Fair Start Movement

Category: Campaigns & Accountability

  • World Population Day: Having Kids Calls for Day of Action at the United Nations

    World Population Day: Having Kids Calls for Day of Action at the United Nations

    Read the press release here. 

    Today, in anticipation of World Population Day on July 11th, the national child-protection organization Having Kids called upon the United Nations Secretary General to abandon the UN’s outdated family planning modeling in favor of a sustainable “smaller family” model. Having Kids will be peacefully leafleting in front of the UN headquarters tomorrow, urging Sec. Gen. António Guterres to issue a statement on family planning supporting the need for smaller families worldwide. The facts are crystal clear:

    Having Kids Executive Director Anne Green said this: “We offer the child-first Fair Start family planning model as a sustainable alternative to the UN’s current free-for-all and isolationist model. The Fair Start model is cooperative rather than isolationist, is based upon binding sources of international law, and provides a clear human rights-based solution to the problems discussed above and a path forward.”

    TAKE ACTION NOW

    Having Kids is a 501(c)3 nonprofit nonprofit organization dedicated to reforming family planning by replacing parent-centered family planning models with the human rights-based and child-first Fair Start model.

  • HAVING KIDS ASKS KHLOÉ KARDASHIAN TO CHOOSE BETTER FAMILY PLANNING MODEL

    HAVING KIDS ASKS KHLOÉ KARDASHIAN TO CHOOSE BETTER FAMILY PLANNING MODEL

    Today the national child-advocacy organization Having Kids wrote to Khloé Kardashian to urge her to publicly adopt a stance on better family planning. Kardashian, who gave birth to her first child True this year, recently said she has “mixed emotions” about having more kids with Tristan Thompson after he cheated on her. According to a recent interview, even though she wants a large family, the thought of having more kids with Tristan“scares her.” 

    Uncertain relationships can mean family structure instability. Research suggests instability can cause a number of negative effects on children. Would it be better for True’s future if she simply focused her energy on her daughter? 

    As a prominent social figure, Khloé Kardashian can set a powerful example for when and if to bring more children into the world. The facts are clear:

    Anne Green, Executive Director of Having Kids, said this to Kardashian: “You can make a better future for True and every other child in this world. There is no more effective way to do that than modeling better family planning.”

    Having Kids sent Kardashian this message: We urge you to consider embracing the Fair Start family planning model, hold off on having more kids until you are ready, and then adopt one of the many children in need.

    Having Kids is a 501(c)3 nonprofit nonprofit organization dedicated to reforming family planning by replacing parent-centered family planning models with the human rights-based and child-first Fair Start model.

  • Urge the Guardian To Connect the Issues

    Urge the Guardian To Connect the Issues

    Last month we asked the Guardian to correct a confusing story that said changing one’s diet is the most effective way to reduce one’s impact on Earth, and mitigate climate change. As we explained, and the Guardian previously reported, that is not true. Ensuring smaller families is the most effective action – so much so, that in one recent report the impact of having one child less could not even be easily graphed against other actions. It’s not the first time the Guardian has elided family planning when discussing climate change.

    Most discussions of family planning and the environment – the Guardian included – involve narratives of the most compassionate and thoughtful people one can imagine forgoing having kids entirely. But is that what we really want? Would discussions of the need for better family planning policies, for all, make more sense?

    Ignoring a culture of family planning that treats each family as if it were an isolated unit condemns future generations to a luck-of-the-draw birth lottery that ensure poor kids stay poor, and rich kids stay rich. Journalists have a responsibility to put issues in context. In that sense, they should start at the source, and bring attention to idea of focusing our family planning on collectively ensuring a fair start in life for every child.

    It’s time for the Guardian to connect the dots, and see the linkages between the issues it reports on – from needy kids, to water shortages, to the cycle of child abuse and neglect, to maternal deaths worldwide – and the need for better family planning.

    We can all do better. Our future depends on it.

    Urge the Editor of the Guardian Katharine Viner to reconsider the paper’s approach to family planning by tweeting her @KathViner or by sending her a brief letter guardian.letters@theguardian.com.

  • Having Kids Offers Trump’s Child Separation Policy Architect Stephen Miller K For a Vasectomy

    Having Kids Offers Trump’s Child Separation Policy Architect Stephen Miller $25K For a Vasectomy

    Today Having Kids offered the official behind Trump’s child separation policy $25K in exchange for his undergoing a vasectomy. Why? To send a message that caring for children starts with better family planning, and that some folks are just not ready to have kids.

    The Trump administration has been under fire for its policy of separating children from parents who are entering the country.  The media has revealed that senior policy advisor to Trump, Stephen Miller, is the architect behind this egregious policy. Beyond being morally reprehensible, this policy has been described by some as “state-sponsored child abuse.”  Indeed, the psychological trauma of a child being ripped from his or her parents, even for a short amount of time, is shown to be devastating.  Anyone who not only implements such a horrific policy – not to mention, allegedly delights in watching children separated from parents – is not prepared to parent.

