Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin Senator, Proposes Law That Declares Single Parenthood Child Abuse

A controversial bill targeting single parents came to the table at the Senate Committee on Public Health, Human Services and Revenue public hearing in Wisconsin this week.

State senator Glenn Grothman, an admitted opponent of the social welfare establishment that he believes encourages women to have children out of wedlock, introduced Senate Bill 507, which would formally consider single parenthood a contributing factor to child abuse, if passed into law.

SB507 would require the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board to emphasize that non-marital parenthood is a contributing factor to child abuse and neglect.

According to the bill:

Section 1. 48.982 (2) (g) 2. of the statutes is amended to read: 48.982 (2) (g) 2. Promote statewide educational and public awareness campaigns and materials for the purpose of developing public awareness of the problems of child abuse and neglect. In promoting those campaigns and materials, the board shall emphasize nonmarital parenthood as a contributing factor to child abuse and neglect.

Section 2. 48.982 (2) (g) 4. of the statutes is amended to read:
48.982 (2) (g) 4. Disseminate information about the problems of and methods of preventing child abuse and neglect to the public and to organizations concerned with those problems. In disseminating that information, the board shall emphasize nonmarital parenthood as a contributing factor to child abuse and neglect.

Single parents make up a third of Wisconsin parents, The Annie E. Casey Foundation reports. And according to a 2009 report from the US Census Bureau, there are approximately 13.7 million single parents across the U.S., with single mothers outpacing single fathers five to one.

Grothman's previous attack on the left wing contended that because social programs are available to the poor, liberals want people to be poor and use them, financial benefits he says are driving the rise in single motherhood among low-income moms.

Quick Poll

Do you agree with Grothman's stance?

Yes.

No.

VOTE

Share your vote on Facebook so your friends can take this poll

Comments

[barbarajean]

03:25 AM on 02/01/2013

Glenn Grothman is a creepy looking man .makes me think " they" get themselves elected to the state senate now . he seems more suited to hanging out by rest rooms in public parks and hanging around schools . this guy is something out of a nightmare. you know men reading this. you go fight for your country and die and now your a wife according to the creep is a criminal she has your kids she is now a single parent . now it seems they no longer have to snatch your children they can get elected to a high office and take them.

[bantrybay]

08:06 PM on 01/01/2013

We have two popular Presidents who were raised by a single parent, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. I think this negates this argument by a right winged legislator who does not have the pulse of what is going on in his state or the nation.

[susimar]

10:51 AM on 09/09/2012

They'll probably tack it onto some important bill so it won't get passed...ugh

[Melanie Shepley]

03:50 PM on 07/14/2012

I find it troubling that single parents are being labled as poor. I was a single parent. I raised my daughter, went to college, and worked, paid for daycare MYSELF, provided food by myslef, and still spent with my daughter. I will admit, that I spent too much time away from her in the first two years of college, but it paid off in the long run. Now I have a career, a 9-5 job, and a healthly relationship with my daughter. And I did all of this without the governments assistance. And, if a single parent needs government help they should get it. I know plenty of people who both parents have great jobs, nice houses, new cars, they get food stamps, welfare checks, and such. So maybe we should focus on those people instead on parents who really need the help. Furthur more, the reason I was a single mother is because my husband decided to beat me in front of my daughter when she was 3 months old. He beat me near to death because he did not respect women. He would of done the same to her once she became a woman. So honestly, being a single mom protected her from the abuse. Would the governor propose I remarry him and return her to the abuse? I bet he also believes my place is in the kitchen! With all do respect... F*** you and your stupid law proposal. Its ignorant to consider it.

[AMY DONS]

07:33 AM on 07/12/2012

READ THIS ARTICLE tinyurl.com/motherjonesnewss

[almasinger]

09:22 PM on 07/09/2012

you bet it is

[PlsReadDeeply]

06:23 PM on 07/09/2012

Well, now that is the limit. My initial response-- you know, the one that plays out in one's mind before we edit ourselves-- was outrage. Let's see.....oh, still outrage. I have been a single mom for many years. I raised my first son by myself, no child support. When he was old enough to attend school, I not only continued working, I went to university and earned two B.A.s.

I am raising my two younger sons, now teens, born "out of wedlock" (that ancient, outdated term!) by myself, no child support. I am proud of all three, my first was in the Navy for four years, and my teens attend a college-prep school. My middle son is in all honors classes. They tell me every day how much they love me, and I tell them the same.

To suggest that abuse exists or ever existed in my home is nothing short of obscene. If Sen. Grothman is so concerned about my family's well-being, why doesn't he concentrate on a plan to start enforcing court-ordered child support?

