O'Brien Gone Hard?
The senior prelate north of the border devoted a massive op-ed in yesterday's Times of London to register his opposition to a proposal of the devolved Scottish executive to "widen the pool" of families eligible to adopt to include unmarried heterosexual and same-sex couples.
I cannot understand this view. A mass of evidence attests to the instability of unmarried relationships and the chronic instability of same-sex partnerships, yet worryingly our “experts” ignore it.
Since unmarried couples have opted not to legally entrench their relationship in any recognisably permanent way, why assume that the entrenched permanence of adoption would appeal to them? Similarly, since less than 2% of the population is homosexual and a minority of this group are in “stable” relationships, very few might consider adopting.
It is difficult to see how the changes advocated can have any meaningful impact on “the potential pool of adoptive families”.
Even if the proposed changes were to result in a greater number of couples considering adoption, careful consideration would have to be given to the implications of allowing them to adopt.
Unmarried and same-sex relationships can reasonably be described as existing on a sliding scale of instability....
Wow. The man has gone doctrinaire on us.... Here's hoping he hasn't cut off Steve Gilhooley in the process.