[Alty]

I was watching Dr. Phil today and his show was all about fathers right versus mothers rights.

There was a young man on the show that actually took the mother of his child to court because he did not feel he should be financially responsible for the child that he fathered.

Why? Because she claimed to have a medical condition that prevented her from getting pregnant and she also claimed to be on the pill, on top of that he used a condom. He repeatedly expressed to her that he did not wish to have a child, and when she found out she was pregnant he stated that he was not willing to carry the pregnancy to term or to keep the child if she decided to carry the pregnancy to term.

Well, the child is here and he pays $500/month to support her. He's never seen the child, has no desire to and doesn't think it's fair that the women has a choice whether to become a mother but a man has no choice whether to become a father.

He doesn't begrudge her the right to have the child, he just doesn't think it's right that he has no choice after she's made that decision.

What do you think?

What do I think? Okay, I'll probably get into major trouble here, but I think that he's right. Women have all the rights when it comes to having a child. If a women decided to abort the baby the father of the child cannot demand that she keep it, it's her body, her right to abort. So, why should the father be forced to pay for a child just because she decides to keep it when he's made it abundantly clear from the beginning that he did not wish to be a father?

I'd love to hear others opinions. I've put this in member discussions because there's no way to give agrees or disagrees, just in case this turns heated.

Let's discuss. :)

[Fr_Chuck]

The man has all the rights not to get naken and have the sex knowing that the sex can lead to having a child,

The man has the right to have operation so he can not have a child.

As noted I don't agree that there should be an abortion that allows a women to have a choice to make.

But the same law that they claim gives her the right to have one, ( her body rights) would also stop the man from having any say.

The man has responsibility which can not be taken away since it would interfere with a right of others

[Alty]

I do see your point Chuck, I really do, and as a women I agree. But, a women does have the right to abort, does have the right not to disclose the father on the birth certificate and give the child up for adoption (thus taking away his parental rights to the child).

Things are much better now then they used to be, but fathers still don't get full custody as often as mothers in cases of divorce, it's a sad fact.

So, we expect the father to "man up" pay for this child he created, but, if the women decides she doesn't want the child, the law is on her side, and her side only, the father has very little rights, even after the baby is born.

I'm not saying that fathers shouldn't have some responsibility, after all, you are right, if he didn't want a child he could have had a vasectomy, he chose not to, so there was the possibility of a child every time they had sex.

I do think that the laws should be more equal, that men should have more say in the lives of their children.

The sad fact is that most children nowadays are born out of wedlock, come from single parent homes, have half sisters, half brothers, step dads, step moms, second step dads... that's the way things are now.

Maybe if we made things more equal, there would be less unwanted pregnancies out there.

I don't know how to fix it, I just think it needs to be fixed.