Government ignores child centred nature of marriage, says pro family group SPUC
SPUC London, : A leading pro-family group has accused the Conservative-led government of ignoring the child-centred nature of marriage, following the government’s proposals detailed today regarding so-called same-sex marriage.
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) www.spuc.org.uk pointed out that the government’s response to its consultation, the comments in Parliament by Equalities minister Maria Miller, and the Freedom To Marry website all fail to address the truth that same-sex marriage lacks basic elements of true marriage - the complementary sexual difference between spouses necessary for the procreation and healthy upbringing of children.
John Smeaton, SPUC director, commented: "The assumption running through the government’s approach is that marriage is simply a stable, long-term relationship. This ignores the specific identity of marriage as a child-bearing and child-centred institution, fundamentally different from homosexual relationships. There has been not one single direct statement by the government, either in its response to the consultation results nor in the last two days’ parliamentary debates, on the intrinsic link between marriage and children.
"Similarly, the Tory-composed Freedom to Marry group makes no reference at all in its published material to the terms ‘child/ren’, ‘parent/s’, ‘family/-ies’, ‘father/s’, ‘mother/s’, ‘husband/s’ or ‘wife/-ves'.
Mr Smeaton continued: "Same-sex marriage represents an attempt to redefine marriage, thus undermining marriage. This undermining lessens the protection for unborn children which true marriage provides. The family based on real (i.e heterosexual) marriage is the safest place for children both born and unborn. "Redefining marriage to include same-sex couples ruptures the intrinsic link between marriage and children, thus reducing marriage to a mere contract of cohabitation.
Yet marriage is a pre-political institution, and the State does not have the moral right to seek to redefine this natural institution in law", concluded Mr Smeaton. John Smeaton, SPUC director, can be contacted on 07785 325808 or 020 7820 3129.
SPUC www.spuc.org.uk can be contacted on 020 7091 7091 or information@spuc.org.uk