Posted on 03/17/2006 9:54:54 AM PST by Abathar
How about when the tables are turned and fathers lose their rights because they serve?? It's happened and it's not funny either way.
compare how many guys got drafted and killed to the number of women.
compare ratios of male/females killed now in Iraq/Afghanistan.
compare the number of men who get custoday to women.
compare PT test score requirements.
then we'll have a good place to start the "fairness" baseline.
What about the children? Should they be taken out of school midyear and from where they have been living for sometimes more than a year. Keep in mind the children aren't living with strangers: we are talking about the other parent here. The interests of the children should come first, they are not property.
That's right. Funny you should put it that way.
The kind who don't run out on their kids. The kind who have as much right to custody as the mothers - who volunteered for jobs which they knew might take them away from their children for months at a time.
I have sympathy for every guy who was drafted who has had that happen in the last 10 years.
As to the volunteers, everyone has to choose between career and family.
I listen to Dr. Laura almost every day during lunch. I'm not sure what kind of society we're in now, I hear both good and bad, but the bad seems to be really bad.
IMO that's a cop out. Sorry. Try again.
Now that being said. The service member's election to place a child in the custody of the other parent during deployment should not be looked upon by the courts as a voluntary surrender of custody. I also think they will probably find legal protections from having custody decisions made in their absence.
Is the child best served by being with a parent who is there for them, and can give a stable environment, or by the parent who wants an on call babysitter in another city where they can dump the child when their job takes them out of the country for a few months?
So the only people serving in our military should be single?
Agreed. But on the other hand, a stable environment for the child should be part of the 'best interests' inquiry.
I also think they will probably find legal protections from having custody decisions made in their absence.
I also agree that that is the current law, and a good one, but it appears that that law is being challenged. "KMBC-TV in Kansas City, Mo., reported that a law passed in 2003 is supposed to protect soldiers in war zones from civil lawsuits until they return. But now that law is being challenged in Kansas courts."
If you don't want to share custody, DON'T GET DIVORCED.
I didn't say that. Long overseas deployments, however, may not be in the best interests of the child.
A similar issue is beginning to appear on the civilian side as well. Yuppie parents get divorced; one takes a job across the country. Courts are starting to give custody to the parent who stays in town as being less disruptive to the child.
You didn't have to say it: it's inherent in your argument that military service, if it involves deployment - which in today's world we must assume it does - is incongruent with having a family.
One more reason why women don't belong in the military.
It's not incongruent if one parent is deployed while the other remains at home with kids--that is a reasonable sacrifice people have made for ages. But if parents are divorced, and one leaves for an extended period, it should be expected that the other one will gain (and continue to have, in the interest of stability) a larger role in the children's lives.
Fighting? I doubt it. Besides, I don't see you on the front lines, what's your excuse?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.