Abortion: Leveling the Playing Field
Certainly, before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Roe v. Wade (1973), men held the majority of power over what women could and couldn’t do with their bodies when it came to pregnancy. While the ruling allowed for a correction, it may have corrected too far, leaving men with little to no rights in personal decisions that have vast repercussions for their life.
This post seeks to offer a solution for this “over correction” in a way that is more fair to men while still preserving a woman’s authority over her body.
A more fair and equitable approach to the situation would include the following considerations and guidelines.
1. Once it is confirmed a girl or women is pregnant, she must disclose this to her partner within 72 hours and obtain some form of confirmation that her partner received the disclosure. Should she fail to disclose this to the potential biological father, he would be released of any and all obligation, including not having to pay child support.
2. Once both parties are aware of the pregnancy, it should be negotiated if the pregnancy will continue or not. The results of these negotiations should be memorialized in a binding Agreement carefully considered and drafted by legal counsel.
3. The guidelines for such an agreement may include provisions such as:
a. Both parties want to keep the baby, then both parties should be responsible for the costs to raise the child to 18.
b. Both parties want to abort the baby, then both parties share the costs for the abortion procedure. Abortion providers must by law be required to obtain the signature of both the biological mother and father, before performing the abortion.
c. The woman wants to abort but the man wants to keep the baby: The woman would agree to submit to a paternity test. The man would agree to take 100% legal guardianship of the baby upon birth and be 100% responsible for the care of the child to 18. In addition, the man would pay the woman during her pregnancy any lost wages and any out-of-pocket health care costs she may incur. The woman, in essence acting as a surrogate, would bring the baby to term and upon birth relinquish all rights to the baby to the father. The father then has 100% legal custody of the child and could decide to keep it or have it adopted.
d. The man wants to abort but the woman wants to keep the baby: The woman would agree to submit to a paternity test. The man would be released from any and all financial obligations during the pregnancy and in raising the child. Upon birth he would release any and all legal parental rights to the child. The mother then has 100% legal custody of the child and could decide to keep it or have it adopted.
Because of provision “3d”, we could see a rise in abortion rates as women decide it’s not in their best financial interest to keep the baby. Or, because of provision “3c”, we may see less abortions as more men rise to the challenge and raise the child alone. In either case, the outcome is irrelevant. The right thing will have been accomplished by putting men and women on a more even playing field when it comes to one of the most important decisions in life; that is the creation of new life.
This post seeks to offer a solution for this “over correction” in a way that is more fair to men while still preserving a woman’s authority over her body.
A more fair and equitable approach to the situation would include the following considerations and guidelines.
1. Once it is confirmed a girl or women is pregnant, she must disclose this to her partner within 72 hours and obtain some form of confirmation that her partner received the disclosure. Should she fail to disclose this to the potential biological father, he would be released of any and all obligation, including not having to pay child support.
2. Once both parties are aware of the pregnancy, it should be negotiated if the pregnancy will continue or not. The results of these negotiations should be memorialized in a binding Agreement carefully considered and drafted by legal counsel.
3. The guidelines for such an agreement may include provisions such as:
a. Both parties want to keep the baby, then both parties should be responsible for the costs to raise the child to 18.
b. Both parties want to abort the baby, then both parties share the costs for the abortion procedure. Abortion providers must by law be required to obtain the signature of both the biological mother and father, before performing the abortion.
c. The woman wants to abort but the man wants to keep the baby: The woman would agree to submit to a paternity test. The man would agree to take 100% legal guardianship of the baby upon birth and be 100% responsible for the care of the child to 18. In addition, the man would pay the woman during her pregnancy any lost wages and any out-of-pocket health care costs she may incur. The woman, in essence acting as a surrogate, would bring the baby to term and upon birth relinquish all rights to the baby to the father. The father then has 100% legal custody of the child and could decide to keep it or have it adopted.
d. The man wants to abort but the woman wants to keep the baby: The woman would agree to submit to a paternity test. The man would be released from any and all financial obligations during the pregnancy and in raising the child. Upon birth he would release any and all legal parental rights to the child. The mother then has 100% legal custody of the child and could decide to keep it or have it adopted.
Because of provision “3d”, we could see a rise in abortion rates as women decide it’s not in their best financial interest to keep the baby. Or, because of provision “3c”, we may see less abortions as more men rise to the challenge and raise the child alone. In either case, the outcome is irrelevant. The right thing will have been accomplished by putting men and women on a more even playing field when it comes to one of the most important decisions in life; that is the creation of new life.
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