Unusual Ad Charges Fla. Child-Welfare System Undermines Parents

By Deborah L. Cohen

A Florida group that opposes the state's child-welfare policies promoted its cause this month with an advertisement that accuses state officials and child-welfare advocates of "kidnapping'' hundreds of children whose parents spank or scold them.

The Orlando-based Family Rights Committee Inc. took out a full-page ad, in the form of a cartoon, in 11 Florida newspapers and in The New York Times.

The cartoon, which has drawn sharp rebuttals from state officials and child-welfare advocates, depicts two legislators crafting child-abuse laws so vauge that "everyone will be guilty ... especially those who spank'' and imposing penalties so harsh that accused parents are denied due process and placed on a...