Wednesday, April 1, 2009
"Roe v. Wade for Men"
I found this subject very interesting in chapter 9; there is a paragraph in the single fathers heading talking about a precedent-setting case called Roe v. Wade for men. Basically a man from Michigan is suing to establish his right to choose to become a father, saying he was tricked into fatherhood by his girlfriend. This is the first case of it's kind to test the constitutional right to choose not to be a father under the U.S constitution equal protection clause. The courts still rule on the child's best interest receiving financial support overrides the father's interests. They argue that if a man does not to be a father there are methods to take other than expecting the woman to take responsibility, like using a condom for example! What are your thoughts, does a man have the right to choose whether or not to become a father?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think its kind of a difficult question to as can a man choose whether or not to become a father. in this case it think he cant shouldnt be able to say anything if he wasnt protecting himself by wearing a condom. but i have always wondered what if its the other way around what if the pregnant women wants an abortion but what if the father wants the child does he get any rights to stop her from getting an abortion?
ReplyDeleteI also agree. Very difficult question. If he did not want to be a father than yes, he should have protected that decision by wearing a condom or not having sex. It is a very tough one... I think that any father should have some say in whether or not to keep the child or to terminate it. I do though believe that a woman does have to right to her body, but I am not saying abortion is right either. I am stuck in the middle on this one but the moron should have wore a condom if he didn't want to be a father.
ReplyDeleteI personally agree with everyone about wearing a condom they were made for a reason. But from personal experience a friend of mine has a 2 year old son, he has stated to me before that no matter what the best thing for that little boy was to have been put up for adoption, he loves being that little boy’s father, but he thinks he would have had a better life and would have been in a better situation than what he is in. I think a man needs to own up to his responsibilities. If you’re ready to have sex then yes you’re ready to be a father/mother. Yes there are condom malfunctions you may call them, well it was your choice to have the sex.
ReplyDeleteI would say that the man has a right to say he does not want to be a father, in the context of sharing that opinion with his partner and acting in a way to insure that this goal is archived. I would also contend that on the question of one's ability to state whether they are or not a father due to the verbal assurances that were made leading up to the event of conception, I would say that in this instance, even thou he may have been deceived. The overriding result of his actions are that a child was conceived. To the individuals that put forth the argument that due to the fact that his partner said it was “safe”, which in essence negates his responsibility, I would contend that, no matter what, due to the gravity of the reciprocation it falls on him to be redundantly positive a child could not be concevited as a byproduct of his actions. One of the ways he could of protected himself was to cover it up, like was put forward in the question. Another reason to take that action in this situation is protect himself from his partner in the instance, that she was even more over zealous in conceiving an offspring, that on top of lying to him she would branch out and pursue other suitors to increase the chance and the rate of time in which the event might come about. Getting back to the question of culpability, I would put forth the parallel of say the condom brakes or does not work, the “1% situation.” In this event the individuals are no less responsible for their actions even thou they had taken the steps to prevent the result because in the end they took part in this event which resulted in a life.
ReplyDeleteThis is a difficult question to answer, because I think there are cases when guys are tricked into thinking that their partner can’t get pregnant, or is using birth control when this is not the case. However I also think that if you don’t trust that your partner is being honest (or even have a little doubt) about the situation then you should insist on wearing a condom. Also I do think it’s important that the guy tells his partner how he feels about the pregnancy, however I don’t think it is his choice on what the women decides to do.
ReplyDeleteI dont understand how this man got tricked. regardless of birth control there is not a 100% garantee that a woman will not become pregnant. I believe that this guy likely freaked out, called a lawyer, and was advised that this was the best way to get out of being a father. Personally i believe that ultimately this is the womans decision. A man is only obligated fiancially if she has the child -he does not need to be involved in the childs life. It is a woman who carries, gives birth, and mothers the child -she makes more of a sacrifice by keeping the child. This dude needs to stop being such a baby himself and take some responsibility for being a man -i have no sympathy for this dumbass
ReplyDeleteThis is a very hard question to answer. In my opinion I think that the couple should of most definitely had a discussion about how they felt about wanting to become pregnant or not..I agree with mostly everyone that if the male in this situation did not want to concieve a child with this woman he should have been a little more responsible and made sure she was either on a form of birth control or should have worn a condom...or both. I do however think that he has a right to say if he does or does not want to become a father but that conversation should have been held before the child was concieved and he was put in that position. I also think he should not be having sex with this woman if he can't even trust her enough to know she won't "trick" him into having a child...As for the question, if he has a right to terminate the child..I most definitely think it is the womans choice whether or not she decides to keep the child, no question. If he wants to be part of the childs life is a whole other story.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very hard topic. If a man wants to be a father and the woman pregnant with the child doesn't want the baby than I think she should not be able to abort the baby, but instead she should birth the baby and then allow the father to raise it. On the other hand if a mother wants to have a child but the father does not want her to birth the child it is unfair for the father to ask the mother to have an abortion or put it up for adoption if she is willing to raise the child. Either way I think unless there is a mutual agreement that the child is put up for adoption both parents should be responsible financially for the child weather it is wanted or not. If someone doesn't want to risk becoming a parent when they are not ready than they should not have sex or at least use preventative measures such as birth control and condoms. Overall, people, both men and women, need to take responsibility for their actions when it comes to pregnancy.
ReplyDeleteSay you have sex with your partner. You both do not want a child, so you both use your own forms of birth control i.e. the pill/condoms. Birth control fails for whatever reason. The women gets pregnant, and decides for whatever reason that she now wants the child. Why on earth would the man be held responsible for around 50,000(im sure its much more) plus for 18 years for something that should have not happened. The fact that a women in that situation has 100% of the power is disconcerting to say the least.
ReplyDelete