I respect single moms and single dads equally, but most single parents are women. It appears Grothman wants to one-up Walker after he repealed the equal pay for women law.

But okay, Grothman, cuff me and take me away, but you can bet I'll not go quietly into that good night.

[almasinger]

09:23 PM on 07/09/2012

single parent? that doesn't surprise me

[otter8]

03:09 PM on 07/09/2012

This is so stupid I had to stop for a few minutes and think about it. I raised my daughter who was born out of wedlock from the age of 13 months as a single dad. Not once in that time did I consider myself abusive to her or that she was deprived of anything. She was raised by a person who loved her unconditionally and fully. Someone who worked hard to improve both her life as well as my own and still had plenty of time to help with her homework watch her play sports practice with her on those sports and do fun things with her. This guy is a complete nut case labeling single parents as abusers. Shame on him

[PlsReadDeeply]

06:24 PM on 07/09/2012

F&F, otter!

[Vin Orleck]

02:48 PM on 07/09/2012

WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE??? WHO WOULD EVEN BRING THIS UP AS LEGISLATION?? As a product of a single parent household I find this ridiculous. Any of the commenters here saying its a good proposal needs to have their brain checked. There is ZERO correlation folks....ZERO ways to link the two. And as for "tailkinker" who believes that a man who fathers a child without the woman being his wife should be charged with child abuse....do you even know what child abuse entails? Or spousal abuse? Or abuse in general?

[TailKinker]

06:38 PM on 05/04/2012

last i checked, the only way for any woman to have a child was with a man's help, so that would mean any man who fathers a child with a woman that is not his wife has committed child abuse. and since he did sexually, he should probably have to register as a child sex offender.

[PlsReadDeeply]

06:27 PM on 07/09/2012

Tail, HUH? your statement is a little disturbing. Please examine the real meaning of a sex offender.

[howie G]

01:45 PM on 07/11/2012

So I guess sperm donors should be locked up for years as sex offenders? And I guess since as you said, it takes two, the mother would also be a sex offender.. stupid statement.

[NancyPeske]

12:12 PM on 05/04/2012

You can help get rid of this guy--someone has stepped up to run against him! http://portwashington-wi.patch.com/articles/lohr-announces-candidacy-against-grothman-to-combat-war-on-women

[Joe DGlenn]

08:36 AM on 04/24/2012

OK, let's see the statistics on single parenthood and the prevalence of abuse and neglect in single and dual parent households and see if there reallly is a corelation. Based on my experience in the legal system as an attorney defending child abuse and neglect allegations I suspect that the corelation is there but it is not as clearcut as Grothman would have you believe. That said I would love to see a well done study of the problem and identify the contributing factors so that the problem is better understood.

We should all ask ourselves, if there is a significant corelation between single parenthood and child abuse and neglect would I be willing to change my position on whether or not single parenthood could be considered a "contributing factor" in child abuse and neglect.

[kamaii78]

07:28 PM on 04/23/2012

It was NOT my desire to be a singe mom. Things happen in life that force you to take a stand out of love & respect for yourself & your children. I left my ex-husband because he was abusive, because my children growing up like THAT was abuse! It wasn't healthy for them, their intellectual growth or their emotional stability. Every day I FIGHT for what is best for my children! This law is a load of crap! I am an educated (BS in Graphic Design) & old fashioned mother, who CHOOSES to stay at home and RAISE her children instead of allowing someone else to rear them for me, while I go to work my 9-5 & make money to support them, but neglect them in other ways. I receive assistance, because my children only get one childhood, and I ought to be there for it, teaching them how to live when they get older, training them to NOT be stuck in the circumstances that I am. I struggle daily, out of LOVE for my children, not out of desire for others to do my work for me. I PAID into the system for YEARS before I needed to rely on it. To call being a single parent a type of child abuse is not only ignorant, but kicking those who are already down! I had no debt and a well-paying job before I became a single mom. Now, I have debt & jobs that I work around my

[PlsReadDeeply]

06:37 PM on 07/09/2012

You are my hero, kamaii, I left my abusive husband also, and you nailed it; to have stayed would have subjected the children to abuse. We saved them from it.

Sexism is like racism; people gob people who are different from them together in one non-individualized clump, and set assumptions and rules against them as a whole. And then wonder why they make fools of themselves!

F&F

[shellfish789]

05:33 AM on 04/22/2012

This guy is nuts......he's the reason most women are single parents.......

[yappnmutt]

03:32 PM on 04/18/2012

this after 50 years of .gov telling everyone parents aren't needed at all for a kid because the state is the real parent.