This may not be the best forum for this kind of topic, due to the demographics. I'm sorry if I'm being stereotypical, but the vast majority of users here are probably dudes. With such a topic, one needs to make sure that the input of both genders is taken into account. But I'll try a discussion anyway.
I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Are these laws fair to men? This guy obviously did something that is illegal. But by the same token, in a sense, he was screwed either way...
First off, I'd like to say that I'm pro choice. A woman should have the right to abort an unwanted fetus (as long as the choice is made reasonably early).
My question is, why don't men have the right to "abort"? I'll explain what I mean by this in a bit.
I'm really not familiar with laws outside of English NA (to be fair, I'm not that familiar with laws here either), but here the biological father is forced to at least financially support the child once it is born. For at least 18 years. This can extend well into the twenties if the child wishes to pursue post-secondary education. This is seen as the biological father's obligation, whether or not he wanted to be a father in the first place.
It has to be said that some child support laws exist for a reason (although there are legitimate arguments that can be made about how flawed these are in the current state). They actually (to me) make a lot of sense when couples separate. If two people chose to at some point to have a child, it should be their joint responsibility to raise the child to the best of their abilities.
But what if one of the parents never agreed to have the child? Obviously if it was the mother, then an abortion could have taken place. But what of the father? He never gets the choice.
Going back to my question; by "abort" in the context, I mean financially. Why should a man have to substantially cut off his paychecks for a child he never wanted? Is it fair to force such a responsibility upon a person? What do you think?
Conversely, the man is also screwed if he WANTS the child, but the woman does not. It is ultimately the woman's decision that matters. The child will be born if and only if the woman wants the child to be born. The man is supposed to tag along with the decision.
DISCUSS!
