Sex = Parenthood? Uh, NOT.

Linking having sex to necessarily having kids is a mistake, though one understands why this error is made. People may be perfectly competent at having sex, while being totally incompetent at having--and raising--children.

Government-forced maternity is abhorrent: in consultation with their doctors, and partners, where possible, need to decide the size of their families. No one else should intrude.

THIS IS NOT A PET ISSUE.

This issue directly concerns 50% of the human race, and indirectly, but substantially, concerns all the rest of us. Which makes it a batting-100% issue.

Government-forced maternity is just female slavery with a fake, stamped-on HappyFace.

Unwanted children lead to child abuse and neglect, and to crime.

Abortion, so far, has helped women postpone childbearing until they know they can take care of the child they will bear.

Let's hear it for people bearing "wanted children" for a change; let's put random parenthood back into the dark ages, where it belongs.

Forcing men and women to parent who are not up to the task is completely unfair to the child.

Children don't become magically wanted and loved because some church guilt trips their parents into giving birth to them, regardless of the parents' ability to parent. Childre who are unwanted and unloved suffer, sometimes in unimaginable ways.

It's no surprise that there was a society for the prevention of cruelty to animals in the United States well before there was a society for the prevention of cruelty to children.

Children are real. They have a right to be loved and wanted. We have a duty and a responsibility to protect post-born children, and to help those who are unfit for parenthood avoid parenting preferably by the use of birth control, by early termination otherwise.

"Child abuse is a symptom that parents are having difficulty coping with their situation.

Are victims of child abuse more likely to engage in criminality later in life?

According to a 1992 study sponsored by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), maltreatment in childhood increases the likelihood of arrest as a juvenile by 53 percent, as an adult by 38 percent, and for a violent crime by 38 percent. Being abused or neglected in childhood increases the likelihood of arrest for females by 77 percent. A related 1995 NIJ report indicated that children who were sexually abuse were 28 times more likely than a control group of nonabused children to be arrested for prostitution as an adult."

One story here.

INFANT'S FATHER CHARGED WITH FELONY CHILD ABUSE

Hampton police have charged the father of a six-week old infant with child abuse.

Police say they were alerted on November 1 by medical personnel at Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters about an infant boy in their care. The staff told authorities the infant was suffering from fractures to his skull, wrist and ribs.

Authorities claim their preliminary investigation revealed the infant was assaulted by his father on October 26. Ian Wesley Frey Sr., 22, of the 100 block of Tide Mill Lane, has been charged with one count of felony child abuse.



And here.

BACK IN CARE OF HER FATHER, GIRL, SEVEN, IS KILLED

A Queens father was charged yesterday with killing his 7-year-old daughter, who tested positive for cocaine when she was born, spent time in foster care, and came to the attention of a city agency again two years ago because of suspicious injuries.

Catherine Harris, at her front door in Queens this week, says she voiced concerns about the treatment of a young neighbor, Sierra Roberts. Sierra Roberts lived with her father, Russell Roberts, on the second floor of this house on Hillmeyer Avenue in Arverne, Queens.

The girl, Sierra Roberts, died on Oct. 25. An autopsy revealed severe internal injuries, including a ruptured bowel and extensive internal lacerations, according to the authorities.

Prosecutors said her father, Russell Roberts, had physically abused her on Oct. 23 and 24, kneeing her in the abdomen on the first day and then bending her over the edge of a bed and beating her with a belt on the second day. Then, they said, knowing that Sierra was suffering, he waited before calling 911.

It was the second time in two weeks that a birth parent was charged in the death of a child who had been placed in foster care by the city and then returned to the home.

Last week, Tracina Vaughn was charged with reckless endangerment in Brooklyn because, prosecutors said, she had left her 16-month-old son, Dahquay Gillians, unsupervised in the bathtub, where he drowned.