I have very strong feelings when it comes to abortion, but the point of this particular article is the fact that fathers have no rights when it comes to deciding whether or not they want to become parents. If the mother wants the baby, the father is held responsible financially and he has no choice in the matter. If the mother doesn’t want the baby, she may end his or her life, without any concern for the father’s feelings. She may even be able to force him to pay for the “procedure” despite his objections.
I’ve heard all the arguments. I am intimately aware of the challenges of pregnancy, labor, delivery, lifestyle changes, and raising children, having given birth to four of my own, whom I am currently still raising. These issues, which are for the most part felt by the mother, do not negate the fact that the child also has a father. If he has responsibilities, he should also have rights.
A woman should not be able to make such a decision without consulting the child’s father. The laws are blatantly one sided, and if there has ever been an argument for equal protection under the law, this is it.
I certainly don’t believe a man should be able to force a woman to have an abortion, but on the same note, she shouldn’t be allowed to “terminate” their child if the man wants the baby. The fact that there is even “a right to choose” life or death for our children says much about our society, but that’s a conversation for another day.
You’ll hear, “it takes two to make a baby,” when the woman wants to demand financial support, but that argument is conveniently ignored when a woman decides a baby would complicate her life. You can’t have it both ways.
Both parents should be equally responsible for their child and should have equal rights. It isn’t likely to happen soon, with the laws so blatantly favoring women. Women most often receive custody, relegating fathers to the position of visitor in their children’s lives. Women have the sole ability to make life or death “choices.” Women can demand things from men, but men have no say regarding what becomes of their own children.
What’s wrong with this picture?
In the News: Women Have Choices, Men Apparently Don’t