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father say could even potentially put the woman in danger. Sadly, 1 in 5 women are victims of domestic violence, and if a woman is raped or abused, allowing the father the right to impede her from terminating her pregnancy could force her to carry on a relationship with a man who injured or violated her, if he in fact is the father. The law must protect pregnant women who are victims of violence from being victimized twice.

Pro-choice activists furthermore argue that a woman's body is autonomous to her, and the law and society cannot compel her to raise a child that she is too incapacitated or unable to raise. Allowing a man say in whether or not a woman aborts allows a man to use a woman to bear and raise a child she does not want or cannot raise. In the other extreme, giving him say might force a woman to involuntarily dispose a fetus that is mostly made of her own bodily tissue. If a man successfully challenges a woman's right to abort and forces her to have a child, it can be psychologically, financially and emotionally damaging to her. If a father exercises his right to compel her to abort, it can be equally emotionally and morally damaging, especially if she is pro-life. If she has the child against her will, such a situation creates tension and animosity between the parents and adversely affects the mother's parenting skills, as she might grow to resent, rather than love, the child she was forced to have. It could also lead to emotional issues such as child abuse, substance dependency or suicide, if she cannot cope with the burden that the father imposed on her.

The right to refuse medical procedures is guaranteed to all, so why should a man's will force a woman to undergo childbirth, which is probably the most painful medical procedure in existence? Likewise, if a woman can legally refuse a blood transfusion, a man's wish should not legally force her to undergo an abortion. In many parts of the world and even in North America, childbirth is still dangerous and life threatening, and it is cruel to force a woman to go through the pain of childbirth and the physical, emotional, financial and lifestyle consequences of pregnancy and parenting, simply because the father wished to have the child.

Learn more about this author, Paola Fanutti.
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