GV70

As a christian I believe in that abortion / with or without putative father's consent / is murder.

Synnen

As a woman who had a teen pregnancy where the father didn't stick around....I think it should be the woman's choice entirely.

HOWEVER: When medical technology catches up to the point where men are able to carry babies in some sort of surrogate womb (in other words, go through pregnancy), I think they then should have the right to have that egg transferred to their own bodies. Until then, I think that it should remain the mother's choice.

By the way...since I don't think that DNA testing can't be done on a fetus that young in utero (please...corrections if I'm wrong would be great), I think there is NO WAY that a man should be able to prevent an abortion just by saying the kid is his. Do you realize how many idiots would be stepping forward JUST to prevent an abortion--possibly for a woman he doesn't even know? Until men can take on the pregnancy and everything that goes with it, they'll have to wait to have a say in that choice.

NeedKarma

How many threads have you read here where people's lives are ruined by a child that was not wanted? Perhaps it's a good thing that the woman would want to abort.

J_9

The only testing that can be done in utero is an amneocentesis, since that is a very dangerous procedure that can possibly result in miscarriage, I do not think it will ever be done for paternity testing, many women, the men you speak of, and the doctors involved will not submit to that form of DNA test. The test itself can be brutal (especially if afraid of needles).

So, since the woman carries the baby, goes through the hormonal mood swings, and has to endure labor and delivery, it will remain her choice until we see the day that Synn speaks of. I don't see that happening in the near future.

Sorry Xeno, your theory has too many holes to hold water.

froggy7

I agree with Synnen. The baby is growing inside the woman's body, which puts her at certain physical risks. You are aware that women still die in childbirth, right? When men have the ability to continue the pregnancy outside a woman's body, then they will be able to ask that the fetus be awarded to them.

Of course, a medical advance like that is sure to have many ripples, and will probably cause a huge culture shift in how family is defined and what rights and obligations are attendent upon parents.

XenoSapien

I understand it's a woman's body, but nine months compared to the next 50 years or so? A child is NOT just about the first nine months. To say that just because the woman carries the child entitles them to most or total power is a total cop-out. It takes two, doesn't it?

XenoSapien

Synnen

Xeno...if a guy doesn't want a child (and really, this applies to women too, but that's beside the point) he should KEEP IT IN HIS PANTS. Period.

You have no idea how hard that nine months is. You have no idea the changes it makes to your body, you emotions, your decision making process...NONE of that.

When you (or any man) can carry baby weight the rest of his life, or FEEL a baby move inside you, or have morning sickness or really and truly understand what those 9 months are like...THEN you can make decisions regarding that fetus.

Until then....your ideas are really pretty insane.

Nosnosna

Asinine on its face.

For this to be even considered, we'll have to add in a few things:

Father accepts 100% responsibility for the child, financial and otherwise, from birth on.
Father immediately pays all medical costs in the pregnancy and delivery, up front. Father immediately disclaims any right to public assistance for the life of the child. Violate any of this, and he loses all rights to the child permanently, but is required to pay child support. Should anything happen to the mother during or as a result of the pregnancy, the father is 100% liable for it, criminally and financially. This means that if the mother dies in childbirth, we have first degree murder.

Amazingly, all of this is still more reasonable than the original suggestion.

XenoSapien

Again, nine months compared to the horrors that child will be exposed to for the next fifty years does not compare. That pain was God's idea, not MEN. So to punish them is insane.

XenoSapien