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Measuring parentage policy in the Canadian provinces: A comparative framework
Author(s) -
Snow Dave
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
canadian public administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.361
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1754-7121
pISSN - 0008-4840
DOI - 10.1111/capa.12160
Subject(s) - legislature , policy learning , certainty , affect (linguistics) , political science , policy studies , policy analysis , public policy , public economics , public administration , sociology , economics , law , computer science , philosophy , communication , epistemology , machine learning
This paper develops a framework to measure parentage policy based on the legal barriers faced by intended parents, taking into account eligibility requirements, rules for genetic relationships, and surrogacy contract enforceability. It then applies this framework to the Canadian provinces. While parentage policy in Canada is undoubtedly a patchwork, policy change has moved in an increasingly permissive direction, often as a result of litigation. Moreover, this study provides an opportunity to develop broader research project for comparative scholars of parentage policy. Future studies of parentage policy, building from the framework developed here, should qualitatively examine the role of policy implementers other than legislatures and determine how policy learning and transfer affect parentage policy change. Because parentage policy can provide legal certainty for parents and prevent legal disputes, understanding the factors behind policy change is an endeavour with both theoretical and practical significance.