Senator Withdraws Bill Giving Custodial Parents Free Rein to Move Away
by Jim Brown
May 26, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A fathers' rights advocate is hailing the defeat of a California Senate bill that he says would have been devastating for children of divorce and their non-custodial parents. Liberal California Senator Gloria Romero has withdrawn a bill that would have created a "presumptive right" for a divorced parent who has custody to move children away from the other parent. Critics say Romero's proposed legislation would have allowed a custodial parent, which is usually the mother, to move her children whenever and wherever she wanted, without any consideration by the courts of the children's best interests or the relationship between the children and their non-custodial parent.
According to men's issues columnist Glenn Sacks, founder of the Alliance for Children Concerned About Move-Aways, Romero received more than 4,000 phone calls, letters, and faxes opposing her measure. He says that is because "a lot of people within the mental health community, the psychological community, and the family law community recognize the value of fathers."
Numerous people in all these fields "recognize that children love their fathers, even if 'Mom' is mad at 'Dad,'" Sacks contends, "and they recognize that allowing mothers to destroy the relationships between children and their fathers by moving the children far away is very destructive to children."
Senator Romero's bill was being pushed by "misguided" radical feminist groups, the men's rights advocate asserts. Among the legislation's supporters, he notes, were the California National Organization for Women and the California Commission on the Status of Women, and he says several domestic violence groups were lobbying in favor of the bill as well.
Such groups "want to insist that if there's a divorce or separation, Mom should be able to do whatever she wishes with her kids," Sacks insists. "Those groups are funded by your tax dollars and my tax dollars," he says, "and basically all of these groups are trying to do whatever they can to change the law so that if a divorced or separated mother wants to get rid of her children's father, she can -- and there's going to be very little that can stop her."
The men's issues columnist says he welcomes the defeat of Romero's bill, which he believes would have allowed angry or vengeful divorced mothers to drive fathers out of their children's lives. Thankfully, he suggests, more people are realizing the importance of fathers' role in their children's lives.
Sacks says there is increased recognition within the family law and mental health communities, and among judges and legislators as well, that the relationship between children and their fathers needs to be protected.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
