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Originally Posted by Tigerwiccan  Ok, here's a topic to debate over. You hear both sides saying whether or not a WOMAN should be able to choose to have an abortion or not. What happened to the father? I'm sure there are many cases where the father is not there for whatever reason (rape, abandonment, etc.), but when the father is there, do you think he should have an equal say?
I say that of course he should, because while it is the woman that has to carry and give birth to the child, after that he shares the the full responsibility of caring and providing for the child. It is a choice that will affect his life just as much as the mother's, so I don't get when I read or hear someone say "you are a man, you have no right to an opinion on the matter."
I sure as hell do! | I'm an old person and my dad was born in the year 1905 well before modern view of the subject. He told me that "common law", that our nation was founded on gave the right of abortion to the doctor first and to the father next. Abortion would only take place when either the mother or the child would be determined to die if action wasn't taken by the doctor.
In the mindset of an agriculture culture without mechanical machines powered by engines large families were necessary to support the labor needs to produce food. You either had large families to share in the hard labor of the fields and kitchen or you had slaves. As a result of this reality when a doctor told the husband the choice is either to save the child or the wife, one will die as a result of complications it was up to the husband to weigh which life was more important to the survival of the family as a whole.
Under traditions of human cultures the father gives away the daughter to another family when she decides to marry. This is a concept of family survival and family support, the first male child is prime support for his parents and female children are to support the families they chose to take as their last names. Social Security has broken down this family unit somewhat but most families still follow this traditions somewhat.
Role models of parents have changed a lot since the pre power machine agri culture era along with the rights of women. Women were of less value in the agri culture era and male children insured the elder mother and father would be well taken care of in old age.
In my opinion even in today's culture if a woman is married she must have agreement with her spouse before ending a pregnancy because she has taken his last name in support of his family. |