Do some people in our society have a RIGHT to be parents?

Question

Do some people in our society have a RIGHT to be parents?

Answer 1

All Americans are born with the right to be a parent.  However, like any right (such as personal freedom or the right to vote), you can lose that right if society deems it appropriate.  

In the case of the right to parent, things have to be pretty extreme.  There have been cases when judges have ordered women and men be sterilized because their history as a parent has been so bad (multiple deaths of children, refusal to stop having kids even when they are routinely removed for abuse/neglect reasons).  However, I don't think any such order has stood an appeal (however, sterilization was common before the 1960s).

Edit - Reading other responses, I see that several people do not believe that the "right" to be a parent is really a constitutional right.  It is.  It is part of the implied right to privacy that is also used to support the right to aborting.  In short, the argument is that the government does not have the right to tell us what to do with our bodies, be it pregnancy or abortion.

As further support, there have been many cases of the US Government granting asylum to people from China because the "one child" restriction (in China) is deemed contrary to human rights.

Answer 2

No one has the RIGHT to be a parent.  It's simply not a right.  It is a privilege, perhaps.  A responsibility, certainly.  But a right?  How could that be a right?  If so, then society would have an obligation to make sure everyone who wanted to be a parent could be a parent.  In the U.S., even basic health care isn't something we guarantee everyone.  How could being a parent be something we guarantee?  

(Another analogy...  We don't have the right to have s*x.  If no one wants to have s*x with us, we don't have s*x.  Likewise, if we cannot reproduce on our own, we don't have the right to a child.)

Answer 3

What exactly do you mean? All people have the right to be parents. But some SHOULD not be parents. Is that where you're going with this?

Answer 4

I think BPD hit the nail on the head perfectly! Sorry for all the thumbs down, but your answer completely made sense. Why do so many people feel that just because a conception happened, and abortion isn't chosen, parenting MUST take place biologically?

Answer 5

No.  Nobody.  Never.  Children are a privilege, not a right.

Answer 6

well if they give birth, yes unless they are found to be unfit.

Answer 7

I have the right to vote, the right to an education, the right to medical care, the right to have an abortion. All fought for, long and hard, before I was able to comprehend how these rights would affect my life.

Becoming a parent isn't about having the right to do so, that would be the most blatant example of entitlement I could ever think of.

Answer 8

for me, "rights" in society=entitlement.  as in, i have the right to buy a house in any neighborhood i want, regardless of my race, i have the right to ensure that my children have a proper public education, regardless of whether i live in a rich suburb or a rural town in arkansas..  

i digress...

regarding being a parent, i'm not quite sure that falls into my definition of "a right."

Answer 9

I don't believe it's a right; it's a privilige!!

Answer 10

No one has an unconditional right to be a parent.  Parental rights can be terminated by the court if a child's parents are a danger to the child.  

I'm infertile.  I have the right to have all the s*x I want to try to have a child, but I do not have a right or entitlement to be given a child since I can't have my own.

Answer 11

Reproduction is a natural human function that we ALL have the "right" to do.  That doesnt mean that everyone SHOULD have children.  But we all have the basic human right to reproduce.

Answer 12

some people really don't and i am happy that i got two loving parents who took care of me and now i have a soon to be step dad to care too.

Answer 13

No.

   I say this of parents that are abusive,nelgectful and unloving to their children. These types of parents have no right to raise a child. Especially if the child's life is in danger.

Yes.

I also say "yes", because there are parents that provide for their children, that love their children, that want the best for their children. These types of parents have the right to raise children because they want what is best for their children.

Answer 14

No one has a "right" to be a parent.  Parenting is a privilege.  If, God Forbid, I were to somehow lose my beautiful children tomorrow, I would never demand that someone else give me theirs because of my RIGHT to parent.  That would be ridiculous.

And you know what,  I'm going to take it a step further, desperation is not a get out of jail free card to forget ethics and morals.  Just because a person wants to be a parent doesn't mean they entitled to someone else's child at any cost.  It just doesn't.

And wanting to parent is very different from NEEDING to parent.  I think everyone should to get that in their head before they have children of their own adopted or not.

Some of us get to parent.  Some of us don't.  Some of us are good at it.  Some of us are not.  Those things do not go hand in hand nor are they mutually exclusive.

Answer 15

No one has the RIGHT to be a parent. Most people have the OPPORTUNITY to have and take care of kids, biologically or otherwise. You have the choice to make good decisions and keep that opportunity, or be stupid and lose it.

Answer 16

Everyone has a right to be a parent if thats what they want out of life!!!!!!

Why the h**l should anyone take that away from them. Its not fair to judge people like that everone has the right to do what the h**l they want.

Answer 17

Interesting question!  I'm somewhere on the fence with this.  Reproduction is actually considered a basic life function as defined by the American's with Disability Act.  That is why there is such a push for infertility to be covered by insurance.  So in that sense, does society consider reproduction to be a "right"?  I'm not sure.

Is parenting a "right"?  Hmmm.  When I read your question, I immediately thought of my Constitutional "Rights".  Nothing in there about parenting.  So I would basically say "no".  

I think that parenting should be a privilege.  The problem with that thought is that reproduction is not a privilege and as much as we don't want to admit it, there are people who reproduce that really shouldn't.  Just look at the children in abusive homes.  

I think that society as a whole unfairly dictates two concepts:  1) if you give birth, and choose not to parent, you are somehow this horrible monster, and 2) if you cannot give birth to a child, then you are less of a woman.  I think society almost makes women feel like they MUST be parents, although I'm not sure why that is.  I think the only "right" we have in this case is to do what we want to do - whether it be to parent or not.  We have a right to make that decision for ourselves - no one else should coerce, chastise, or make that decision for us.

Answer 18

I believe that a person in a loving household: g*y, straight, married, unmarried.. whatever... should be able to be a parent.  It must be said that this person should be able to provide for a child financially and emotionally.

Being a parent is a privelige, but not always a right.

Answer 19

Everything Isabel said, especially the last paragraph.