Category Archives: Law

June 7, 2026 · 1:00 am

Gestating and Non-Gestating Parents

Noun Affected Population, Source The Noun Project https://thenounproject.com/browse/collection-icon/ocha-humanitarian-icons-16/, Author United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, (PD)

Both chambers of the New York State legislature have passed a bill eliminating the terms “mother” and “father” from Family Law, i.e. that category of law governing parental rights, custody, visitation, support, etc. [1].  

Once the bill is signed into law, those terms will be replaced with the gender neutral terms “gestating parent” a/k/a mother, and “non-gestating parent” a/k/a father.

Gender Neutral Trend

This is part of a growing trend.  Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, and Hawaii have already done something comparable [2].

The change is more than a matter of political correctness, like the term “pregnant people”.  It is an attempt by the law to acknowledge the new norm in which two Dads, two Moms, egg donors, sperm donors, and gestational carriers (surrogates) are all a reality. 

In effect, it is a recognition that the terms “mother” and “father” have become outdated.  It broadens the legal definition of “parent” to those who lack any biological bond with a child.

Parenthood and Biology

Society is rapidly detaching parenthood from biology, just as it has detached gender.  It is simultaneously elevating non-parental relationships to the level of parenthood, while diminishing the importance of the parental relationship.

Certainly, children can be loved by those without a biological connection to them.  Certainly, some biological parents are bad parents.

But bearing and raising children involves more than mechanically incubating an egg.  Biological parenthood creates a special bond.  That is part of God’s design.

The profound emotional connection between a mother and her child is supported by a complex of hormones which promote trust, caregiving, and emotional regulation [3A].  The quality of this early bond lays the groundwork for the child’s future emotional well-being and function in society [3B].

  • Oxytocin is knowns as the “love” hormone [3C].  Oxytocin surges during labor, breastfeeding, and skin-to-skin contact between mother and child.
  • Prolactin, known for milk production, induces a state of calm and sleepiness, working alongside Oxytocin to promote attachment [4].
  • Vasopressin, which is related both to bonding and protective behavior, reinforces caregiving instincts [3D].
  • Dopamine, which activates the brain’s reward circuits, makes caregiving feel pleasurable, reinforcing parental behavior [3E].

Cardiac synchrony during close contact further strengthens the mother-child bond by aligning heartbeats and breathing patterns [5].

This complex hormonal interaction is not limited to women. 

Testosterone levels in men decrease during pregnancy and after childbirth [6A][9A].  This is thought to reduce aggression and competitiveness, while increasing nurturing behavior.  Oxytocin from skin-to-skin contact helps fathers feel more connected to their babies [6B][7][9B].  Prolactin rises in fathers during pregnancy and postpartum, increasing sensitivity to infant cues [6C].  Vasopressin likewise influences paternal caregiving [8]. 

Fathers who interact more often with their infants undergo more pronounced biological changes, which may explain why some biological fathers take little or no interest in their children [9C].

Moreover, for a variety of reasons, a high proportion of adopted children seek out their biological parents [14].

Risk of Child Abuse and Neglect

Research has consistently shown that children are at higher risk of abuse and neglect when an unrelated adult male, such as a boyfriend or cohabiting partner, lives in the home, as compared with married biological parents.

The National Incidence Study of Abuse and Neglect actually found that the rate of abuse or neglect for children living with a single parent and that parent’s partner was 8.4 times higher than the rate for children living with married biological parents, irrespective of whether that partner was the biological father [10]!

A Fragile Families Study in 2009 found that families with a man who was not the biological father of all children were significantly more likely to be contacted by Child Protective Services than families with a biological father in the home [11].

Non-parental custody is not inherently unsafe.  However, the risk of child abuse or neglect in such situations can be increased by a prior history of abuse on the part of the adult in the caregiver role, mental health issues, substance abuse, high stress, isolation from familial support, and a justification for violence [12].

Risk of Sex Trafficking

Sex trafficking occurs when sex offenders are permitted to abuse a child in exchange for money, drugs, or shelter; when a child is used in pornography; or when a child is forced into sex work with the proceeds going to the adult charged with caring for that child [13]. 

