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Does the father have a right to stop an abortion?

Does a father have the right to stop an abortion?

  • No, mother's choice only.

    Votes: 23 60.5%
  • Yes, a father has rights too.

    Votes: 11 28.9%
  • abortion should be illegal.

    Votes: 4 10.5%

  • Total voters
    38

mac

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Does a father have rights to stop an abortion?
I hear many pro-choice arguments, mostly from the point of view that it is a woman's right to decide if she wants to have a child. My question is: If a woman decides to have an abortion, but the father wants the baby and is willing to take full custody of it, does the mother have the right to terminate anyway?
 
Does a father have rights to stop an abortion?
I hear many pro-choice arguments, mostly from the point of view that it is a woman's right to decide if she wants to have a child. My question is: If a woman decides to have an abortion, but the father wants the baby and is willing to take full custody of it, does the mother have the right to terminate anyway?

Yes, she has that right. Her body, her choice. Nobody has the right to make medical decisions for her.
 
In case the other thread gets deleted... "In answer to the poll - I vote "no" the father has no rights to stop the abortion. He gave away that right when he chose not to wear a condom however I do think if a father is absolutely certain that he doesn't wish to have a child he should be able to sign away (only during pregnancy) his parental responsibility AND his duty to pay child support. Such a decision should be unrepealable and the mother should have no right to prevent it if she goes ahead with a gestation against the father's wishes.

If the mother makes the decision to continue with a gestation against a father's wishes, she shouldn't be allowed to make him pay for the next 18 years. Once the 9 months is up or the birth had occurred I feel it's too late for the father to change his mind and decide he didn't want a child as he's had a lengthy time period to consider his position."
 
Yes, she has that right. Her body, her choice. Nobody has the right to make medical decisions for her.

I didn't vote. There was no choice for me.
A man doesn't have a right but I think maybe he should have a say.
It's his baby too. I imagine it could be rather traumatic for a pro-life man to know someone killed his baby.
A law like that would never pass, but hopefully there are not too many babies killed against the fathers wishes.
 
Individualists (cough *libertarians) should be all over this... I believe however the mother in question has absolute control over her own body. End of story, I have no further comment on this subject.
 
In case the other thread gets deleted... "In answer to the poll - I vote "no" the father has no rights to stop the abortion. He gave away that right when he chose not to wear a condom however I do think if a father is absolutely certain that he doesn't wish to have a child he should be able to sign away (only during pregnancy) his parental responsibility AND his duty to pay child support. Such a decision should be unrepealable and the mother should have no right to prevent it if she goes ahead with a gestation against the father's wishes.

If the mother makes the decision to continue with a gestation against a father's wishes, she shouldn't be allowed to make him pay for the next 18 years. Once the 9 months is up or the birth had occurred I feel it's too late for the father to change his mind and decide he didn't want a child as he's had a lengthy time period to consider his position."

Didn't the mother have unprotected sex as well?
 
In case the other thread gets deleted... "In answer to the poll - I vote "no" the father has no rights to stop the abortion. He gave away that right when he chose not to wear a condom however I do think if a father is absolutely certain that he doesn't wish to have a child he should be able to sign away (only during pregnancy) his parental responsibility AND his duty to pay child support. Such a decision should be unrepealable and the mother should have no right to prevent it if she goes ahead with a gestation against the father's wishes.

If the mother makes the decision to continue with a gestation against a father's wishes, she shouldn't be allowed to make him pay for the next 18 years. Once the 9 months is up or the birth had occurred I feel it's too late for the father to change his mind and decide he didn't want a child as he's had a lengthy time period to consider his position."

Now this would cause many more abortions. How sad for all those babies and what a pass for all the men who couldn't keep their thing in the pants.
 
Nope. Just as he doesn't have the right to make a woman get an abortion.
 
In case the other thread gets deleted... "In answer to the poll - I vote "no" the father has no rights to stop the abortion. He gave away that right when he chose not to wear a condom however I do think if a father is absolutely certain that he doesn't wish to have a child he should be able to sign away (only during pregnancy) his parental responsibility AND his duty to pay child support. Such a decision should be unrepealable and the mother should have no right to prevent it if she goes ahead with a gestation against the father's wishes.

If the mother makes the decision to continue with a gestation against a father's wishes, she shouldn't be allowed to make him pay for the next 18 years. Once the 9 months is up or the birth had occurred I feel it's too late for the father to change his mind and decide he didn't want a child as he's had a lengthy time period to consider his position."



Men and women both have choices and rights. The choices are not the same, but there is choice on some level made by both people. The money is not for the woman its for a child. A full fledged person...Not to mention, most women wouldn't even dream of having an abortion at 9 months. And how many men get cold feet in that last month?
 
I couldn't really answer the poll, since there's not an 'other' or 'sometimes' answer.

99% of the time, no, the father should not have the right to stop an abortion, however there can always be cases made where it makes sense for him to have the right to try and do so.
 
