Parents wishing to discipline their children should not have to look over their shoulder to see what the state dictates, members of the Northern Ireland Assembly heard yesterday.
During a debate on the contentious issue of smacking, Mr Oliver Gibson of the DUP said a ban on physical punishment would lead to "a nanny state, in other words the state knows best, the state takes control, the state decides parenthood".
A motion requesting the Minister of Finance to take note of developments in England and Wales, where there has been no change in the law on smacking, was unanimously passed.
The Executive is currently examining a consultation report into the issue.
It will decide among other points whether the 150-year-old defence of "reasonable chastisement" should be removed from legislation.
Putting forward the motion, Dr Esmond Bernie of the UUP said he wanted to defend the human rights of those families who wish to practice what he called moderate physical chastisement.
"If the law is indeed changed to ban smacking then a number of us may have to make that difficult choice between following the law and following our consciences," he said.