do the math, fuckers.

[jellyfish_lace]

There's been some debate regarding whether men should have a say in their partners' abortions. Proponents of the idea that since the fetus is half his and half hers genetically, it should be a mutual agreement

Comments

I am the original anonymous poster

[anonymous]

Firstly, I would like to say that 99% of you do not know who I am. I think that only Jellyfish does, so, as with Andrew's case, posting my name would have been irrelavent. Also, I rarely actually sign into my livejournal account because I do not ever post to it, I merely use it to keep up with my few friends that use one of this. Whenever I do make a comment, I always sign it "--humble monkey." This is for a couple of reasons... One, so that anyone who does not know who I am will not know who I am (kind of like a non-anonymous anonymous post,) secondly, it is kind of a running joke with a few freinds of mine (jellyfish not included.) And lastly, I think it is rather apt.

But I digress... back to the debate at hand.

I think that saying that just because a man does not directly carry the fetus in his body does not mean that he is in no way involved in the pregnancy process. From personal experience I will note that most pregnant women are bitches. All those crazy hormones spewing about like a geyser cannot be good. So, as the father of the child, (hypothetically of course, I would rather not have a child right now) I would try my best to placate the odious one. Also, what about financial involvement? Does the father not help with medical bills, clothing, food, et cetera?

Yes, you are right, a man should not be able to force a woman to bear his child, but I do not think that a woman should be able to have an abortion without giving NOTIFICATION (note: this is not a request for consent, and applies also to women under the age of eighteen who should be required to notify their parents of the abortion. This is because the abortion is a serious medical condition, and the patient is underage.)

--humble monkey

Re: I am the original anonymous poster

[jellyfish_lace]

"Yes, you are right, a man should not be able to force a woman to bear his child, but I do not think that a woman should be able to have an abortion without giving NOTIFICATION"

That seems fair, actually. However, I don't agree with the parental thing, because it deters young women from getting abortions in a SAFE way because they're terrified that their parents will find out.

"I think that saying that just because a man does not directly carry the fetus in his body does not mean that he is in no way involved in the pregnancy process. "

The problem with that is that you're assuming there is a relationship involved and it wasn't a one-night stand or rape. You're dealing with ethical issues of responsibility and not LEGALITY. Not all pregnancies occur in relationships, obviously. A man MAY be involved in the pregnancy process, whereas a woman MUST... because the parasite is kind of... in her. And stuff.

And who would want to write legislation saying "if you're in a relationship, you have to tell him" or some such nonsense? How the fuck would that work? What legally constitutes a "relationship"? Three dates? A mutually binding paper that says "WE'RE OFFICIALLY IN A RELATIONSHIP NOW, so if she gets knocked up she's legally obliged to tell him!"

Re: I am the original anonymous poster

[anonymous]

Well, you need to define these situations then.

I would say in most situations, it is a relationship OF SOME KIND. (screw fucking with HTML, I'm using caps to emphasize my points instead of italics)

I would have agreed with you about the parental notification bit, but then I listened to my father and he made the point that ANY medical procedure has to have parental notification (including ear piercing in some situations) so I disagree that it would lead to more illegitimate abortions.

I agree that in a one night stand the father need not be notified, and in most (95+%) cases of rape, there is no pregnancy because of the massive amounts of scar tissue. I think that even if it was a one night stand, but the father should still be notified (but not an obligatory notification.) That's a moral decision for the mother to make though.

--humble monkey

Re: I am the original anonymous poster

[jellyfish_lace]

Define what situations? I don't know what you're referring to.

"That's a moral decision for the mother to make though. "
-Which is why I think law should have nothing to do with it, relationship or no. I think if I were knocked up (which probably can't happen, but hypothetically) I would do the "right thing" and tell the dude, or involve him somehow. Not on a legal paperwork level, but on a personal/conversational level. It's one of those things, I think, that should not be dealt with by the legislation. Relationships are complicated and confusing enough without throwing a bunch of stodgy old white dudes in the mix.

I thought parental notification was some crackpot way to discourage under-18ers from getting abortions. Sorry for my ignorance.

How's suspension going? You have the most illegitimate spring breaks of anyone I've ever known.

Re: I am the original anonymous poster

[anonymous]

I disagree... this is the best spring break ever.

One week off

A few days off (TC)
A week or so on
A week and a half off (sickness)
Two weeks on
A week and a half off

Then back for one week of class, one week of finals and may err... play term.