A highly offensive post on reproductive freedom

I have little desire to argue over the morality of abortion, or the legality of laws allowing, preventing or allowing it. Nor do I wish to discuss the viability of a fetus at various stages of pregnancy, or to argue whether a developing fetus has the same rights to protection as a person would. Those, in my view are arguments that may be impossible to resolve in public discourse within a pluralistic society.

Rather, I would like to talk briefly about fatherhood.

I have, several times recently, encountered persons both male and female who attempted to advance the argument that a representative governing body consisting primarily of males has no business discussing abortion. This is an absurd contention, reflecting a lack of serious thinking about the issue. It saddens me that we as a culture have devolved so much intellectually that such a position is taken seriously.

There are few reported cases of human pregnancy that did not involve sperm cells from a human male, and all of those are suspect on empirical grounds. It is safe, therefore, to say that no human pregnancy occurs without the involvement of a male human. The idea that being male precludes me from having an opinion on abortion is as offensive as the idea that the color of a person's skin, their religious affiliation, or their country of origin should determine the extent to which the law recognizes their full rights as humans.

I have this to say to any women who argues that there is no basis for men to have a say in the regulation of abortion:

Suppose you and I agree to have sexual intercourse, and that as a result of this act, you become pregnant.

If you decide to terminate the pregnancy, because you can chose to have an abortion without my knowledge or consent, I will not become a father. I have no choice.

If you decide not to terminate your pregnancy, and you carry the child to term, under the law, I have an obligation to support the child. I can be compelled to pay, under the threat of imprisonment. I have this obligation even if it was my wish that you terminate the pregnancy before the child was born. I have no choice.

The next time you describe yourself as "pro-choice", remember that you are in fact, favoring a position that takes a choice away from another adult person.

I believe that the federal government should have no role in the decision of whether a pregnancy is carried to term. But I will never be "pro-choice" as long as the choice is only available to one half of the contributors of genetic material to a potential human being.