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 Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 11:55 am
Father's Rights? Men Want Right To Turn Down Fatherhood
Group Wants Same Rights As Women
POSTED: 7:46 am EST March 9, 2006
NEW YORK -- Contending that women have more options than they do in the event of an unintended pregnancy, men's rights activists are mounting a long shot legal campaign aimed at giving them the chance to opt out of financial responsibility for raising a child.
The National Center for Men has prepared a lawsuit -- nicknamed Roe v. Wade for Men -- to be filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Michigan on behalf of a 25-year-old computer programmer ordered to pay child support for his ex-girlfriend's daughter. The suit addresses the issue of male reproductive rights, contending that lack of such rights violates the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause.
The gist of the argument: If a pregnant woman can choose among abortion, adoption or raising a child, a man involved in an unintended pregnancy should have the choice of declining the financial responsibilities of fatherhood. The activists involved hope to spark discussion even if they lose. (Discuss this case.)
"There's such a spectrum of choice that women have -- it's her body, her pregnancy and she has the ultimate right to make decisions," said Mel Feit, director of the men's center. "I'm trying to find a way for a man also to have some say over decisions that affect his life profoundly."
Feit's organization has been trying since the early 1990s to pursue such a lawsuit, and finally found a suitable plaintiff in Matt Dubay of Saginaw, Mich.
Dubay says he has been ordered to pay $500 a month in child support for a girl born last year to his ex-girlfriend. He contends that the woman knew he didn't want to have a child with her and assured him repeatedly that -- because of a physical condition -- she could not get pregnant.
Dubay is braced for the lawsuit to fail.
"What I expect to hear (from the court) is that the way things are is not really fair, but that's the way it is," he said in a telephone interview. "Just to create awareness would be enough, to at least get a debate started."
State courts have ruled in the past that any inequity experienced by men like Dubay is outweighed by society's interest in ensuring that children get financial support from two parents. Melanie Jacobs, a Michigan State University law professor, said the federal court might rule similarly in Dubay's case.
"The courts are trying to say it may not be so fair that this gentleman has to support a child he didn't want, but it's less fair to say society has to pay the support," she said.
Feit, however, says a fatherhood opt-out wouldn't necessarily impose higher costs on society or the mother. A woman who balked at abortion but felt she couldn't afford to raise a child could put the baby up for adoption, he said.
Jennifer Brown of the women's rights advocacy group Legal Momentum objected to the men's center comparing Dubay's lawsuit to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling establishing a woman's right to have an abortion.
"Roe is based on an extreme intrusion by the government -- literally to force a woman to continue a pregnancy she doesn't want," Brown said. "There's nothing equivalent for men. They have the same ability as women to use contraception, to get sterilized."
Feit counters that the suit's reference to abortion rights is apt.
"Roe says a woman can choose to have intimacy and still have control over subsequent consequences," he said. "No one has ever asked a federal court if that means men should have some similar say."
"The problem is this is so politically incorrect," Feit added. "The public is still dealing with the pre-Roe ethic when it comes to men, that if a man fathers a child, he should accept responsibility."
Feit doesn't advocate an unlimited fatherhood opt-out; he proposes a brief period in which a man, after learning of an unintended pregnancy, could decline parental responsibilities if the relationship was one in which neither partner had desired a child.
"If the woman changes her mind and wants the child, she should be responsible," Feit said. "If she can't take care of the child, adoption is a good alternative."
The president of the National Organization for Women, Kim Gandy, acknowledged that disputes over unintended pregnancies can be complex and bitter.
"None of these are easy questions," said Gandy, a former prosecutor. "But most courts say it's not about what he did or didn't do or what she did or didn't do. It's about the rights of the child."
- Source
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Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 12:44 pm
scum... how unfortunate- yet another heartless excuse for a concious being... however, it does slap the pro-choice side in the face- if they say that men can't have the same rights, then it's really not about rights or equality to them, but solely convenience
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Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 1:22 pm
Most choicers at least here at Gaia support this and pretend that it makes men and women equal. One little problem...a woman can still KILL a child that is not 100% hers and a man has no say in what happens to someone who is 50% his. This only gets men out of the responsiblity, it does nothing to allow them to achieve the right to save or kill their child in the way that women do.