Tragically, this can happen both in a biological and non-biological setting.

Society today is rending the traditional family asunder, in the effort to expand it.  That is not likely to benefit our children in the long run.

—

[1]  Snopes, “New York bill would replace ‘mother’ and ‘father’ with gender-neutral terms in family law” by Anna Rascouet-Paz, 6/5/26, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/new-york-mother-father-gestating/.

[2]  Factually, “Which US States Have Adopted Gender-Neutral Parentage or Custody Language?”, 6/5/26, https://factually.co/fact-checks/law/gender-neutral-parentage-custody-laws-by-state-02bb80.

[3A through 3E]  Biology Insights, “The Science of Mother-Infant Bonding and Attachment”, 12/8/25, https://biologyinsights.com/the-science-of-mother-infant-bonding-and-attachment/.

[4]  Science Insights, “The Science and Strategies of Mother-Infant Bonding”, 11/27/25,  https://scienceinsights.org/the-science-and-strategies-of-mother-infant-bonding/.

[5]  Discover Wild Science, “From Hormones to Heartbeats:  The Science of Bonding on Mother’s Day” by Maria Faith Saligumba, 6/4/26, https://discoverwildscience.com/from-hormones-to-heartbeats-the-science-of-bonding-on-mothers-day-4-307592/.

[6A, 6B, and 6C]  TNT Wellness, “The Hormonal Bond:  How Men Connect with Their Babies” by Mandi Green, 10/4/24, https://tnthealthyhormones.com/the-hormonal-bond-how-men-connect-with-their-babies/.

[7]  Center for Babywearing Studies (CBWS), “The Potential for Oxytocin to Enhance Bonding in New Families”, 2/12/25, https://www.cbws.org/blog/Potential-Oxytocin-Enhance%20Bonding.

[8]  Science Direct, “Oxytocin, a parenting hormone” by Ruth Feldman and Marian Bakermans-Kranenburg, June 2017, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352250X17300325.

[9A, 9B, and 9C]  Psychology Today, “How Becoming a Dad Changes Men” by Jutta Joormann PhD, 4/9/23, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/thoughts-and-feelings/202304/being-more-involved-affects-new-fathers-biologically.

[10]  Hope 4 Hurting Kids, “Risks of Child Abuse and Neglect Based on Family Structure” by Wayne Stocks, https://hope4hurtingkids.com/trauma-tragedy/abuse/risks-of-child-abuse-and-neglect-based-on-family-structure/.

[11]  National Center for Health Research, “Child Abuse and Father Figures:  Which Kind of Families Are Safest to Grow Up In?” by Diana Zuckerman PhD and Sarah Pedersen,  https://www.center4research.org/child-abuse-father-figures-kind-families-safest-grow/.

[12]  Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Child Abuse and Prevention, “Risk and Protective Factors”, 5/15/24, https://www.cdc.gov/child-abuse-neglect/risk-factors/index.html.

[13]  US Dept. of Justice, “No One Can Hurt You Like Family:  What We Know About Familial Trafficking Identification and Response”, January 2024, https://cops.usdoj.gov/html/dispatch/01-2024/familial_trafficking.html.

[14]  How We Became Family, “How Many Adoptees Search for Their Birth Parents?” by Teresa Villegas, 4/7/26, https://howwebecameafamily.com/how-many-adoptees-search-for-their-birth-parents.html.

FOR MORE OF MY ARTICLES ON POVERTY, POLITICS, AND MATTERS OF CONSCIENCE CHECK OUT MY BLOG A LAWYER’S PRAYERS AT: https://alawyersprayers.com

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May 17, 2026 · 1:00 am

The OTHER Church Sex Scandals, Part 1

Joseph Smith, founder of Mormonism, photo by Lucian Foster (1843), Source http://comevisit.com/lds/faq-dld.htm, (Public Domain)

The Roman Catholic Church child sex scandal has received a good deal of press – justifiably so.  But it is by no means the only sex scandal in America’s churches and elsewhere.

Mormon Church

We begin with sexual abuse in the Mormon Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). 