    Having Kids is making the following offer to Stephen Miller:

    Having Kids, Inc. will pay you, Stephen Miller, $25,000 on the conditions that you 1) undergo a successful vasectomy procedure within the next two months, as well as 2) publicly announce that you have donated an amount of your choice to a charity of your choice for the purpose helping the hundreds of thousands of children who are victims of child abuse each year in the United States.  

    Anne Green, Executive Director of Having Kids, had this to say. “Someone who has demonstrated total disregard for the welfare of so many children is not prepared to parent.” “Caring about kids starts with better family planning. Everything else is after-the-fact. That’s the conversation we all need to be having.”

    Having Kids is a 501(c)3 nonprofit nonprofit organization dedicated to reforming family planning by replacing parent-centered family planning models with the human rights-based and child-first Fair Start model.

     

  • Urge UN To Promote Better Family Planning After Trump’s Child Separation Scandal

    Urge UN To Promote Better Family Planning After Trump’s Child Separation Scandal

    Today Having Kids called on the United Nation High Commissioner for Human Rights to prioritize every child’s right to a fair start in life in response to President Trump’s child separation scandal. While decrying President Trump’s policy, the group called his disregard for children and their right to healthy development part of a much larger problem.

    Read the full letter here. 

    Trump’s policy is only one example of how we ignore the right of every child to a fair start in life. 

    • The letter pointed out that without the sensational border crisis the plight of these children, through poverty, trauma, and deprivation, would be ignored.
    • The letter linked the child abuse at the border, and the permanent harm it would cause the children, to the impacts of childhood poverty and trauma more generally, and noted immigration policies would not address these larger issues.
    • The group called on the Human Rights Council, from which the United States recently withdrew, to adopt a child-first Fair Start family planning model, rather than the current model of planning.

    Anne Green, Executive Director of Having Kids, said this: “Now is the time for the Human Rights Council to take a bold step towards creating a better world for future children.” “Now is the time to prioritize the needs of future children and promote the universal value of smaller, more sustainable, and truly equitable families.”

    Take action: Tweet UN HRC High Commissioner, at @UNHumanRights, and politely suggest he act on our request. 

     

  • Children First: Demand An End To Family Border Separations

    Children First: Demand An End To Family Border Separations

    A nationwide backlash to Trump’s policy of separating kids from their parents at the border, as a tactic to decrease illegal immigration is underway.

    It’s easy to get trapped in the specifics of the debate over immigration law and policy, but is there a larger issue at play – the well being of children and the consequences of child trauma. When we determine immigration policy, we must consider it from a broader, and longer-term, perspective. The Trump separation policy is more evidence of a dangerously shortsighted view of the world. Whether it’s

    the Trump administration shows a dangerous proclivity for short-term thinking. That’s evident in Trump’s child separation policy too, given the long term impacts on the children and the potential for trauma to be continued for generations.

    Humans have historically valued strongmen leaders because they could protect us from threats, like dangerous foreign powers. But we live in a different world today. What if these less-evolved strongmen, with their short-term thinking, have themselves become the threat?  What do we do then? We put children and future generations first in all of our policy positions and decisions.

    The choices we make now will affect children for a lifetime. We must stand up against the cruel human rights violation that is currently happening on our southern border. Every American has a duty to defend the values of our country and the welfare of the children on our soil and in our care. It’s time to put children first in all of our policy decisions.

    Take action: Call your representative today and demand Congress act to end to Trump’s child separation policy.

  • UNFPA Must Address Climate Change. Take Action.

    UNFPA Must Address Climate Change. Take Action.

    Today, given a recent study showing that the loss of ice in Antarctica has tripled in a decade as a result of the climate change crisis, Having Kids called upon the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to abandon its outdated family planning modeling in favor of the sustainable Fair Start model. Family planning is the most effective way to address climate change and other environmental threats.

    This is our message to the UNFPA Executive Director Natalia Kanem: 

    Dr. Kanem:

    We respectfully request that you consider reforming the family planning model at the heart of the United Nations Population Fund’s work. The UNFPA currently uses an outdated family planning model that was developed before the manifestation of climate change, key developments in the science of early childhood development, and the massive and growing gap between rich and poor that exists today. That outdated model should be reformed to account for these things, and many other problems it exacerbates.

    The current model adopted by the UNFPA recognizes the fundamental human right of parents to decide the number, spacing, and timing of their children. It treats parents as if they were isolated from one another and their community in the act of planning, and does not include the rights of future persons, animals and their environment, the role of family planning in further democracy, etc. That model has no basis in binding sources of international law, and is unethical.

    How does that model account for parents that choose to have massive families, degrade the environment we all share, and put us all at risk? How does it account for parents’ obligation to not flout the Children’s Rights Convention, or even basic standards of fitness, by bringing children into existence below legally mandated thresholds? How does it account for the obligation parents and their community share to give every child a fair start in life, with opportunities equal to their peers? The UNFPA’s current model is isolationist, and by focusing on parents, violates the fundamental human rights of future children and communities.

