Thank You, Jeff Jacoby
Jeff Jacoby weighs in on the argument over whether men should be able to relinquish responsibility for an unwanted baby, discussed on this site earlier this week here.
He writes:
REAL MEN - good men - take responsibility for the children they father. If they get a woman pregnant, they do the right thing: They stand by her. They support their child. They don't try to weasel out of a situation they co-authored. They shoulder the obligations of fatherhood, even if they hadn't planned on becoming a father.
How sad is it that someone actually has to inform everyone of this fact?
He concludes with a bang:
[P]redatory males have done enormous damage to American society, and the last thing our culture needs is one more way for men to escape accountability for the children they father. [The plaintiff in the men's rights case] wants more than the freedom to be sexually reckless - he wants that freedom to be constitutionally guaranteed. Truly he is a child of his time, passionate on the subject of rights and eager to duck responsibility.
Read the whole thing.
He writes:
REAL MEN - good men - take responsibility for the children they father. If they get a woman pregnant, they do the right thing: They stand by her. They support their child. They don't try to weasel out of a situation they co-authored. They shoulder the obligations of fatherhood, even if they hadn't planned on becoming a father.
How sad is it that someone actually has to inform everyone of this fact?
He concludes with a bang:
[P]redatory males have done enormous damage to American society, and the last thing our culture needs is one more way for men to escape accountability for the children they father. [The plaintiff in the men's rights case] wants more than the freedom to be sexually reckless - he wants that freedom to be constitutionally guaranteed. Truly he is a child of his time, passionate on the subject of rights and eager to duck responsibility.
Read the whole thing.
posted by LadybugUSA at 7:47 AM
2 Comments:
I have the same internal conflict as does amber. It's hard to disagree with Jacoby, particularly since he speaks absolute truth as far as responsibility goes. After all, why is it such a surprise to find that the activity designed for procreation should produce, good heavens!, a child? (One lefty I know refers to this attitude as "pregnancy as punishment". sigh)
But amber points out a glaring disparity that is the other side of the coin. Since procreation is a joint effort, there should be more of an equal say as to the interests of the child.
I think the lawsuit does the nation a favor: It forces a conversation about, and possibly throws into the air, rights of parents to dictate the fate of children.
The current situation is not fair: All the power follows the woman; none follows the man. The pro-life position, very solidly, is "neither": abortion should be illegal *and* the man shouldn't be able to weasel out.
To say that the pro-choice side is "both" is oversimplified. Many in the pro-choice movement are feminists, completely hostile to the premise that the man should have any rights, all the while conferring absolute privilege to the mother.
I would love to see Gloria Allred on TV, explaining why all the privilege should follow her, and none him.
So many thanks to this suit for forcing the conversation.
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