His Wallet, His Choice

    

Enough with the introduction posts!  Time to ruffle feathers and start some fun.  So I figure the first major issue I would tackle was one which could not be more controversial, ABORTION!  Ok I hear the groans and see the eye rolls but bear with me and you might be surprised.

    So as it stands in America the choice to have an abortion is 100% the decision of the woman who is pregnant.  Most people have one of three opinions, 1. Pro-Abortion 2. Anti-abortion 3. Pro-choice.  The people who are pro-abortion feel as though it should be a constitutional right to have an abortion and us tax payers should pay for it.  The anti-abortionist think abortion is murder and want it banned completely.  The pro-choice crowd want the choice to be there but in most cases does not want it funded by tax dollars.  All sides makes good points and bad points.  The last point of contention is the fact it is 100% the woman's choice.  We hear the slogan repeated often, her body her choice.

    Pro-abortionist want it legalized and supported by government funding.  They believe the baby is a human from the moment of birth, not conception. The positives here are that for any reason the mother can choose to end the life of their child.  She also would not have to find a way to pay for it as tax dollars would provide the service.  They also would like businesses to pay for the abortions in the form of mandated health care by the govt.  While that all sounds very loving and compassionate there are problems with this stance as well.  First of all it allows a mother to end the life of her child for any reason at all, even her poor choices leading to the pregnancy.  The next problem is tax dollars paying for the service.  This is a problem because that tax money comes from supporters and non-supporters alike.  Thus making anti-abortion advocates pay for a service they oppose.  The last issue is forcing all businesses to include the service in their employee health care.  Even if the business is against abortion, such as Catholic or Christian run businesses.  As you can see the issue is contains a lot of grey area and leaves a lot of room for debate.

    The anti-abortionists want the whole process banned entirely.  To them the baby is an individual life from the moment the egg and sperm meet.  One of the big pushes in recent years is to make abortion a crime that could send the mother to prison.  The good things about this position are 1. It saves innocent lives. 2. Tax dollars are not used to support the service. But here the bad out weigh the good.  The bad in this case is preventing someone from making a choice which impacts them as much at their child.  It also sends a woman to prison for making what is considered the hardest decision in her life.  Taking away our personal freedoms is not something I support at all.  In this scenario there is no room for debate.  They claim abortion is murder and by definition it is, but once again there is a lot of grey area that is not taken into account.

    The last group is the pro-choice group.  On first glance this would be the best option.  It allows the freedom of choice, makes payment for service the responsibility of the woman or her employer, and gives a much broader brush for abuse of the service.  This group is divided on two main points 1. payment and 2. when it should be allowed.  The payment we have covered, it is split between govt or private funding.  The second point we haven't really touched on, reason for the abortion.  One side wants it to be her choice for any reason.  The other side wants it allowed only in the cases of rape, incest, or birth defect.  All of these points are very much up for debate and this category is where most Americans fall in.

    The last part of this debate comes in the form of the choice itself.  As of now the father of the child has absolutely no right to stop an abortion.  He gets to participate in the fun and if she wants to keep the baby he is required to pay child support for the child.  On the other hand if he wants to keep his child and she doesn't then he has to suffer the loss of a child and deal with the emotional damage done.  The father of the child having zero say in the decision made it where I have my biggest problem.  Every pregnancy is half the mother and half the father.  There is no reason his choice should not be considered or allowed.  Under current law the father is required to pay for the child for 18 years, even if he did not want the pregnancy to continue, that to me is unfair.  But the response to this is "He had a choice before they had sex and choose to not wear protection so he has to step up to his responsibility" this is true 100%.  But the other side is she also had the same choice and chose not to have protection either.

    My solution for this is, in my mind, a simple one.  I am ok with the choice being 100% the mothers.  If she chooses to abort, she pays for it.  Her body, her choice in this case.  If she chooses to keep it and the father wants it aborted then he pays no child support.  His wallet, his choice in this case.  This situation makes the decision the mothers completely.  But the choice must be made knowing if the father does not want the child they will receive no support.  The father in this case would be offered emotional counseling for the loss he suffered, at his cost.  I think this solution is fair to all parties involved.  I would personally not choose to ever abort my child but I also think it isn't my place to force a woman to carry a child that is not mine if she does not want it.

    Please let me know your thoughts and I look forward to all of our future debates!