Mehr als 300.000 kanadische Mütter mussten ihre Babys abgeben. Sie warten auf eine Entschuldigung
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/mothers-forced-adoptions-apology-9.7230263
Mehr als 300.000 kanadische Mütter mussten ihre Babys abgeben. Sie warten auf eine Entschuldigung
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/mothers-forced-adoptions-apology-9.7230263
7 Kommentare
Ireland, Australia, Scotland and today the United Kingdom have each issued formal apologies for similar practices during this time period.
Religion strikes again… Unwed mothers did not conform with the teachings of the Church…
And about government money? Until the 1980’s it was frequent if not perceived as „normal“ for the governments to send Churches money for various social services from the homeless to orphans and, yes, unwed mothers. Most of the time though the money was given with „no strings attached“ and the government did not really tell the Churches what to do with the money.
This was before the provincial governments put themselves in charge of social services and its ended just a few years after universal healthcare (1971) and secular public schools became the norm (1980 to 1997) in Canada. Before that the Churches were basically in charge.
Yes, the government should have made more enquiries, but most of the time enquiries only happened after some scandal, like the sexual abuse of boys in orphanages came to light.
Then who holds most of the blame then? Obviously it is the ones who spent the money, the religious groups themselves.
No question that the government should issue a formal apology and if they have not already they should help these woman that the government separated from their children or those children they separated from their mothers find closure if they so wish for it.
I read more into this because I was ignorant on the entire matter. Its a fairly grotesque piece of history, and was a highly coercive situation for a lot of women (many were minors sent to wards by parents and restricted on their day to day lives until forced adoption occurred). I hope they get some apology that helps some of the pain they experienced.
What this has to do with modern government? Yes, that was a norm in the whole western world. It was deemed that 15-16 year old girls are not capable to give proper care to a newborn. It’s still the case. Many parents voluntarily sent the girls who gave birth early to those institutions. This article clearly says – it was shameful. Shameful has nothing to do with the government, it is on the society. That was what generally percieved „good“ at that time. I’m wondering who does this to the western world – forcing guilt on modern people for their ancestors deeds. The son is not liable for his father’s deeds. We should stop this. Our current standards of „fairness“ are not applicable to the past times. It was appropriate at that time and people who followed moral standards of their time built this beautiful country we have honour to live in. Where this urge to blame them for everything comes from? Our society learned the lesson – this is not happening anymore. Good, we are not dumb to repeat the mistakes of the past, but too arrogant to accept our past with gratitude.
The government never forced girls to place their children for adoption. If anyone forced them it would be the parents who “sent them away when they got pregnant “. The girls had to sign the adoption paperwork. There were no supports for single teens wanting to raise babies alone. The $6 a month family allowance they received didn’t go far. Times have changed.
Highly recommend the novel Looking for Jane for anybody interested in Canada’s dark history of forced adoptions and the fight for abortion rights.