Canadian Legislation

‘Spanking' Bill Is Government Intrusion, Conservatives Warn [Excerpts]

"Good parents in California could be jailed," unless they rise up and oppose a bill intended to ban the spanking of children, a conservative group is warning.
The bill, AB 2943, is scheduled for a vote on Tuesday, April 15, and the Campaign for Children and Families is urging Californians to speak against the measure at a hearing preceding the vote.
"AB 2943 would label good, loving parents -- who occasionally use a little paddle, a ruler, a little stick, or a brush to correct their youngster's misbehavior -- as official "child abusers" in the eyes of the law," said Randy Thomasson, president of the Campaign for Children and Families.
The bill is a repeat of legislation introduced last year by Democratic Assemblywoman Sally Lieber. "The vast majority of child abuse victims and fatalities are young children," Lieber said when she first introduced her Child Abuse And Infant/Toddler Protection Bill. "Too often the abuse begins as some form of 'discipline.' Existing law is clearly not doing enough to protect the youngest, smallest, most vulnerable members of our society."
The bill targets people who "willfully" inflict "unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering" on a child.

[TBC: As the writer notes, this legislation directly impacts good parents. With the "psychologizing" of society, the term "mental suffering" is one which can be used as license for almost any government intrusion.]

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200804/CUL20080411b.html