I read a couple of articles this week that I can't get out of my head. I usually stay out of the debate, because I have no respect for the "other side" of this issue, but I am opposed to abortion, for all sorts of logical and moral reasons that should be overwhelmingly obvious. I am not opposed to sex education, or even contraceptives, and I am opposed to rape, but none of those are excuses that justify a need for "safe access to abortions." The vast majority of unplanned pregnancies are the result of irresponsible actions taken by a generation of people who are used to being shielded from the hard consequences of their own decisions. The idea of "Reproductive Rights" is an invention, and a recent one at that. No one had ever heard of that a hundred years ago. Rights have to be based on something, and I see no basis for that one besides wishful thinking. You don't have a right to choose when to become a parent, but you do have a right to choose when to have sex, and you have to deal with the consequences of that decision.
Currently those reproductive rights are ascribed to women but not men. The same basic principle given to men would be the end of child support. Women who get pregnant and choose not to be mothers are labeled pro-choice. Men who get a woman pregnant and choose not to be fathers are labeled deadbeats. After reading a good article about that principle, I thought this logic would be a solid argument against abortion, with no reasonable counter. I was wrong. The very next article I read, was from someone arguing in favor of this exact scenario, of releasing men from the responsibility of being a father. 5 years ago this article would have been dismissed as political satire, similar to how that proposal from Australia a while back about killing babies as post-birth-abortions was misinterpreted, but it is clear to me that the author is serious.
Their idea is that if a woman gets pregnant, she should be required to notify the alleged father, and he has a window of time to decline paternity, abdicating him from all responsibility for his actions. Legally he would be considered similar to a sperm donor. The woman then can use this information, to make an informed "choice" about how to deal with her pregnancy. If she delivers the baby, if the father has accepted paternity, he is responsible for child support in return for usual paternity visitation privileges and such. If the father has declined, the proposal is that she would then qualify for state-sponsored child support.
I can't even begin to describe how much I am offended by this entire idea. First off there is the whole abortion issue. Then there is the idea of avoiding responsibility for one's actions, especially in legally sanctioned ways. Then there is the idea of legal encouragement of deliberate single parenting, which is not an ideal environment for raising children. Then lastly there is the direct financial involvement of the government in the situation, through state sponsored child support. Who would come up with something like that?
Besides the offensive issues, let's look at the logical outcome of a system operating on this premise. The government is basically paying people to have kids. The more children you have, the more state sponsored child support you will get. There is no requirement to verify that they spend that money on the child. The children may not even be still alive, you can just borrow some in the rare event that someone from the state comes poking around to see where all those checks are going. The system would be putting a financial incentive on irresponsible actions. I think the government should stay out of that entirely, but if it is going to go around trying to "improve" the lives of its citizens, let's incentivize responsible decisions and productive actions instead. That is the type of activity that needs to be encouraged.
Yes, one really bad choice can "ruin your life." Deal with it. That is the way life is by its very nature, regardless of what culture or society you live in. So I would strongly recommend everyone being real careful not to make any really bad choices.
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