NSW
The “Equality” legislation
is a danger to children
The NSW “Equality” Bill endangers the health and welfare of children and drives a wedge between children and their parents.
These are some of the laws affecting children that the bill changes:
- the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1995;
- the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998; and
- the Children’s Guardian Act 2019.
URGENT: The “Equality Bill” is scheduled for a vote by August 16.
– Contact your MP NOW!
The amendments made by the Bill presume minors have the capacity to make life altering decisions for themselves without the guardian oversight of parents and family.
The bill also:
Privileges the opinions of counsellors and doctors over parents
It amends the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 so that a child under 16 can consent to medical treatment if a medical practitioner says that it is in the child’s best interests and believes that the child is capable of understanding the risks. This means that a child could be put on puberty blockers without their parents’ consent simply on an doctor’s advice. The Bill would also allow one parent to consent to medical treatment, even if the other parent strongly objects.
Makes it easier for children between 16-17 years of age to access life-altering surgery that could make them permanently infertile
Children will be able to make decisions about radical medical and legal gender identity changes that could result in permanent loss and severe physical damage to themselves. The Bill changes the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 to say that ‘young people’ (children 16-17 years of age) are capable of making decisions about their medical treatment and major surgery, like any adult. The Bill deems capacity for a young person to give informed consent for the impact of irreversible medical procedures that will render the sterile, at a time in life when they may not be able to comprehend the impact of loss of fertility. The Bill expressly clarifies that treatment ‘reasonably likely to have the effect of rendering [a person] permanently infertile’ can be administered to both a young person and a child below 16 years of age.
Allows children to conceal changes from their parents
It amends the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1995 to require the court not to notify parents if the court thinks that “it could reasonably be expected to adversely affect the young person”.
The bill is dangerous to children.
It drives a wedge between children and their parents and assumes that medical practitioners and courts know what is better for children than their own parents.
The bill should be completely rejected.
The time to speak up is NOW!
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