Bryan Martin
2 min readJun 21, 2023

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Would you still support abortion rights if she had chosen to keep the child? Of course you would. I think it's misguided to shame men into supporting abortion because they benefited from another's choice. If we're supposed feel grateful how another person's decision benefits us, we should feel free to resent them if they make a decision that affects our lives negatively, no?

Maybe we can just recognize and accept that, post conception, the choice to have the child is out of our hands and we must be willing to accept whatever decision is made. I don't see any reason to feel grateful or resentful. If our partner makes a choice that aligns with our desires, we should simply feel lucky.

Men should support abortion rights because they believe women should have them, no other reason. Like you, I had a partner in my 20s chose to get an abortion. It was her choice, I had no say in the matter. Like you, I was happy with her decision. However, she did it out of self-interest. She didn't do it for my benefit. Had I wanted the child, she would have still had the abortion. I feel lucky that her decision aligned with my desires.

Men have very little control over reproduction. Birth control and abstinence is really all we have. Our choices with regards to birth control are either a condom (which is only 87% effective) or surgery that may or may not be reversible.

Men do not have the right to be notified if they are the father of the child. A woman can have the child or have an abortion without notifying the father. If she decides to keep the child, she can notify the father an any point during the first 18 years of their life and demand child support. She can also, unilaterally choose to put the child up for adoption without telling the father.

While, I agree, men should support the right of women to have an abortion, I believe men should focus on their own issues. Men need better choices and that's what we (as men) should focus on.

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