The right to abandon your child (aka: Roe v. Wade for Men) - Part 2: Tide Turns In the Gender Wars

http://mensnewsdaily.com/2006/03/13/...e-gender-wars/

Tide Turns In the Gender Wars
March 13, 2006
Vox Populi
By Christine D. Korenthal

I disagree with my husband (SoCalPundit.com's Kevin Korenthal) rarely on
social issues, but this is one of those few cases where I do. I think that
this case is a good thing and I hope it sparks some change in this country.

For far too long, women have had the upper hand in making all decisions
regarding childbearing and childrearing. A woman can lie about being on
birth control or, as in this case, about her ability to have children. She
can tell the guy that he is on the hook when she becomes pregnant (either by
deliberately misleading the guy or an honest oopsie) and then attempt to use
their child as a ball and chain, a bargaining chip, or a cash cow. She can
use the guy's emotional attachment to the child in order to get back at him
by refusing to allow him to be as involved as he would like. And the coup de
grace is that the less the guy sees the kid, the more money the woman gets
in child support. This ensures that the child will see less of Daddy so that
Momma can rake in the dough, while laughing at Daddy's emotional anguish.
She has ALL of the power and he is at her mercy. Sound eerily familiar and
one sided to anyone? I have seen this done many times and it makes me ill.

Women can abort whether their partner supports it or not. They can have
their child whether the partner supports it or not. The guy just has to
stand by helplessly and wait for the "verdict". That is wrong. It takes two
people to make a child and two people should make the decision to have it or
not. Women also have the option of giving the baby up for adoption. If the
father objects, he can take custody of the child but the likelyhood of
receiving an order for child support from the mom is just about zip. He is
pretty much on his own. If she can have the kid and "opt out" via giving up
her rights and financial obligations post-birth, why can't a guy do the same
pre-birth, say, within 30 days of notification? Women can get off scott
free, but not men. Sounds sexist to me.

If men and women are to be truly equal, as the feminists have screamed about
for years, the same equality should apply to all aspects of life including
procreation and childrearing. Completely equal means taking the good with
the bad. Women go to college at higher rates than men in many states. Women
work the same jobs as men and the "pay gap" is hardly notable and still
shrinking. They want men to do half of the domestic tasks which, if they
both work full time, is fair enough. If they have a child that is planned,
they want the man to do half of the baby care and childrearing when junior
comes into the world. But if an unplanned pregnancy occurs, even in a
marriage, forget it buster. It is all her decision. If she has the child and
the relationship ends, fork over the dough and pick up junior every third
Thursday of the month for a couple of hours. If you want the kid and she
doesn't, she can have it aborted and you can't say or do a thing to stop
her, even if you are willing to take full custody and full responsibility
for the child.

I have seen friends, good men, get swindled into fatherhood by women who
later used their children to hurt them. I have seen courts give custody to
women even in cases where the father was clearly the more involved parent,
simply because the woman was a woman. I have even seen one guy through the
devastation of his girlfriend's abortion without his consent. A child that
he wanted. I have seen what guys go through because women have the upper
hand when it comes to children. Forty years ago, when most women stayed at
home with the kids while men worked, when sex still meant something, when
women had few methods of birth control, when "hooking up" was unheard of,
our current laws might have made sense, but women have made "progress" and
become equal. No, we passed equal. Now we get more protection under the law
and more options on the table. I know, I know, women get the short end from
guys sometimes, too, but I haven't seen that nearly so often as I have seen
men get smacked down by bitter exes using babies to do their bidding. It's
about time for men to get a leg up.