.K.

It will be of interest, over time, to see how this shapes up. In heterosexual marriages in Canada the wife starts divorce proceedings in 75% of cases.  When we have two women who are partners we may well be able to see that females have expectations not necessarily tied to reality in terms of the partners they choose.  As an observer of human nature it has some degree of scientific curiosity for me.MJM

ONS: gay 'divorces' up by 44%

Lesbian couples are twice as likely as gay men to separate, according to new figures showing a 44% rise in the number of civil partnerships that were dissolved last year.

Ministers are considering granting same-sex couples full marriage rights Photo: ALAMY

By Tim Ross and Roma Wells

2:56PM BST 07 Jul 2011

85 Comments

 

Almost 50,000 same-sex couples have formalised their relationships since civil partnerships were introduced in December 2005.

During 2010, 6,385 civil partnerships were registered in the UK, 100 more than in 2009, the Office for National Statistics said.

However, as growing numbers of couples register their partnerships, the number splitting up has also risen.

Last year, 509 civil partnerships were dissolved across the UK, an increase of 44% since 2009, when 353 couples separated.

In order to obtain a dissolution, a couple must have been in either a registered civil partnership or a same-sex partnership recognised abroad or 12 months.


more here:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8623150/ONS-gay-divorces-up-by-44.html 

also here:  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/women-lead-men-in-samesex-unions-ndash-and-in-separations-2308892.html