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I think you misread me if you state:

“Does anyone here really consider having an abortion to be “taking responsibility”?

I consider all parties responsible for a resultant pregnancy…which includes the man who should have used protection if they had not previously discussed conceiving a child, and the woman who should be taking precautions as well.

That the woman then decides to have an abortion is a decision that no one can then control…but you can control what you do beforehand – if you have sex, if you use protection, if you decide to date or sleep with someone who believes in abortion, etc…

I am advocating responsibility…if everyone took it, abortion would be a lot more rare. No one can control rape, or if a “wanted” pregnancy is threatening the life of the mother….but we can control the vast majority of circumstances that lead to the abortion.

Men, if you don’t want women to even have the possibility of aborting your child – wear protection, or don’t date/marry that woman who believes in it.

Men and women both have equal access to birth control, and equal opportunity to abstain from sex — those are the responsible choices.

Having an abortion is avoiding responsiblity, not taking it.

Truth is, as much as many might not like the decisions that their spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend make under the law….(substance abuse, abortion, etc..)…they still have the right to make it.

If your partner drinks too much, it can wreck your marriage/relationship…and ultimately lead to their own death. But you know what? they have a right to make that decision – but you don’t have to be with someone who participates in that behavior. You can only control yourself.

If you want to prevent your partner from having an abortion you have many options…a few? Wear protection. Discuss your views on abortion before having sex. Only date people who share your perspective on this issue.

Geez folks, take personal responsibility, and allow others theirs.

I agree that they both should have to support the kid financially and both, if they are fit, should get some visitation.

What if the father doesn’t want the baby, and wants to give it up for adoption, but the mother wants to keep it? Should the father still have to pay child support?

Thanks for sharing that – I believe more women think that way than not – it is one of the loneliest feelings one can have, whether someone is sitting with you or you are physically by yourself – sometimes, like other things in life, one has to experience the consequences of a decision or the angst that goes into the thought process to realize it fully and completely. Anyone can make comments, and they do, but they can never fully realize the impact of this process or this decision unless they were directly involved. While some men do not support a woman in her desire to carry the child to term, and profess no emotional upset of losing his or a child this way, I also feel many men think differently and that is starting to surface as it has in this article.

After they parted, she spilled her anger in a letter: “That long day we sat in that God-forsaken clinic, I hoped every moment that you would stand up and say, ‘We can’t do this’. . . but you didn’t.”

Yet Tim and Eddy want the process to be “emotionally unbiased”… as if we were talking about an apendectomy.

I agree. I dream of a handout that contains the statement I mentioned rather than a spoken statement. Maybe we could add a paragraph that says, “we’d like to know if you feel that your practicioner attempted to persuade your decision in any way, if you feel that they did, please contact….”