Reply #29: "Valid" isn't really the operative word.

[kiahzero]

If pressed, I would have to say it's equally "valid," but that doesn't mean that the government has to respect it. This comes up against my thinking on juvenile rights - that parents are essentially holding the child's rights in trust for the benefit of the child, and thus are limited in their decision-making.

Take, for example, intersex children. Parents will often modify the genitals of their intersex children in irreversible surgical operations. While I don't question the ability of an intersex person to make that decision, the parents have no right to do so on behalf of the child. I see this situation in a similar light.