For those that are seriously interested in the issue of mother's rights vs
babies rights, you may want to take a look at this report:

(How about instead of pitting mother's rights vs. childs rights, we argued
mother & baby together have more rights than either,  seperately???).

A Motherhood Issue: Discourses on Mothering Under Duress
http://www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/pubs/0662326791/200210_0662326791_5_e.html

This research was funded by Status of Women Canada's Policy Research Fund.

Its quite long, but specifically, look at the abstract, and section 5 -
"NEW MATRIX: THE MOTHER-CHILD RELATIONSHIP"

(if you want to print it out, its pages 103 - 115)

here's the last paragraph from the Executive Summary:

"Mothers and children are usually dealt with separately in designing policy,
carrying out programs, protocol, treatments and legal proceedings when
mothering under duress. This is a major issue and a damaging oversight
according to the women and mothers involved in this study. This
investigation concluded that the mother-child unit deserves recognition,
reinforcement and a set of rights that is more than the sum of the rights of
the fetus/child and the woman/mother. Key to this is including mothers and
women in the policy-making process at every stage and collecting evidence
about the long-term effects of current mothering policies. Starting from the
premise of valuing and protecting the mother-child unit could ensure women's
equality in the mothering discourse and enhance the quality of life for all
Canadians."


I think this is a VERY interesting concept that we should consider when
lobbying for improved social conditions for mothers and children.

Janice Reynolds

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