We’ve detected a notable silence from social conservative groups over the case of Nadya Suleman, the California mother of six who then gave birth to octuplets. Is a single mother giving birth to 14 kids a “traditional family value?” Groups like Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council routinely oppose gay marriage because kids deserve a mom and a dad. But what about Suleman’s kids?

The usual suspects have been unusually silent. Until now. Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, (rather predictably) blames the gays and (rather predictably) the courts:

“When Nadya Suleman became a mom for the 14th time, she raised more than a few eyebrows. The drama grew by national proportions when details trickled out that Suleman was not only unmarried, but chose to have multiple embryos implanted in her womb through in-vitro fertilization. Last week, taxpayers learned that they would be partially liable for the family’s care through hundreds of dollars in food stamps and disability payments. The news fueled even more conviction that the fertility doctor should have refused the procedure.

“But is he really to blame–or are our courts? In California, the state Supreme Court made it virtually impossible for a physician to exercise his own judgment after two lesbians sued in 2001 for the right to be artificially inseminated over the doctors’ personal or social objections.

“Last year, in Benitez v. North Coast Women’s Care Medical Group, the justices ruled that anti-discrimination laws trumped physicians’ rights. In so doing, the court tied the hands of the medical field, leaving little recourse against irresponsible and unhealthy decisions like Suleman’s. For more discussion, log on to our website and read my op-ed, `Baby Mills Break Hearths–and Hearts.'”

I guess “irresponsible and unhealthy” is a start, at least.