I didn't vote. There was no choice for me.
A man doesn't have a right but I think maybe he should have a say.
It's his baby too. I imagine it could be rather traumatic for a pro-life man to know someone killed his baby.
A law like that would never pass, but hopefully there are not too many babies killed against the fathers wishes.

So when a man wants to get a vasectomy, should his wife also have to approve of the procedure before he gets it?
 
I didn't vote. There was no choice for me.
A man doesn't have a right but I think maybe he should have a say.
It's his baby too. I imagine it could be rather traumatic for a pro-life man to know someone killed his baby.
A law like that would never pass, but hopefully there are not too many babies killed against the fathers wishes.

So do you also think a man has a right to force a woman to have an abortion against her will?
I can't imagine how he could have the power to force her to gestate a fetus against her will, but not also have the power to force her to terminate a pregnancy against her will.

Either women have sovereignty over their bodies, or they do not.
 
Didn't the mother have unprotected sex as well?

Absolutely she did - currently, it's primarily the mother who has the luxury of 24 weeks to choose whether to continue gestation or not. Once conception has happened a man has no rights - end of story. She had unprotected sex but is allowed up to 24 weeks to consider her choices.

She by definition also has the power to affect the man's life for the rest of his life. I totally agree "female bodily soveriegnty" (until 24 weeks gestation) but that doesn't mean you can impose the consequences on the other person.

Now this would cause many more abortions. How sad for all those babies and what a pass for all the men who couldn't keep their thing in the pants.

As Mac pointed out - conception takes two to make it happen.

In my view, if a mother is going to have sex but knows beforehand that she cannot now rely on the govt to enforce a father (after birth) to pay for a child he has given up parental and financial responsibility for then she may equally think twice about unprotected sex.

I'd go further with this and make sure that if the father decides to go ahead and play a role - that the mother has absolutely no backing from any court to prevent his access / contact / visitation - whatever it's called in your country/

-- A full fledged person...Not to mention, most women wouldn't even dream of having an abortion at 9 months. And how many men get cold feet in that last month?

I woulnd't ever support a right to abortion beyond the 24 week gestation period - however I feel my post may be derailing the discussion. My apologies to the OP.
 
I didn't vote. There was no choice for me.
A man doesn't have a right but I think maybe he should have a say.
It's his baby too. I imagine it could be rather traumatic for a pro-life man to know someone killed his baby.
A law like that would never pass, but hopefully there are not too many babies killed against the fathers wishes.

You would think that a couple that are close enough to conceive a pregnancy, would be close enough to come to an agreement. If you are knocking up a woman you'd think that you would know her well enough to know how she feels about having children.

So, no.
Daddy, if you didn't take the time to get to know this person, then you FAIL to have a say in an abortion matter.
 
I think a father should be able to put in a formal request for an abortion. If the mother declines, the father should not be expected to pay child support or have any parental rights.
 
I didn't vote. There was no choice for me.
A man doesn't have a right but I think maybe he should have a say.
It's his baby too. I imagine it could be rather traumatic for a pro-life man to know someone killed his baby.
A law like that would never pass, but hopefully there are not too many babies killed against the fathers wishes.

I actually concur with this line of thought. Of course a father should be able to express his wishes, but in the end, the decision to carry the fetus to term is soley that of the woman. Though it doesn't "seem fair," it's the hand each holds as dealt by biology. If the child is born, both carry the responsibility to support the child until it reaches the age of majority, financially and emotionally.
 
Does a father have rights to stop an abortion?
I hear many pro-choice arguments, mostly from the point of view that it is a woman's right to decide if she wants to have a child. My question is: If a woman decides to have an abortion, but the father wants the baby and is willing to take full custody of it, does the mother have the right to terminate anyway?

I voted yes - but that's not a blanket 'yes'

If the mother has a serious health disorder or condition which will serious alter, imped or possibly threaten her life and chance of having future children then, no, I don't feel a judge should be able to order her to carry the child. Now, in all due honestly, these types of situations are far less common than abortions for convenience or as a result of poor BC planning.

If the mother just wants to abort because of *no* particular reason (thus, an abortion for convenience) - and the father is willing to take care of the child without the mother being involved at all - then he shuold have that right to intervene.
However - if someone's willing to abort due to convenience then how can anyone ensure the actual proper nutrition, growth and development of the child? Sure if the mother doesn't *want* the child and isn't willing to *carry* the child then the child is in danger. . .how far is a father willing to go to continually intervene?

If she aborts anyway - is the father due some type of compensation for emotional trauma?

If some type of agreement between teh two is struck to agree to carry/birth the child - and then teh father will solely adopt the child . . . and the mother doesn't properly care for herself during pregnancy and that results in harm to the child (say, she drinks - and the child suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome) - does the father have a case for neglect and abuse on behalf of the child, is he then able to sue for support of some type from her?
 
