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Members of the House of Representatives were on Tuesday united in the call for compulsory registration of fathers on birth certificates.
However some members had reservations about how the proposed legislation would be applied.
The private members motion was brought to the House by Opposition Member of Parliament Ronald Thwaites.
It sparked extended debate even as the members rose to endorse the principle that all fathers' names should be added to their children's birth certificates.
Mr. Thwaites, who piloted the debate, cited statistics that indicated that only 55 per cent of Jamaicans have the names of their fathers on their birth certificates.
"People, of faith in the Christian tradition, only acknowledge one immaculate conception. There is a tradition where the role of the father is seen as secondary to the primacy of the mother's position as far as the ownership and the guardianship of the child is concerned. There are many, even at this stage of our life, which raffle the child and biological paternity plays second fiddle to economic suitability," he said.
Health Minister Ruddy Spencer agreed that the legislation was necessary, but noted that the Attorney General's Department had raised concerns about compulsory registration.
He said the current Registration of Births and Deaths Act, which was amended in 1980, placed no sanctions on the mother for non-disclosure of the father's name.
"This Parliament must determine how compliance must be enforced. What is it you're going to do to ensure that a mother declare the (identity) of the father of her child? Whether or not that woman has the right to declare or not, this Parliament must determine whether or not you would want to take away that right from that woman," he said.
However the idea that women may be allowed simply to name an individual as the father of a child raised the ire of government member Mike Henry.
He argued that modern technology would cut out the practice of mothers fudging the facts.
"Many of the laws we inherited (were) meant to protect the plantocracy, where this kind of law preached by my colleague, relates for the ‘bacra-master' to hide behide the rape that he had raped the woman on the plantation. We're in a modern age, an age where anybody who said that I'm not the father can be tested by DNA and that should be a cost of the state<" Mr. Henry said.
He suggested that if the DNA test proves that a man is the father, he should be made to pay for that test.
Mr. Thwaites argued that a broad view of the benefits of mandatory registration to society and children has to be the primary consideration.
"I'm sorry to put this crudely, but... I am of the opinion that it is better for the occasional man to get a ‘jacket' than for masses of children to be fatherless," he maintained.
The matter is to be referred to the Human Resources Committee of Parliament for further deliberation.
However some members had reservations about how the proposed legislation would be applied.
The private members motion was brought to the House by Opposition Member of Parliament Ronald Thwaites.
It sparked extended debate even as the members rose to endorse the principle that all fathers' names should be added to their children's birth certificates.
Mr. Thwaites, who piloted the debate, cited statistics that indicated that only 55 per cent of Jamaicans have the names of their fathers on their birth certificates.
"People, of faith in the Christian tradition, only acknowledge one immaculate conception. There is a tradition where the role of the father is seen as secondary to the primacy of the mother's position as far as the ownership and the guardianship of the child is concerned. There are many, even at this stage of our life, which raffle the child and biological paternity plays second fiddle to economic suitability," he said.
Health Minister Ruddy Spencer agreed that the legislation was necessary, but noted that the Attorney General's Department had raised concerns about compulsory registration.
He said the current Registration of Births and Deaths Act, which was amended in 1980, placed no sanctions on the mother for non-disclosure of the father's name.
"This Parliament must determine how compliance must be enforced. What is it you're going to do to ensure that a mother declare the (identity) of the father of her child? Whether or not that woman has the right to declare or not, this Parliament must determine whether or not you would want to take away that right from that woman," he said.
However the idea that women may be allowed simply to name an individual as the father of a child raised the ire of government member Mike Henry.
He argued that modern technology would cut out the practice of mothers fudging the facts.
"Many of the laws we inherited (were) meant to protect the plantocracy, where this kind of law preached by my colleague, relates for the ‘bacra-master' to hide behide the rape that he had raped the woman on the plantation. We're in a modern age, an age where anybody who said that I'm not the father can be tested by DNA and that should be a cost of the state<" Mr. Henry said.
He suggested that if the DNA test proves that a man is the father, he should be made to pay for that test.
Mr. Thwaites argued that a broad view of the benefits of mandatory registration to society and children has to be the primary consideration.
"I'm sorry to put this crudely, but... I am of the opinion that it is better for the occasional man to get a ‘jacket' than for masses of children to be fatherless," he maintained.
The matter is to be referred to the Human Resources Committee of Parliament for further deliberation.
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