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Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 1:22 pm
I actualy agree with this. If RvW is never overturned, I'll help lobby for a man's right to opt-out of child support for a child he didn't want. Its only fair. A women has the right to opt-out of an extended mother hood (remember, abortion dosn't make you a free woman, it makes you the mother of a dead baby), why can a man not opt out of an extended father hood?
But, I also agree with what Broole said
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Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 1:34 pm
I'm torn on this. Partly because if men are given the option to opt out of fatherhood abortion rates will go up, and on the flip side men should have the same rights as women, even if I don't agree with them.
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Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 2:07 pm
Beware the Jabberwock I'm torn on this. Partly because if men are given the option to opt out of fatherhood abortion rates will go up, and on the flip side men should have the same rights as women, even if I don't agree with them. Perhaps certain requiremnets are needed...of coarse...that woudl be lengthy and I have no idea where to start with even thinkign of some possible one o.o. But, seriously, if a woman can have an abortion and get out of tackign care of a child, why can't a father opt-out of paying child support?
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Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 2:28 pm
yes, i agree- sex is a risk of pregnancy- if a woman can't deal with that, then she shouldn't have sex. if a man can't deal with that, he shouldn't have sex either.
edit-see? equality...but of course, no, they can't have that, they want everything.
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Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 2:33 pm
And once again, women who opt not to "choose" are shafted.
I hate this society that abortion perpetuates...so much.
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Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 10:16 am
It is sad to see men want there wives or girlfriends to commit abortions. It makes me want to cry as I see more and more people being anti-family.
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Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 11:20 am
Finally.
Sorry. I know the abortion rate will go up. But men have gotten the short end of the stick on this. They should be able to opt out of it, otherwise it's not really equal rights. They should also be able to choose to have children. Let's see how well that goes over. It won't win. They'll deny men the right to choose. Because they're a bit sexist and only want reproductive rights for women. But hey, if women have the right, I say men should. But if men have the right to opt out, they should also have the right to keep their children.
Don't get me wrong. I like that men have to take responsibility. I like that it allows women to choose childbirth. But I don't like the inconsistancy on their side.
"We want women to have all the rights but men to still have reproductive responsibility." What is up with that? Meh. I hope it doesn't win. Just because I don't support women opting out of pregnancy so why should I support men opting out of the whole child thing? Though it might bring down the pressure on women to abort in one way, it'll financially pressure them to abort, so they won't be getting it from the partner anymore, just the paycheck. No good.
Sorry guys. I like you and all, but I don't want you to have the same rights that women have right now...because I don't think women should have those rights. Try the pro-choice side. They're pretty big on people having the right to opt out of lying in the bed you make.
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Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 12:23 pm
lymelady Finally. Sorry. I know the abortion rate will go up. But men have gotten the short end of the stick on this. They should be able to opt out of it, otherwise it's not really equal rights. They should also be able to choose to have children. Let's see how well that goes over. It won't win. They'll deny men the right to choose. Because they're a bit sexist and only want reproductive rights for women. But hey, if women have the right, I say men should. But if men have the right to opt out, they should also have the right to keep their children. Don't get me wrong. I like that men have to take responsibility. I like that it allows women to choose childbirth. But I don't like the inconsistancy on their side. "We want women to have all the rights but men to still have reproductive responsibility." What is up with that? Meh. I hope it doesn't win. Just because I don't support women opting out of pregnancy so why should I support men opting out of the whole child thing? Though it might bring down the pressure on women to abort in one way, it'll financially pressure them to abort, so they won't be getting it from the partner anymore, just the paycheck. No good. Sorry guys. I like you and all, but I don't want you to have the same rights that women have right now...because I don't think women should have those rights. Try the pro-choice side. They're pretty big on people having the right to opt out of lying in the bed you make. i think everyone should have to take responsibility.... seriosuly, it was their actions, they made a choice. trying to get out of it, especially at the cost of a life, is simply childish.
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