A Father’s Right To Not Choose? by Q. Reyes – Artistic Warfare #17

April 12, 2009 Q. Reyes 21 Comments

I don’t want to get into whether a woman should have a right to choose; and by “right to choose,” I am speaking of abortion, or baby cancellation, or birth rescheduling, or family planning, or whatever you might want to call it tomorrow. I’m speaking of a father’s right to choose, or actually, a father not having a right to choose.

Yeah, of course a man can protect himself BEFORE having sex in order to avoid pregnancy. So can a woman. A woman is even more powerful, at least to me, since she can demand that some sort of caution be taken before sex. I don’t want to talk about who’s to blame for the pregnancy. I want to fast forward to that point where some people think they have a choice to make.

Okay, the choice is here. Are we having a baby or not? Let me rephrase that question, “Am I having a baby or not?” Realistically, a woman does not care if the man wants the baby or not. That’s the truth. Of course she’ll cry if she wants it and he doesn’t. I think that’s pretty normal, but does it really matter?

Let’s say a woman is making the choice to keep the baby, but the father does not want it. What rights does the father have legally to make this different? Or let’s reverse the roles. The man wants the baby and the mother does not want it, now what? What can a man do, besides trying to convince the woman not to abort the baby? Nothing.

Oh, but don’t let the baby be born, because whether a man chooses or not to have the baby, he will have to pay child support for at least eighteen years. How’d you like them apples? Is that really fair?

I’m not for abortion, whatsoever. Maybe when there’s rape involved. Just like the story I was told recently about a twelve year-old girl that was raped by her uncle and became pregnant. The twelve year-old girl is keeping the child, even though the father’s a rapist relative. She feels that regardless, that’s her baby. I disagree with her and I wish there was something I could do, but it is what it is.

So I’m posing the question, “Should a father have the right to choose”? And, if a man does not have a say on whether a woman has a child or not, “Should he be liable to pay for the woman choosing to keep the child against his will”? I think if a woman has the right to choose, so should the man. And if the man doesn’t have a right to choose, neither should the woman. Isn’t that fair? Why should it be otherwise?

In my opinion, a woman should have the right to choose, but so should the man. If you’re married, then that’s a different story, since when you’re married, at least in California, you’re responsible for your spouse’s choices. So if she chooses to have a baby, then that automatically makes you responsible.

An unmarried couple are at a puppy store (no, I’m not comparing babies to animals, so shut up), and the woman wants to get a puppy and the man doesn’t want to. The woman gets the puppy anyway, and then forces the man legally to pay for the dog food; I don’t think that’s fair.

Like I said, not that babies are puppies, but what’s worse than that comparison, is that some women use babies as a method of control. They think, and they’re right, unfortunately, that they can keep a man with a baby. They sure can. At least for eighteen years they earn the ability to make that man’s life miserable. Is that really about the baby? Who benefits from these choices? Men, women, the baby? No one does. That baby grows up to recent his absent father, and goes on and makes his own bastard children. I’m sorry, it’s the truth.

If woman does not want a man to have a right to choose, then a woman should make the choice to not have sex with a man in the first place. If a woman enters into a sexual situation, willingly knowing that there’s the possibility of pregnancy, she’s giving up the right to make an individual decision on a situation that will affect more people than just herself.

One woman’s right to choose affects two other people besides herself. A man and a baby are at stake. It’s not fair she gets to choose what’s best for three people. Either we all choose, or no one chooses.

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Q. Reyes is president of the Newt Gingrich fan club, California Chapter. Q. Enjoys long walks on the beach, red-flavored drinks, and the occasional ninety-nine cent burger at any fast food joint that offers them.