The 17 million members of the Mormon Church value marriage and family above all [1A].  The church has a strict moral code which includes abstaining from alcohol (even caffeine) and premarital sex, while fostering a deep sense of community [1B].  Unfortunately, this outward appearance of virtue hides a dark underbelly.

A culture of secrecy has enabled decades of unchecked sexual abuse [1C].  Institutional protection prioritizes the church’s reputation over the safety of its most vulnerable members [1D].  According to Mormon sexual abuse database Floodlit, at least 4195 reports of abuse have been made [2A]. 

One of the earliest publicized cases involved Joseph Bishop, a former president of the LDS Church’s Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah.  Although Bishop was accused of having sexually assaulted a missionary sister in the 1980s, he was allowed to continue in ministry. 

Bishop was never criminally charged because the Statute of Limitations had run.  After the legal deadline for filing rape charges was extended, a civil lawsuit was dismissed by agreement between the plaintiff and the LDS church.  Just days after the release of a trove of documents by a whistleblower website, Bishop finally admitted sexual impropriety in 2018 [1E]. 

Mormon church members who have been convicted of child sexual abuse and/or rape include Jacob Bowers, Scott Bowers (his son), Arvid Oakely, and Gerald Salcido [2B].  Salcido, a former police officer, was excommunicated.  However, the church never informed law enforcement.

Unfortunately, those who point to the fact that the Mormon Church is not a genuinely Christian denomination (with the Book of Mormon contradicting the Bible in many key respects) [3][4], and comfort themselves with the thought that evil like this is only prevalent among non-believers are merely deluding themselves.

Amish Church

Sexual abuse is widely regarded as an open secret in many Amish communities [5A]. 

Some communities have begun supporting victims [5B].  However, guided by the principle of “forgive and forget”, many continue to silence survivors, pressuring them to forgive their abusers publicly, while at the same time discouraging police involvement [5C]. 

One survivor, Lizzie Hershberger, has broken her silence, in the hope of encouraging others to come forward [5D].  Her story is told in a recently released documentary film titled “Keep Quiet and Forgive” [5E][6].  Her book “Behind Blue Curtains” is available on Amazon.

—

[1]  Survivors Rights, “The LDS Church Sexual Abuse Scandal:  A History of Cover-Ups, Betrayal, and the Fight for Justice”, 2/7,25, https://survivorsrights.com/lds-church-sexual-abuse-scandal-coverup/.

[2]  FloodLit, “Sexual Abuse in the Mormon Church”, https://floodlit.org/.

[3]  Bible Ask, “Does the Book of Mormon Contradict the Bible?”, 1/20/17 (updated 11/28/25), https://bibleask.org/does-the-book-of-mormon-contradict-the-bible/.

[4]  Institute for Religious Research, “Contradictions Between the Book of Mormon and the Bible” by Luke Wilson and Robert Bowman Jr., 7/6/11 (updated 12/1/25), https://mit.irr.org/contradictions-between-book-of-mormon-and-bible.

[5A through 5E]  KPBS Public Media, “Independent Lens:  Keep Quiet and Forgive” by Jennifer Robinson, 3/10/26, https://www.kpbs.org/news/2026/03/10/independent-lens-keep-quiet-and-forgive.

[6]  Fillmore County Journal, “Amish Sexual Abuse Survivor Shares Story in PBS Documentary” by Charlene Corson Selbee, 3/23/26, https://fillmorecountyjournal.com/amish-sexual-abuse-survivor-shares-story-in-pbs-documentary/.

Part 2 in this series re: the Anglican, Baptist, and Methodist Churches will be posted next week.

Taxpayer funded sexual harassment settlements involving federal lawmakers totaled $550,000 in recent decades, with the largest settlement for $220,000 made on behalf of Democratic Rep. Alcee Hastings (now deceased).