    We offer the child-first Fair Start family planning model as a sustainable alternative to the UNFPA’s isolationist model. The Fair Start model is cooperative rather than isolationist, is based u[on binding sources of international law, and provides a clear human rights-based solution to the problems discussed above and a path forward. It is also reflected in the worldwide trend towards smaller families that can invest more in each child and ensure a safer future.

    Take action, and ask Dr. Kanem to consider our request by tweeting her at @Atayeshe.

     

  • Family Planning Systems Designed to Protect Children

    Family Planning Systems Designed to Protect Children

    Under California Law Governor Jerry Brown has the ultimate responsibility to protect children from harm. It’s called the parens patriae doctrine. States cannot fulfill their responsibilities to children without improving family planning models, taking steps to screen for irresponsible parents, and to prevent child abuse rather than simply react to it. Having Kids was formed, in part, to show states how to do this. In January, on the heels of the gruesome Turpin case, we wrote to Brown. 

    Brown has yet to respond, and multiple children and infants have been abused and neglected. This will continue to happen.

    The recent case of Gabriel Fernandez, who was tortured and murdered with help of his mother, is a reminder that Brown should act.

    Governor Brown, please promote Fair Start order legislation now. You are politically positioned to take action as your term winds down, and to support a family planning system designed to protect children (and in so doing protect the environment and promote equity), rather than randomly encourage people to have children in order to create economic growth.

    It is your legal responsibility. Please take action now. 

    Take action: Call Jerry Brown at (916) 445-2841 and remind him that he is obligated to do everything possible, including promote Fair Start orders, to stop the abuse.

  • Having Kids Asks Guardian to Issue Correction on Climate Gaffe

    Having Kids Asks Guardian to Issue Correction on Climate Gaffe

    The Guardian recently ran a story claiming that eliminating meat and dairy is the single biggest way to reduce impact on the environment. While going vegan is crucial for our planet, the claim in the article is not quite accurate. Today Having Kids is calling for a correction.

    As the Guardian itself recently reported, multiple studies have shown that choosing smaller families easily has the most impact on environmental crises like climate change. Moreover, those studies did not assess vital and obvious knock-on benefits of smaller families, like better cognitive outcomes for children, opportunities for empathy-building through early childhood development, and increased social cooperation and compliance with environmental norms.

    Population Impact

    From Paul Hawken’s book Drawdown to previous studies on climate change population size has been shown to be the primary driver of climate disruption. That’s also the case for the downstream impacts of climate change like ocean acidification, and for other forms of ecocide, like the loss of biodiversity / mass extinction of other species. Thus, sustainable family planning is the most significant act that we can take to reduce our impact.

    Are Vegans Exempt?

    Dietary changes should not replace better family planning. It should be included as a necessary condition of sustainability. If you want to be a true vegan, change your diet and plan smaller families for the goal of reducing the number of animals used for food and restoration of the nonhuman world. We should do our best to live sustainably through our consumption choices as well as through our reproductive choices.

    Ending the Taboo

    Discussing family planning is difficult because we have a cognitive distortion called temporal myopia. The push for pro-natalism has been ingrained in us over generations since the beginning of time. But today the size of the families we plan will determine our survival on the planet. It’s time to look beyond our selves. We must confront our own self-centered wishes to put our children’s future first.

    Our climate change trajectory is largely the product of past failures to deal with known variables like population and family planning policy. We should not repeat those mistakes, and the media has a grave responsibility in this regard.

    Fertility Rate Vs. the Economy

    Leaders and economists constantly push policies that support having more children to create future consumers and endlessly growth the economy. We see ourselves as consumers, rather than as citizens, which explains why dietary change is the common approach for people who care about animals. But why are we seeking infinite growth? What about a more stable, sustainable economy with a smaller gap between rich and poor and better opportunities for everyone?

    The Trend Toward Smaller Families

    Today there is also a marked trend towards smaller families, driven by several factors that range from cultural to financial. When thinking of policy changes, why not capitalize on, rather than ignore, this existing trend? From fully-funded LARC programming, to reforming child protection systems, to equity-based family tax systems, there are existing and effective vectors for real population policy change that can capitalize on the trend towards sustainable families.

    Family Planning for a Better Future

    Family planning is the unifying and primary driver behind all anthropogenic impacts. To fix our relationship with the nonhuman world, we will have to start at the source. Family planning is also our chance to create more equitable as well as sustainable societies. We can replace increasingly crowded, consumption-oriented economies with more connected communities that live in balance with nature. Family planning must be where we start in any discussion on how to reduce impact – at the source of who we are, and will become.

    The Guardian should issue a correction today. Ask the Guardian to do so at guardian.readers@theguardian.com, and to run a sufficient article explaining the correction highlighting the importance of better family planning.

    Ashley Berke, Spokesperson for Having Kids