So you’re pro-choice. You believe a woman should have the right to decide what happens to her body – and that includes aborting a pregnancy if she’s not ready to raise a child.
But what about a man’s “right to choose”?
That’s the focus of one political group in Sweden, which is claiming men should have a right to “abort” all future legal responsibilities for their unborn child. In other words, they’re seeking male abortion rights.
(Go ahead: take a second to roll your eyes.)
The youth wing of Sweden’s centrist Liberal Party has proposed granting men the right to “legally abort” their unborn child in the first 18 weeks of pregnancy. Under the proposal, a prospective father would be able to opt out of any future child support he may otherwise be required to contribute. He would also lose all rights to see the child.
“Men should have an equal right to opt out of parenting and choose whether or not to become a parent,” Marcus Nilsen, chairman of the party’s youth wing West (LUF) told the Swedish Aftonbladet newspaper.
“It is important that men are honest with their intentions,” he added. “With this proposal, there is a clear legal decision.”
Nilsen also claimed women within the party had originally brought forward the idea.
The proposal was quickly welcomed by men’s rights groups and some libertarian bodies.
“Ultimately, forced fatherhood has no place in a free society,” Avens O’Brien wrote for The Libertarian Republic.
“As a feminist, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the gender role expectations in this whole thing. If we’re going to stop assuming women are the nurturers, we may want to consider the idea that men aren’t necessarily the providers.”
Johanna Franden, an international sports correspondent for Aftonbladet, also supported the idea. “I think this is actually quite reasonable,” she wrote in Swedish on Twitter.
A Voice For Men has also welcomed the proposal, arguing that (get your best groan ready; this is a shocker) men’s ability to opt out of parenthood is a human right issue, since having an unplanned child can subject a man to “forced slavery” – i.e. work – to pay child support.
“Men forced into paternity are held financially liable for eighteen years, a grave impact on their choice of work, financial status and available resources,” Alice Smith wrote for A Voice for Men.
Unsurprisingly, LUF’s proposal was met with heavy criticism.
“Don’t want to pay child support? Wrap it up,” weighed in one AskMen.com reader.
“What happens if he says ‘yes dear, I love you and will support you and the baby’ and then he changes his mind so forcing her to either have an abortion (which is not a nice thing at all) or bring up the child alone?” one Redditor commented.
Even the main arm of Sweden’s Liberal Party has announced it will not be campaigning in support of the proposal. “We think that the current legislation is good as it is,” press officer Eric Aronsson told the website Nyheter24.
LUF – which has previously sought to legalize incest between two consenting siblings, as well as necrophilia in some situations – has since declared it won’t be pushing the idea any further.
“It’s something we thought was worthy of debate, but the reactions have been overwhelmingly conservative, with a lot of people viewing it as an attack on the nuclear family,” Nilsen told the Local.
“We have other issues we’re prioritising, such as housing and employment.”
Should men have equal rights to decide whether to become a parent? Let us know in the comments section below.
Top Comments
I know several men in jail bacause they CAN'T pay allimony. ( I know, you don't give a crap about them).
Pretty sure we don't need a law for this - they just do it anyway.