For more information, see https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/previously-unaccounted-for-case-shows-taxpayers-bankrolled-more-than-550000-in-congressional-sexual-harassment-settlements/ar-AA238iVv?ocid=BingNewsSerp,

FOR MORE OF MY ARTICLES ON POVERTY, POLITICS, AND MATTERS OF CONSCIENCE CHECK OUT MY BLOG A LAWYER’S PRAYERS AT: https://alawyersprayers.com

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May 10, 2026 · 1:00 am

Coerced Abortion

Hand holding a generic abortion pill pack containing 1 mifepristone and 4 misoprostol, Author plancpillsdotorg (CC BY-SA 4.0 International)

WARNING:  Graphic Images

Catherine Herring of Texas was unknowingly given the abortion pill seven times by her husband, in his attempt to kill their unborn child [1A][2A].  Thankfully, the baby girl, Josephine, survived.  Tragically, this was not an isolated incident.

Coercion

Forced abortions are employed by men seeking to evade the responsibility of having fathered a child, by parents seeking to avoid social stigma, by child abusers seeking to hide their crimes, and by sex traffickers seeking to eliminate the inconvenience of a pregnancy among their victims [2B].

“Abortion clinics cannot claim to be pro-woman while at the same time allowing the majority of their clients to be pressured into unwanted abortions [5B].”

-David Reardon, PhD

A 2023 peer reviewed study published in the Cureus Journal of Medicine found that nearly 70% of abortions in the United States were unwanted, coerced, and/or inconsistent with the mother’s values [2C][3][4].

That confirms earlier research which indicated over 60% of women who had abortions faced high levels of external pressure to end their pregnancies [5A].

Aftermath

These women afterwards experienced negative emotions, including feelings of loss, grief, and/or sadness about the abortion [5C].  Intrusive thoughts, including flashbacks to the abortion, interfered with their daily lives, work, and relationships [5D].

These findings run counter to the Turnaway Study which had reported a 99% post-abortion satisfaction rate by women, but had a low participation rate and relied on a single query [5E].  It, also, runs counter to the pro-abortion rallying cry “My Body, My Choice”. Continue reading →

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March 1, 2026 · 1:00 am

Baby Trafficking

Pregnant woman, Source https://www.flickr.com/photos/aurimas_m/3423098686/, Author Aurimas Mikalauskas of Paliūniškis, Lithuania (CC BY-SA 2.0 Generic)

WARNING:  Graphic Images

In a joint operation between the United States and Mexico, authorities last year captured Martha Mendez Aguilar, known as “La Diabla” (“The Devil”), the head of a grisly baby trafficking ring called the Jalisco New Generation Cartel [1A].

“[This is an] example of what terrorist cartels will do to diversify their revenue streams and finance operations [1B].”

–Joe Kent, Dir. of National Counterterrorism Center

Pregnant women, often from impoverished circumstances, were lured to remote locations.  Once there, the mothers were murdered, and their organs and infants harvested for sale.  The infants were sold to couples for around $14,000 each.

Tragically, this cartel was not the only one to pursue baby trafficking.

Indonesian police uncovered an international baby trafficking ring believed to have sold at least 25 infants to buyers in Singapore since 2023 [2A].  Using Facebook, WhatApp, and other channels, this syndicate targeted expectant mothers who allegedly did not want to raise their infants.

Delivery costs were covered and a small amount of compensation paid to the mothers.  Then the infants were handed over.

In some cases, infants were actually reserved in the womb for purchasers and housed for as long as a year after birth, while fraudulent birth certificates, parental consent forms, medical records, and immigration documents were prepared.

Desperate Straits

“These clinics or shelters use language that sounds compassionate at first, such as ‘you can give birth and take your baby home’.  But in reality, they offer money and illegally transfer custody of the baby [2B].”

— Ai Rahmayanti, Commissioner of the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI)

Child trafficking cartels are extremely sophisticated, often posing as maternity clinics, orphanages, or shelters which appear to care for vulnerable women and children [2C].

Typically, they target women in desperate straits – those suffering from financial hardship, trapped in debt bondage, abandoned by a spouse or partner, pregnant as the result of sexual violence whether by a partner or stranger, or simply pregnant from a casual sexual relationship [2D].

