Child’s right and mother’s right to choose

THE proposal to enshrine the rights of the child in the constitution will require considerable debate.

Already, there are concerns about how such an amendment might impact on the existing rights of parents and the family. Add to that the gay adoption debate and how this may impact on the amendment.

How will such rights intersect with the “woman’s right to choose”, which is routinely invoked to broadly cover four options: a) To have sex, or not; b) To use contraception, or not; c) To have her baby fathered by a long-term partner, or not; d) To have an abortion, or not.