The “Forced Paternity” objectors

You know these guys.  I know these guys.

These are the men who protest, loudly, that women can choose to have an abortion and the father gets no say in it, but if they keep the kid, the man is liable for child support.  "It is unfair," they cry with wild abandon, "if a woman can choose not to care for a child, then a man should also be able to!"

That these fellows (read: morons) cry foul here got me to thinking though, about the fundamental disconnects many men seem to have on this issue, and it is this that I am hoping to be able to articulate well.

One of the confusions is this: These people do not understand that there is a difference between person and property.  A person’s money is property, not part of your person.  A woman’s reproductive system?  That is part of her person, and the she has the right to make decisions regarding the medical care of her body.  All of it, by the way, not just the parts that don’t directly contribute to the making of babies.

Now, we may go hither and yon about how these idiots just don’t want to pay child support, and that is a fair accusation, but I’m not concerned about the motivations behind their arguments, but the failings they have that I haven’t seen expressed.

The insistence that they are required to provide for kids at the whims of women are fall apart quickly.  Every parent is expected some duty of care for the children they have, even if that means giving them up for adoption, where they may find more willing and able parents.  Simply neglecting the child is not any more an option for women than it is for men.

The disparity that does exist is that men are afforded full and unquestioned control of their reproductive system and the medical procedures performed therein, while a woman’s right to reproductive health evokes passionate crowing about infanticide.  That is an iniquity that can’t be allowed to stand.

Disclaimer: This post was written by a Feministing Community user and does not necessarily reflect the views of any Feministing columnist, editor, or executive director.

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