Should the government force guys to pay for children they didn't want?

Question

Since women have the ability to have an abortion, put the baby up for adoption etc., should men be able to decline paternity? Currently a man can be forced to pay child support etc, based solely on the mother's decision to keep or not to keep the baby, is this a fair law? It seems to protect mothers at the expense of men.

Ok, enough "keep it in your pants" answers that's the stupidest answer you can make. Under the 14th amendment we are guaranteed equal protection under the law, so the law has to afford the same rights to both men and women. It takes two to make the baby, so why does our laws only take the wishes of one of the parents? Why can't we get equal physical custody of the child? Why does the law see men only as walking ATM machines when it comes to childraising?

Answer 1

NO IT'S NOT FAIR. I think men and women should have equal rights, regardless of what that entails. If women don't want men to have a choice then they need to give up their rights to abortion and adoption without the father's consent. If unwilling to give those up then yes, we should absolutely give men the right to walk away from unwanted children. Women walk away from their responsibilities everyday!!! Women give up their children for adoption without telling the father so that they don't have to pay child support. What is the difference? Oh yeah, the government won't be able to support as many worthless welfare mom's if they stop collecting child support for bastard children. The world just needs more men to stand up for their rights and stop letting women walk all over them.

Answer 2

If you think you're old enough and "responsible" enough to engage in sexual activity, then you should be old enough and "responsible" enough to deal with the consequences of said activity. If you can't be bothered to at least take proper precautions (though that marriage is the best option is well-documented) before engaging in a potentially reproductive activity, then you really shouldn't be having sex in the first place.

It takes two people to make a child, and that child belongs to the father just as much as it belongs to the mother. The fact that the woman is the one who happened to give birth to the baby doesn't make the baby any less a product of the man involved. (The mother herself didn't have much choice in being born female, did she?) I think men need to be responsible for the choices that they make just as much as women do.

Consider the alternative to the laws with which you seem to have an issue. Perhaps the woman is not comfortable with the idea of killing the child inside of her, nor does she feel capable of dealing with the emotional strain of putting the child up for adoption. If the male involved is alleviated of all responsibility, then this single mother's life proceeds to resolve entirely around the baby. She has to work to feed them both, but there's no one to take care of the baby while she's working. Thus she has to find a job that will allow her to bring the baby with her, and I'm sure there aren't very many of those. If she can't find one, then she has to find someone to take care of her child during the day, and this can put a strain on her relationships with the people she has to rely on to take care of the child.

It is well-documented that the best way a baby can be brought into the world is with a father and a mother who are both concerned with the family's welfare. Anything less is a disservice to the child, and often results in deleterious circumstances that inhibit proper mental, physical, emotional, and social development.

The father needs to be responsible for his child.

Answer 3

I have 3 brothers, and they all remember it takes 2 to make a baby. I am sorry to say: keep a condom with you, and don't do it bareback. Hey, and as a woman, I will honestly admit that it is the woman's fault too.

As for the government enforcement of child support, I have to agree. Child support is for the child. That child is an innocent pawn from poor decision making on both parties. We cannot necessarily blame the man. As for questioning paternity, men should get the necessary tests to establish true paternity. It pisses me off to see paternity tests on TV and a poor man who believes it is his child discover it is not. Women who play emotional games like this should be responsible too.

Answer 4

Men make their decision when they choose to use protection or not. If we cannot accept the potential consequences of our actions, we should rethink the action. If we do not want to have the responsibility of paying for a child we did not want to have, then we should have been more careful when performing the act that conceived the child.

As far as the court's role, they have only 1 job, to look after the welfare of the child. Court orderd child support is not to pucish you in favor of the mother, it is to help the child's caretaker provide for the well-being of the child.

If you have a child, regardless of your relationship with the mother, you should want to take care of the child, physically, emotionally, and financially.

Answer 5

Men also have a choice to use protection or, wait for it, not have sex. It's a two way street. The decision is also, NOT, based on the mother deciding to have a child.The law is to make sure children are supported for food, clothing, shelter, basic needs. Not to protect the mother.

Answer 6

Yes, if only because it's in the best interests of the child to have financial support from the parents, rather than to be a tax burden. The child should not be made to suffer or starve for what the parents did--or didn't--do.

Answer 7

Yes it is fair. Men will have the pleasure, but when the oops comes, they want nothing to do with it.

The government is teaching the irresponsible men to be responsible by making them pay for the consequences. Men will not pay child support if they man up to the situation, the only ones paying for child support are the irresponsible ones.

Answer 8

I believe abortion should not be allowed. And I believe a man should take care of his child.

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However, if it is, it is hypocritical to say that a man created a baby, if he just deposited cells into a woman. According to the 'law' a woman has the choice to take those cells out of her body, or to let her own body make a baby out of them. The man has no choice in the matter, nor does he take part in the development of a baby (according to law).

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edit, if any of the people answering here consider themselves 'prochoice', then they are hypocrites for their answer.

Answer 9

I think abortion is wrong to be honest with you and if a mother gets pregnant she should take care of her responsibilities along with the father. No one thinks about the child in these situations just themselves... Babies arent asked to be born so why should they be the ones to suffer or have their lives ended before they have a chance.

Answer 10

Are you kidding me???

The government doesn't force men to have sex with women. So you DO have the option of declining paternity. If you can't live with the risk of getting a girl pregnant, then just go take care of yourself in the bathroom.