Mattea Merta – November 30, 2020
Human Rights Watch issued a submission to the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy, Prof. Joseph Cannataci, that states their concern with “the privacy rights of children and issues relating to their independence and autonomy.”
The submission “focuses on the importance of privacy for children with respect to their sexual and reproductive health and rights, physical and emotional well-being in school, safety in the online space, and the protection of their information online.”
Human Rights Watch calls for children to have “access to confidential adolescent-responsive and non-discriminatory reproductive and sexual health information and services, available both on and off-line, including… safe abortion services.” It also recommends that governments ensure that “children have access to confidential medical counsel and assistance without parental consent, including for reproductive health services,” as well as “specifically calling for confidential access for adolescent girls to legal abortions.”
If implemented, this submission by Human Rights Watch would allow for children to have legal rights to bypass parental consent to access with absolute privacy: abortions, hormone injections for the purpose of gender transition and/or puberty blockers, complete privacy rights in accessing online and offline information on any subject and to any materials (this means inside their classrooms, schools, at doctors offices, extra curricular activities, etc), access to explicit information contained within Comprehensive Sexuality Education, male children using female bathrooms and change rooms, as well as medical provisions tailored for full access to minors with zero parent assistance or knowledge. It also classifies, amongst other issues, abortion, as a child’s “right.”
This submission, if accepted, would assist children in completely bypassing parents which is a dangerous situation for any child to be in. Abortions, puberty blockers, the removal of parental guidance, and comprehensive sexuality education all have side effects. But the chief concern is that this calls for institutions to help children bypass their parents towards the legal implementation of children’s self-determinative rights, without guardian or parental oversight.
In place of parents or guardians having a say over the well-being of their children, this measure would encourage children to beleive that the state is the final arbiter of their best interests. It creates a schism between parents and children.