The fact of being a non-custodial or non-residential father (an ex-father) as a result of parental separation makes that man less than the man who has not been separated.
I insist that whether I shall be a whole man, or only the half of one, in comparison with others, is a question in which I am somewhat concerned, and one which no other man can have a sacred right of deciding for me.
If I am wrong in this—if it really be a sacred right in the judge in family court to decide whether I will be the equal of the unseparated father, then, after the judge shall have exercised that right, and thereby shall have reduced me to a still smaller fraction of a man than I already am, I should like for someone, deeply skilled in the mysteries of sacred rights, to provide himself with a microscope, and peep about, and find out, if he can, what has become of my sacred rights. They will surely be too small for detection with the naked eye.
Finally, I insist that if there is anything which it is the duty of the whole people to never intrust to any hands but their own, that thing is the preservation and perpetuity of their own liberties and institutions. (With apologies to Abe Lincoln)