When manipulation fails, cartels will resort to criminal approaches including direct abduction (whether from hospitals, schools, playgrounds, or other public spaces), and crisis exploitation (natural disasters, civil unrest, or refugee settings) [7A].

Purposes

Infants and children may be trafficked for illegal adoption, prostitution or other sexual abuse, forced marriage, forced organ donation, forced labor or slavery, use in the drug trade, use as beggars, and use as child soldiers [3][4][5].  These can overlap [6]. Continue reading →

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February 15, 2026 · 1:00 am

How Tech Giants Delay Child Abuse and Drug Investigations

US police confirm that Meta and Snapchat (parent company Snap Inc.) routinely delay or reject subpoenas and warrants [1A].  These tech giants frequently fail to provide law enforcement with critical information in a timely manner, and fail to take timely action against unlawful activity on their platforms.

This greatly hinders investigations in child abuse, sex trafficking, and drug cases.

Obtaining a response of any kind may require repeated requests and take weeks or months.  Even then the response is often incomplete.  Warrants have been rejected for technical errors as small as the misplacement of a dash or comma.

“Every day of delay puts a child at risk. It can exacerbate damage and even cost lives. We can’t afford to let the delays continue [1B].”

— Shawnna Hoffman, Chief Exec. of International Center for Missing and Exploited Children

While Meta contends that it produced data in 88% of the nearly 75,000 requests it received from authorities between July and December 2024, the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children has called for clearer rules and faster processes. Continue reading →

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January 18, 2026 · 1:00 am

Chocolate

Chocolate fudge cake, Urban Diner, Edmonton, Canada, Author Mack Male (CC BY-SA 2.0 Generic)

Chocolate is a pure delight.  But there is a bitter truth behind the sweet taste.  Child labor is heavily involved in cocoa product [1][2][3].

Multiple human rights organizations confirm that over 1.5 million children in West Africa work under hazardous conditions to produce cocoa.  Many of these children are the victims of forced labor, human trafficking, and modern slavery.  They are deprived of an education, and exposed to dangerous chemicals and equipment.

This exploitation is ongoing despite the public pledges made by major chocolate companies over the past 20 years to eliminate child labor from their supply chains.  Some of the most recognizable chocolate brands still associated with unethical practices include:  Hershey’s Chocolate; Nestle’s Chocolate (Kit Kat, Butterfinger); Mars Chocolate (M&M’s, Snickers, Twix); Ferrero (Nutella, Kinder); and Mondelez (Toblerone, Cadbury). Continue reading →

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January 4, 2026 · 1:00 am

Literacy, Rousseau, and Unschooling, Part 1

Little Red Schoolhouse, Talbot County, MD, Author Shopkins91, (CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported and GNU Free Documentation License)

Unschooling (to be distinguished from homeschooling) is a controversial educational philosophy which has gained rapid popularity online, and allows children to direct their own learning [1][2].  A rosy picture is painted of care-free learning, without pressure, stress, structure, or restrictions.

The assumption is that children pursuing only the subjects which interest them will learn more naturally and easily.  The corollary assumption seems to be that subjects of little immediate interest to them will be of no later use.

Some parents are not even teaching their children to read or write, and are actually proud of that fact.

The Rousseau Connection

Whether its proponents are aware or not, unschooling derives loosely from the writings of an 18th Century philosopher.   In his work Discourse on Inequality, Jean-Jacques Rousseau proposed that human beings in their “natural” state were inherently peaceful, egalitarian, and good.  They had simply been corrupted by civilization.

This idea has great appeal to those who believe wholeheartedly in Darwin’s theory of evolution.  It suggests that a return to Eden is possible, a return to innocence and union with nature.  All we need do is discard the trappings of civilization – trappings like law and formal education.

Unfortunately, this is nonsense, spiritually and otherwise.  Innocence and ignorance are not the same.

Literacy Highlights

Literacy has been prized by civilization for thousands of years [3].  We denote pre-history as such because literacy did not exist.  All knowledge had to be passed down orally. Continue reading →

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December 28, 2025 · 1:00 am

Editing the Human Genome

Double helix of DNA biochemistry, Author brian0918&#153 (PD)

Editing the human genome is no longer beyond the realm of possibility.  To the contrary, it represents the frontier of medicine, promising a golden future without heritable disease or genetic defects.  The question is:  at what cost to human rights?