No, the father does not have a right to stop an abortion. The father, however, can express his wishes, and then it's up to the pregnant woman to decide what she wants to do. I hope we never get to a point where a man has a legal right as to what a woman can do to her own body when it comes to pregnancy.

This is not to say that I don't feel for the man who wants the baby badly and the woman says, "Sorry, I don't want it."
 
Its one of the most unfair situatiosn within our society, and its one of the reasons that frankly you will not get me crying many tears over the plight and unfair treatment of women, but ultimately its a situation where there's a bad answer and a worse answer. In this case, the woman having sole sovereignty over the child's life based on it residing within her body is the bad answer, but the father being ble to have an equal call is worse, in regards to rights and the ramifications it has.

As we are continually told during abortion debates, its not "just" the womans fault that they chose to have unprotected sex. That is correct. Its both's fault, so to say "too bad, the guy should've wore the condom" is as bull**** as saying "well the girl should've just not had sex". Its a horrible and sad thing in our society that we have such situations where a child is concieved, has a parent that is happy and willing to raise it and love it, and it is aborted because the other doesn't want it. This both applies when a father wants it but the mother terminates, or if the situation was reversed either legally or illegally (through threats, intimidation, or force). However, the stakes of allowing another control over another persons body is equally disturbing.

Ultimately, and I know this is going to sound crazy, my hope would be that a reliably safe way of either allowing for a surrogate mother, a artificial surrogate, or even a method in which men could carry a child could be developed. If it could be done with relatively minor risk (IE no more risk then say a C-Section) then I would be in favor of a law stating that if a woman wishes to abort but the father wishes to keep it that a transplanet would be required rather than an abortion, after which the mother would relinquish rights and responsabilities to the child. This to me would be a reasonable balance between "infringing upon the rights of the mother's control on her own body" and the rights of the child whose residing within it. It does not force the mother to carry a child for 9 months, having the multitude of affects that pregnancy brings in addition to the after affects lasting for untold months. At the same time, it does not terminate the child when there is a willing biological parent choosing to take it.

Until such a point though the "bad or worse" decision has to be made, and that decision has to be that it is the womans choice though I would hope any reasonable women WOULD give input to the father.

Now, with this said...

I am in favor to review of paternity law in regards to responsability. If a father is not made known of the child prior to the 6the 3rd trimester then he should not be legally compelled to give financial support, or have a reduction of the amount of financial support he is forced to give. If a father IS notified prior to the 3rd trimester he has the option to relinquish claim to the child within the first 2, thus removing any rights he has towards the child but also any responsability in regards to financial support. He could not relinquish his position after the 3rd trimester, to remove people getting suddednly cold feet. The woman has sovreignty over her own body, she should not have it over the the wallet of the father. The action of conception is a two person act and if women has the ability to wipe her hands clean of the child prior to its birth then the father should have an equal if different ability to do such as well. All the complaints that forcing pregnancy is "punishing the woman" equally applies in regards to forcing financial slavery on the part of the man.

If they are forced to pay and that doesn't change, then new regulation should be put on it requiring the mother to specifically detail where every dollar of child support is spent to justify that it is going to half of the support of the child. If it accounts for more than half of the money used to support the child then the amount the father is forced to pay should be reduced. If its found that the money is being for things other than the child then it should be a violation, with 3 violations leading to a potential reduction of support requiring to be paid and grounds to potentially contest custody.
 
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I think a father should be able to put in a formal request for an abortion. If the mother declines, the father should not be expected to pay child support or have any parental rights.

Rather than this kind of thing, I would prefer it if pharmaceutical companies started working on a birth control pill for men. That way, men would have more power over their reproductive rights. If a man doesn't want to pay child support and doesn't want to have a child, he should be able to take steps to ensure that he doesn't impregnate a woman. I fully support better birth control for men. I don't know why it hasn't been done already.
 
Does a father have rights to stop an abortion?

That will probably never legally be the case. It's unfortunate because the dad should have some say as it's his child too. However since we take it that the man cannot have input on abortion, they should be given input on child support and they should be allowed to fully divorce themselves from the mother and child and in doing so relieve any financial responsibility the father may have had in the first place.
 
Does a father have rights to stop an abortion?
I hear many pro-choice arguments, mostly from the point of view that it is a woman's right to decide if she wants to have a child. My question is: If a woman decides to have an abortion, but the father wants the baby and is willing to take full custody of it, does the mother have the right to terminate anyway?

Please add the poll option: "Yes, the unborn has rights to."
 
Individualists (cough *libertarians) should be all over this... I believe however the mother in question has absolute control over her own body. End of story, I have no further comment on this subject.

Yeah exept it's not her body, so in this case Libriterians nesesseraly must oppose abortion.
 
So when a man wants to get a vasectomy, should his wife also have to approve of the procedure before he gets it?

I tried to get a vasectomy in CO and yes my wife had to approve in writing. The reasoning was that I was limiting her reproductive rights. It was a Planned Parenthood referral, too. Go figure.
 
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