by Elizabeth A. Marion

Created on: September 10, 2009   Last Updated: September 11, 2009

People try to make this issue about a lot of different things: feminism, God, human rights. To me it's about one thing: the child. I do believe life begins shortly after conception, but I won't get into all that. That's almost a separate debate. What I don't understand is how people can say that the father shouldn't have a say at all. If a man gets a woman pregnant and takes off, he's bad. If a man doesn't spend enough time with a child he didn't really want, he's bad. If a man wants a child that he helped create, he's still a bad, bad man.

This is the feminist ideology: the man is always to blame. The man is always the problem. Blaming the man all the time just makes these feminist groups look bad. It shows the rest of the world that they don't really want equality. They want superiority. And it doesn't just hurt men. Women who want to stay home and do housework and look after the kids are looked down on, even if it's their choice, which is ironic because the whole feminist movement was about women being able to make decisions for themselves.

When people discuss the issue of abortion, those who are pro-choice say that a woman should have the right to make decisions regarding her own body. The problem is it isn't really about her body. It's about the other human life inside of her body. That human life was not created by a woman. It was created by a man and a woman.

If it's good for a man to help support a child he didn't expect or want, why is it bad for a man to have a say in whether a life he helped create is terminated? He's expected to take responsibility for a child that is born. Why should he not be expected or even allowed to take responsibility for a child that is not yet born that is his? A child is created by two parents, not just the woman. I do believe both should be equally responsible in caring for the child and looking after its well-being.

I don't believe those responsibilities begin right after the child is born. I believe that responsibility begins when the child is created. Both parents created it, both parents should make decisions for it. People keep trying to make this issue about the woman's body and it really isn't about that. It's about the rights of the child that is inside the woman and the responsibilities both parents have to the child.

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