Human genome editing takes two forms:  somatic genome editing (which modifies non-reproductive cells) and germline genome editing (which modifies reproductive cells, including sperm and egg cells, and can be passed on to future generations) [1A].

Somatic Gene Editing

Somatic gene editing is viewed as less controversial, since it cannot be passed on.  The United States, the United Kingdom, and China have all permitted clinical trials involving somatic editing to treat cancer, sickle cell anemia, and other genetic diseases [1B].

Germline Gene Editing

No country has yet approved germline genetic editing, although twins whose germline had been modified using the genetic cut-copy-paste technology known by the acronym CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) were born in China in 2018 [1C][2A]. 

A majority of the European Union has ratified the Oviedo Convention which prohibits heritable gene editing in humans [1D].  Germany, Canada, and Australia have adopted similar prohibitions [1E].  

There is a strong possibility that these bans will eventually be lifted for therapeutic purposes, though there is no current agreement on what qualifies as “therapeutic”.  There is an equal chance that access to germline genetic editing will at some point be characterized as a legal “right” [6A].

In the United States, law currently prohibits the use of federal funds on human germline gene therapy [2B].  However, there are no protocols or restrictions for human genomic engineering [2C]. 

Recently, a startup named Preventive was identified as attempting to engineer the first genetically modified baby outside China [3].  This is not surprising, since Do-It-Yourself CRISPR kits are actually available online [6B]. Continue reading →

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November 9, 2025 · 1:00 am

Where Are the Children?

“Two Children Abandoned in the Amazon”, Source/Author Raguilar1158, (CC BY-SA 4.0 International)

Though much vilified, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to open a dedicated Call Center to assist state and local law enforcement in locating hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied migrant children allowed illegally into the United States under the Biden Administration, children whose condition and whereabouts are now unknown [1]. 

More important than the immigration status of these children is their welfare which has not been adequately tracked, if at all.   Thousands upon thousands of children simply vanished.  

Whistleblowers have since exposed how the vicious scheme worked [2].  Under the auspices of trafficking cartels, children – some younger than 5 years of age, some sedated by melatonin laced gummies – arrived at the border with nothing but a phone number scribbled on their arms or clothing. Continue reading →

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September 14, 2025 · 1:00 am

Child Labor and Project 2025

A “doffer” boy at Globe Cotton Mills in Georgia (1909), Source Library of Congress, Author National Photo Company Collection (Digital ID npcc.19471), (PD)

UNICEF reports that some 138 million children worldwide were engaged in child labor in 2024, over a third of those in hazardous work [1A].

UNICEF defines work hazardous for children as “work that, by its nature or circumstances, is likely to harm children’s health, safety or moral development [1B].” 

  • Such work may take place under especially difficult conditions, involving long or overnight hours [1C][2A]. Often, it involves the use of or proximity to dangerous machinery, equipment, and tools. Agriculture and meat packing plants fall into this category.
  • Such work may take place in an unhealthy environment where children are exposed to dangerous substances or processes, or to extreme temperatures or noise levels [1D][2B]. Munitions plants fall into this category.
  • Such work may take place underground, underwater, at treacherous heights, or in confined spaces [1E][2C]. Mines fall into this category.

Usually, child labor interferes with a child’s right to play and to receive an education.  It may require strength beyond  a child’s capacity. 

Hazardous work is one of the worst forms of child labor, putting children at risk of permanent injury or death.  It includes, but is not limited to, anything that exposes children to emotional, physical, or sexual abuse [1F].

Federal vs. State Law

Federal laws to protect young workers were established by the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938 [3A].  

Shockingly, over the past 5 years some 28 states have introduced legislation to reduce protections for young workers [4A].  Twelve states have gone on to enact them [4B].  Iowa, for example, passed a law permitting 14 year olds to work on assembly lines and in meat packing plants, in direct violation of federal child labor laws [3B]. Continue reading →

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