And now for the opinion that no one really wants to here on this issue:

I think men should get out of any legislation, court or anything that has to deal with abortion. It's actually confusing to me how men can be pro-life, IMO. Personally, I feel that's all up to her. A man ("as much as it is his") shouldn't be able to overlord something that is happening to a woman's body. She can and has all the right to do whatever she wants to do and a man can only and should only act accordingly.

The Chris Rock joke goes like this: "When she comes from outta the bathroom an' she got that "shit it happened" look on her face you got two options. You can say "Oh, I'm so happy, I will be a great father and am really looking forward to our baby!" or you can look at her like a deer in headlights an' say "....so whachu gonna do?"

So if men get the right to force a woman to take a pregnancy to term if he DOES want to be a father, should he also get the right to force her to terminate the pregnancy if he DOES NOT want to be a father? If not, how can you possibly advocate one without the other? If so, doesn't that give men full control over the reproductive function of a woman's body?

Just asking....

Stormie

Sometimes it's the right decision to make. I can hardly imagine it is an easy one. Making a decision like that is, like it or not, dealing with the consequences of her actions in a very immediate, and difficult to handle, way. This isn't about 'owning up', in my view. To me, the woman is making a choice about her body. The foetus is part of her body.

I'd rather see legislation that leaves the decision of the fetus entirely to the woman.... and the decision whether or not they have sex entirely to the man.

as long as the man can take the child at the point of that decision and carry it to term in his own womb, i agree. otherwise......stfu. think about it.

I have a question for everyone.

Would you consider forcing a women to give birth to an unwanted baby torture and why or why not?

Absolutely. Pregnancy can create extreme physical and/or mental hardship. It's not a 'natural' state for every woman.

I am about to start a shitstorm of epic proportions ...

Does this legislation cover -

1. Pregnancy from rape? What kind of repercussions will be felt when a rape victim is told - "You want to terminate this pregnancy? You have to ask the rapist for his permission to terminate."

2. The father is dead? For instance - Woman finds out she's pregnant, the problem being that the child will be deformed. She decides to terminate. The father died between insemination and discovery of situation.

3. The pregnancy will, without a doubt, be harmful to the mother and/or child. However, the father refuses to abort. Will the state wait until the mother and/or child dies in childbirth to file charges against the father?

I shall now duck and cover.........

Men should absolutely, positively, 100% have a say in whether or not a woman gets an abortion...

On a personal level. Legally, legislatively, authoritatively? He has absolutely no right to any say whatsoever.

If a man wants full custody of the child, then he should be off looking for a surrogate to carry the child to term for him. That's the only solution because ultimately it's the woman's body and if he thought it might be nice to be a daddy, he should have discussed that prior to getting his cock out.

If it's unexpected, it might be unwanted by one or both. Neither has the right to force the other to comply and the state should have absolutely no say what so ever.

I'd agree with that Ali.

All of what everyone is saying seems to hinge on WHEN the "fetus" is determined to be a "child." At what point does the child earn those rights? Upon conception, 3 months, 6 months....not until birth? Thats the real issue, no?

If it is considered a child upon conception - what right does the mother have to KILL it? However, if it is not considered "human" until birth, then one could argue that everything between conception and birth is entirely up to the woman. The difficulty comes into play during the undefined period between conception and birth where we recognize the fetus as a child. I'm thinking as I'm typing, and thats always dangerous for me, but what if at, say 6 & 1/2 months the "mother" decided to (and I love this nonpersonal terminology) terminate the pregnancy? Is/would that be ok and should the father have no say under those circumstances?

There are laws in place to limit the circumstances in which a woman can seek an abortion. These laws are mainly to do with ensuring that abortions take place at the earliest possible point in the pregnancy.

Personally? I think that no man, and no government should have the right to dictate that a woman carry a child to term. As long as that baby is inside her body it is a part of her. Physically. It does not, to me, take on a separate identity until it has left the mother's body.

Right on.


Wow. I didn't realize men only had a financial responsibility to children, and that that's the motivating factor for this legislation.


1. And what about when the status of the consentuality of the sex is unclear or alleged?
2. I guess if he's dead, then it doesn't matter. Sounds like a precursor to a Fark story: Not news: Woman kills father of child for insurance proceeds. Fark: Woman kills father of child so she can have abortion.
3. Or how about even "high risk" pregnancies (although all pregnancies carry a huge risk to the mother) where it's more of a guess as to whether or not there could be severe complications?

Hey- how 'bout it- lets start the process already, I'm all for it!

If you want control of what your semen does inside our bodies and want to take more responsibility, you can also start paying when your semen mutates into Uterian Cancer instead of a baby...oh yeah.....that can happen too...And it can also come right out of your damned paycheck. States Orders. Awesome! It's nice of you to want to be more involved and responsible for your bi-products.
If men want to continue to become more and more responsible with what their little seamen, bi-products, and bacterium does to our bodies....bring it the Fu** on.....let's do it. You are not going to like it.
But it would be a good education, for all of us.