It is not so much that parents need to be treated special, but when a business hires someone, they have to expect that they might be parents and need that consideration. Just as an expectant mom needs to take time for her dr's appointments, or someone who suffers from migraines may need to take the occasional day off or the person who has a physical handicap needs certain considerations, the work place has to understand that they hire people not machines and should be understanding (of course with in reason) of their employees.
Many company's are already on board with this as they offer job sharing, flex hours and working from home opportunities to name a few.