Q&A: The Right to Be a Parent
The Right to Be a Parent
Question
In your article you wrote that same-sex couples have the human right to raise children through surrogacy.
A certain wise fellow pointed out to me: “A person has no right at all to be a parent! If anything, a child has a right to have worthy parents. Therefore, people who are not suitable should be stripped of the possibility of being parents.”
What do you say—is there really substance to the claim itself that there is no such thing as a right to be a parent (regardless of homosexuality)?
Answer
This is not a question of rights but of equality. If the state supports parenthood, it should do so for everyone. If it were to decide not to support having children at all, that would be a different discussion (whether such a right in fact exists. I also think it does not). There is, of course, a right not to have others interfere in one’s life, but that is a different discussion.