Paternal Rights

Why Paternal Rights? While discussion of abortion often does not directly entail men’s rights, as it is much more a question of a woman’s bodily autonomy, the paternal and bodily rights of a man should be and is a part of the topic in question. Instead of focusing on having a say in another’s bodily autonomy, men should instead focus on the fact that abortion gives a mother both the option of parenthood, and control over the future of her body. Having no equivalents to this, men are forced into paternal ownership of the child, willing or not, should the mother decide to give birth. The solution to this is giving men the option to legally surrender, until the 18th week of pregnancy, his paternal and financial responsibilities and rights over …show more content…
An article on forced fatherhood from the New York Times states, “Policies that punish men for accidental pregnancies also punish those children who must manage a lifelong relationship with an absent but legal father. These “fathers” are not “dead-beat dads” failing to live up to responsibilities they once took on — they are men who never voluntarily took on the responsibilities of fatherhood with respect to a particular child. We need to respect men’s reproductive autonomy, as Brake suggests, by providing them more options in the case of an accidental pregnancy,” (Shrage, Laurie). Through empathy, the article’s author dismisses the straw man argument of “dead-beat dads” or a group looking to sidestep consequences. Ironically, this demonstrates the emptiness of the anecdotal counter-argument by putting into context the actuality of why more options for men regarding parenthood is needed. With more options, men are more likely to be invested in being a father, not forced, for both his own sake and the child’s sake. This subsequently creates healthier family dynamics with men willing to do what’s necessary because accepting the responsibilities and principles of fatherhood