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March 08, 2006

It's about damn time!

The Oregonian is carrying an AP piece about a first-of-it's-kind court case seeking to grant prospective fathers the legal right to opt out of legal parenthood.

The National Center for Men has prepared a lawsuit — nicknamed Roe v. Wade for Men — to be filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Michigan on behalf of a 25-year-old computer programmer ordered to pay child support for his ex-girlfriend's daughter. The suit addresses the issue of male reproductive rights, contending that lack of such rights violates the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause.

The gist of the argument: If a pregnant woman can choose among abortion, adoption or raising a child, a man involved in an unintended pregnancy should have the choice of declining the financial responsibilities of fatherhood. The activists involved hope to spark discussion even if they lose.

"There's such a spectrum of choice that women have — it's her body, her pregnancy and she has the ultimate right to make decisions," said Mel Feit, director of the men's center. "I'm trying to find a way for a man also to have some say over decisions that affect his life profoundly." (emphasis supplied)

The plaintiff expects to lose the case.

"What I expect to hear (from the court) is that the way things are is not really fair, but that's the way it is," he said in a telephone interview. "Just to create awareness would be enough, to at least get a debate started."

I expect he will lose. And probably on the merits of his case. (the circumstances surrounding how I first became a father would have made a better case, IMO) But, it will be very interesting to see how "Pro-Choice" activists react. Are they truly dedicated to the concept of reproductive choice? Or do they only support "choice" for women while a man is relegated to the legal subhuman status of merely being a workhorse representing a convenient source of funds to pay for the child... should the women choose to have it?

Posted by Kevin at March 8, 2006 12:59 PM