The Government's surprise decision to allow discrimination against de facto parents comes as no surprise. This new move makes it abundantly clear that the Government is not interested in boosting children's rights, but in rolling back women's rights. Kate Orman, Epping. Perhaps Howard's next step is to ban certain types of medical aid to married women - such as birth control. A. Walker, Summer Hill.
Freedom of conscience is a fundamental human right.
No political party should in any circumstances require its members to vote against their consciences. Indeed, they may not do so. One can often sympathise with political parties in the hurly-burly of political manoeuvring for the reason that conscience judgments and political judgments are often confused with each other. Indeed, they often overlap. However, acknowledging the right of a child to both a father and a mother belongs quite clearly to the domain of conscience and that is beyond question or doubt.