Posted on 02/19/2007 4:28:30 PM PST by wagglebee
Pro-Life Ping
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Well, at least they're looking at it. I credit them for that.
"He found that 80 percent of the men he surveyed said the trip to the abortion center was the worst day of their lives."
Sad. Of course what the guys felt pales in comparsion to what the unborn kid felt.
Based on the [admittedly limited] sample of those would-be fathers I happen to know, this article does not correspond to reality. Somebody's sample must be biased - maybe Shostak's, maybe mine, or maybe both.
Imagine how the kids feel.
I have frequently deplored the predicament of husbands who have no right to object if their wives choose to have an abortion. But I admit I hadn't considered the possibility of post abortion trauma in men.
Although it's not a popular idea in our relativist, materialist culture, I believe it is a fact of human nature that we have consciences that are quite independent of our chosen opinions and ideologies.
So even a man who drives his girlfriend to the abortionist because he wants to abort the child is going to have guilt feelings afterward, regardless of his politics or his choice at the time. He may not entirely understand why, but unless he is completely evil he will have guilt feelings nonetheless.
As St. Paul wrote, the Law of God is written in the heart of every person, even the hearts of gentiles and pagans who may not be consciously aware of it.
So much for feminism's false claim that America is a "patriarchy".
Yours.
"Reproductive Rights" is one of those public issues where the inequality between the sexes is rarely discussed.
Reproductive rights does not exist as a legal concept for men, and men are regularly told that they have responsibilities and not rights. A man has no "reproductive rights" that a woman is bound to respect, whether in nor out of marriage, to keep the baby or not. The only right that men have is to keep their pants zipped up, as the course of their lives and their hope for posterity is entirely dependent on the woman's "choice".
I remember hearing a feminazi screeching about how vital "reproductive rights " were for all human beings, insofar as their ability to determine the course of their lives is concerned. It got me to wondering how it is that no comparable "reproductive right" exists for men other than the right to keep your trousers zipped up. A man's income can involuntarily be confiscated to care for children that he does not want, affecting the course of his life. Under the law, he is utterly responsible to support any children with his DNA, and often even for those without it. In many states, women are allowed to ABANDON newborn children that they do not want at hospitals or firehouses, no questions asked. Men don't even have any "reproductive rights" in marriage, because his wife retains her "reproductive rights" if she "chooses" to exercise them.
I don't think either sex should have these "reproductive rights", and should deal with the concequences of a pregnancy, wanted or not. But if as the feminazi says, these rights are vital to human beings, than I wish to suggest the following remedies. An unmarried man, upon being promptly notified of an unwanted pregnacy by his mate, should have the option of a paternal veto (abortion) absolving him of financial and legal responsibility for the child. A married man who discovers that his wife has had an abortion against his wishes should recieve presumptive grounds for a divorce or annullment of the marriage, with the same holding true for one who concieves against his wishes.
Than again maybe the feminazi thinks that men shouldn't qualify for "reproductive rights" since she probably thinks men aren't human anyway.
My point is that men have no "reproductive right" that is INDEPENDENT of a woman's choice, wheras women have options that can be and are exercised independently of a man's wishes. Note that this feminine reproductive veto extends to nullification of the man's wishes whether the man wants the child or not, whether in or out of marriage. While I am acutely aware that this is in large part due to the uniqueness of the reproductive process, this nevertheless leaves the man without any independent ability to influence the woman legally.
I am not even necessarily saying that this is a bad thing, but I do find it curious that we often behave as though the only party affected by the birth of a child is the woman, and to prevent a negative influence on the course of her life we must preserve her right to kill her unborn child. If unmarried, she can "choose" to keep the child and can enlist the support of the state to forcibly take money from the sperm donor against his will. And if he wants the child, then he must yield to her choice to abort.
The common response to the man is that you should have been more careful in your choice of partner, or you should have kept your trousers zipped up. Legally he is told that he has no option other than the one that the woman "chooses" to give him.
Again, I think that BOTH parties should allow a normal pregnancy to take it's course, and come to a mutually agreed upon resolution. But if we insist upon a regime where a "reproductive right" is allowed for only half of the human race, than I think that men should have some LEGAL option to influence the woman's "choice" in either direction, rather than act as though this isn't a significant life altering event for them as well. The one option that I would absolutely forbid, of course is a forced abortion. Consider paternal veto for unmarried men or presumptive divorce grounds for a married man whose wife "chooses" against his wishes.
Having said all this, I do think it unlikely to happen. Men are legally held to the strictest of standard of responsibility where conception is concerned.
Except that...If you ask any leftist chicks--and I have--not only are men not "allowed to have an opinion on abortion", but "only women should be allowed to decide the issue of abortion".
If I I were kidding...
I don't usually listen to rap but check out this video about abortion from a male view
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5f9-b-Zfnw
Not sure. Based on my sample. I'd say his. "how abortion changed their lives" - in my sample it did not change anything at all. Those who have been happily fornicating, joyfully continue.
http://www.priestsforlife.org/postabortion/fathersandabortion.htm
http://afterabortion.com/mens_react.html
As with the women, one of the primary problems men affected by abortions face is the absence of any venue in which their grief is acknowledged and accepted. As with most such losses, the usual male response is to act as if it mattered little and to move on. Men tend to grieve much less openly than women anyway, so it is a double misunderstanding when casual observors see no manifestations of grief and foolishly assume there is none.
True, but those guilt feelings are tempered by the fact that he had absolutely no say-so in the decision to abort. He's along for the ride, both literally and figuratively.
"Don't want Abortion? Then don't have one."
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