There are adoptive parents and biological parents, surrogates and donors — adults of all sorts claiming parenthood by right of blood, genes, birth, law and affection.
That is one reason the current "partial birth" law is being challenged in federal courts in three states, and it was one reason the Supreme Court overturned a Nebraska statute remarkably similar to the one just passed by Congress.
"Cardinal Relaxes Anti-Birth Law Stand" read the Boston Globe's banner headline, while an editorial noted that because of Cushing's new position the birth control issue was "no longer a rancorous controversy".
The long-simmering debate over abortion will come to the president's doorstep in April when abortion rights groups, enraged over the administration's aggressive defense of the so-called partial-birth law, are planning a huge march on Washington.
At the time of Noguchi's birth, race laws in the U.S. were getting worse.
Fathers want to take a more active role in parenting, and they make more use of paternity leave after a birth (new laws are making this easier).
The case hit a nerve in China, with critics arguing that the rich and powerful often avoid punishment for breaches of birth control laws while the poor are penalised.
But if there is still a lot going on in feminism right now, too much of it centers around sex. It's no wonder, of course: with the draconian birth control laws some Republicans wish to re-instate, the insane attempt to repeal abortion freedom that has captured the airwaves, the overwhelming wish by too many men (yes, it is mostly all men) to slide women backwards is extremely troubling.
The popularity of the infant mortality indicator notwithstanding, international variations in birth registration laws and practices have the potential to bias comparisons of infant mortality.
Popular Chinese culture idealises childhood and – particularly since the introduction of strict birth-control laws – many families pamper their offspring.
