Unwanted Babies

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31659, 20 April 1968, Page 12

Unwanted Babies

Sir,—“Unwanted Babies” is an ill-chosen title for these unfortunates. “Unwanted parents” would have been more ' fitting. There is no excuse for obstinate and reckless people reproducing out of marriage. All children are now given the opportunity to know about the opposite sex, through selected lectures given by doctors at their school. This is A lesson which should come from a parent. It may be onerous to some, but it is an important duty. The reproduction of life out of marriage should be treated as a criminal offence. The father should be made to pay $lO a week until his child is 16, should he not marry the mother. The existing laws regarding maintenance are treated with contempt and it is time they were amended. —Yours, etc., FATHER. April 19, 1968. Sir,—Bearing in mind the high rate of illegitimate births in New Zealand, many will read with deep concern your report of the address of Miss Fraser, excerpts from , which are: “Adoptive parents ■ were found for some babies j but many were left at the , hospital.” “Many ended up on ) the Salvation Army’s door- , step.” “(Many mothers) are , horrified when the child wel- , fare officer visits them to say that their baby has not been adopted and is still their responsibility.” “I sometimes wonder if we are not filling our mental hospitals right from the cradle.” What of the future for these infants? What will society have to say to them when they reach the age to think for 'themselves, and what will their reactions be? Surely the time to stop the drift is now. It has been written that the reverence of the law is the beginning of wisdom; and from the same authority we are instructed: thou shalt not.—Yours, etc., PARENT. April 18, 1968.