The National Organization for Women, the largest body of feminists on the planet, as well as one of the most influential gender-issues lobbying groups in the nation, has consistently opposed practically every Father's Rights or Men's Rights bill introduced in the nation during its existence.
To achieve their goal of killing programs to help fathers they have declared any bill that focuses on helping the male gender is unconstitutional. In
1999 they opposed the Father's Count Bill which they admitted would help fathers in a variety of ways but because the bill singled out poor fathers for help, they declared the program illegal. They also immediately asked "what about the moms"?
"The ostensible goals of H.R. 3073 are to teach parenting skills to poor, non-custodial fathers and to enhance their employability so they may obtain jobs and meet child support obligations. Other services offered would include: anger management training, family planning information, tips on relationship skills and money management techniques, plus encouragment for fathers to spend more time visiting their children."
The
Chicago Tribune reported on the incident and rightfully exposed NOW's "no men agenda" and revealed the fact that the organization was successful in forcing the Government to include mothers in the program. Still they were not satisfied. The article also reveals NOW's feminist hypocrisy by showing how they had no problem pushing for the Violence Against Women Act even though the funds from the program were not to be used to help men.
"You no longer have to read between the lines to divine the National Organization for Women's agenda. In a way, it seems refreshingly simple: No Men.
That's the only conclusion one can draw upon reviewing NOW's objections to proposed federal legislation popularly known as the "Fathers-count" bill... The bill isn't exactly a mainstream father's dream.
Mostly, the bill creates programs to help unemployed fathers find jobs so they can produce child support for their welfare progeny. In fact, men's-rights activists aren't wild about the bill, saying that it addresses only the financial responsibilities of fathers while ignoring more pressing (child access) concerns of fathers disenfranchised by courts that favor mothers...
But NOW really doesn't like the bill because, well, it seems helpful to men. The fact that helping men might result ultimately in helping women and children is irrelevant. Anything that purports to help men is suspect. In the case of the Fathers-count bill, NOW claims it's unconstitutional....When it comes to legislation aimed only at helping women, NOW forgets everything it knows about the equal protection guarantee of the 5th Amendment.
For example, NOW issued no such protest to the grant application kit for victim services under the Violence Against Women Act Fund, which specifically states:
"A VAWA-funded project may not use VAWA funds or matching funds for projects that focus on children or men." Selective constitutionality at its shameless best."
And The National Organization for Women did not stop there. In 2012 they opposed a whopping six father's rights bills. These bills were mainly designed to allow men who suspected they weren't the father of a child to take a paternity test and be made exempt from child support if the results were conclusive.
"The putative father’s rights bills (HB 4067, SB 256, SB 557, 558, 559, 560) have passed the Senate and House Judiciary Committee. We testified against the bills as they take away a protective mother’s rights. The bills are supported by the Family Law Section of the State Bar, the DHS Office of Child Support, the probate judges, and of course the father’s rights groups. Now that there is DNA testing, biological fathers can be identified should they wish to come forward and make a claim. The logic of allowing putative fathers to gain access to and some control over their progeny seems to hit sympathetic chords with legislators in the silence of the affected women and children."
This is the feminist movement's track record and it highlights why they are the enemies of true equality and why the men's rights movement has been targeted by them. For more on the subject check out my recent
article at A Voice for Men