Qld: Australian Family Association backs Howard s IVF ban

AAP General News (Australia)
08-02-2000
Qld: Australian Family Association backs Howard s IVF ban

By Chris Herde

BRISBANE, Aug 2 AAP - Single women using IVF programs to have children was "moral and
ethical bankruptcy", the Australian Family Association (AFA) said today.

AFA Queensland president Patty Smith backed Prime Minister John Howard's call yesterday
to amend the Sexual Discrimination Act to stop lesbians and single women having IVF babies.

She said the rights of the child overrode all other issues.

"For a woman to make a conscious choice before conception to deny a child two parents
was tantamount to moral and ethical bankruptcy," Ms Smith said.

"Children are not handbags, they're not accessories, you can't use them as commodities
just because you feel like having a baby.

"You don't have an absolute right to have a child but a child has an absolute right
to have two parents."

Mr Howard's move follows a court ruling in Victoria that a state law banning lesbians
and single women using the IVF program had breached the federal act.

The federal government wants the amendment to ensure states such as Victoria and Western
Australia maintain legislation which bans single women and gay couples from using IVF
technology.

Ms Smith said children's rights should not be harmed because of lifestyle choices.

"That's a choice that people make and they shouldn't think they're being discriminated
against," she said.

"To deny a child a father is discriminating against that child."

AAP ch/jhm/bdm/br

KEYWORD: IVF FAMILIES

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