We could have pre-reproductive counseling independent of the marriage and
even in the absence of marriage and you would get much of the benefit.
That doesn't necessarily follow.
Part of the pastoral counseling is about the permanence of marriage, that it is a compact with God and the church, and the sanctity of the relationship. I suppose you could drop the name marriage and call it something else, but without those elements of a promise before God to take this person to spouse for the rest of your life, much of the pastoral counseling is irrelevant or much weaker.
Everything I just said would apply equally to civil partnerships and marriage partnerships.
You haven't been clear yet, and maybe it's time for you to be clear, on what, other than the name, you see as the differences between marriage and civil partnerships. It's hard to discuss your ideas without having a clear idea what they are. (Not that that stops people here on SI, but it does make it harder. <g>)
The contract with the child needs to be a conscious commitment made sometime before or during the
pregnancy, not something vaguely acknowledged years earlier in a different context, if at all.
You're still onto that phrase contract with the child,when there can be no such thing. A contract is an agreement voluntarily entered into between two people. In this case, the child has no option whether to be born or who his or her parents will be, and no ability before birth or in the early years to enforce any agreement even if it were implied for them.
I would like to see, at a minimum, some document that commits parents to follow the current law regarding child
support that both parents are counseled on and sign before they take the kid home from the hospital and the certificate
of which needs to be presented when kids are enrolled in school.
And, if I refuse to sign it, or accept a copy of it, the kid stays in the hospital forever?????
But why does there need to be a document committing parents to follow the law? I've never signed a document that commits me not to murder my parents. I've never signed a document that commits me not to rob banks. Why do you feel that a document is needed that says "okay, I'll obey the law in this one area"? And, of course, if there IS to be counseling, it needs to be pre-sex counseling, not pre-baby. So, we have a "sex license" like a driver's license, and you can't have sex until you've taken and passed a potential parenting test?
I know this isn't what you intend, but I think it may be a necessary consequence of what your're suggesting. |
