The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) today urged a rethink on planned changes to Victorian birth certificates coming into force next year which create a biological fiction and abolish the natural presumption that a child has a father.

ACL Victorian Director Rob Ward said changes to have a lesbian mother’s partner listed on a child’s birth certificate in place of a father were part of a suite of radical gay parenting laws rushed through parliament at the end of last year with no chance for proper public scrutiny.

“In the case of the new birth certificates, they amount to a Government decision to falsely deny that a father ever existed, thereby altering the accepted presumptions about mothers and fathers,” Mr Ward said.

“It is a form of social engineering that denies nature and ignores the overwhelming social research that says kids do best when they have a mum and a dad. It is not in the best interests of children but instead puts the desires of adults before children’s rights.

“The State should play no role in deliberately robbing a child of the right to at least begin life with the love of a mother and a father.

“ACL is concerned that the commonsense, biologically correct idea that presumes a child has one mother and one father is disappearing from Victorian law.”

Mr Ward said the changes were part of legislation to allow same-sex surrogacy and IVF in Victoria which was rushed through parliament right at the end of last year as part of the Brumby Government’s radical social engineering agenda.

“The changes, among other things, permit two men to “order” a baby they are not even genetically connected to. They effectively mean that children can just be commissioned by adults who want them, regardless of gender or marital status,” Mr Ward said.

“These changes, together with the birth certificate changes, hugely undermine the role of the natural family in our State and will have ramifications for every future generation of Victorians. As we head towards next year’s election, Victorian parliamentarians are urged to carefully consider what they can do to counteract these radical social changes.”