Thursday, December 01, 2005

Splitting the Baby

In the comments to the post below about abortion a few people chimed in with the predictable "well, yah, but if the man wants her to have an abortion and she doesn't have one he shouldn't have to pay child support !!!!"

This is inane. All it does it give men a magic "get out of paying child support" card. Yes, I understand how in fantasyland it sounds nice that if one partner doesn't want a baby and the other does they go their separate ways. But here in reality you don't get to force a woman to have an abortion and even if you try you still have legal obligations.

I'm sure there are men who justifably feel they've gotten screwed on child support/custody issues. As there are numerous more women who have gotten screwed on the same issues, if in a slightly different fashion. But, once again, biology just dictates that there isn't a middle ground here. It would be nice if men "had a say." It would be nice if the decision to carry a child to term was something to be negotiated between two responsible partners, and that's presumably something which happens quite frequently. But there's no way to put such a thing into law without in effect signing over the property rights of a woman's uterus. That's just the way it is.

That worried about having unwanted children and child support payments? Use birth control. Have sex with people you're on the same page with on these issues. Really worried? Go get a little snip job.