[Blackwatch]

My wife and I would "discuss" this point all the time while we were dating. I felt that Men had equal rights to the baby as women did. My wife felt that women had more of a say so due to the fact that women had to carry the baby and therefore it becomes an issue of what a woman wants to have done in her body (in other words "what I do wih my body is my business!!!") This is quite a complicated issue, because depends on how you percieve the baby inside the woman's body. I personnally believe that Women have the right to choose.....not to have sex if you do not want to carry a baby to full term!!!!! I understand that a pregnancy can be brutal on a woman's body, and women have the perogative to decide not to go through tha pain of childbirth, morning sickness, hormonal changes, weight gain, etc. that are associated with preganancy. This decision is made WHEN YOU DECIDE TO HAVE SEX!!!! Once you decide to have sex, then you are agreeing to accept the responsibilties that come with that decision... including the possibility of a baby, emotional and spiritual attachment, history and intimacy, etc. Sex is not casual, and when we decide to have sex, we should know that it is one of the most important decisions that we will ever make.

That woman has no right to deny that child of the possibilty of life and potentiality. If she does not want to be a part of the baby's life, then fine, but she has no right to decide that the baby cannot have life, only God rightly makes that decision. If the man wants the right to raise his child, then why deny him that right? The issue of a women's right to choose has diverted attention from the main issue in this case, the man's right to parent and the child's right to have life. The women's right to choose should end with what she does with her own body, not what she does to her child's body. Don't want to be pregnant or raise a child? Then don't have sex, period! That is a woman's (and a man's) right to choose.

To play devil's advocate, one could say that the man should have known that when he had sex with the woman that she would have wanted an abortion under whatever circumstance she wants the abortion. (My wife brings up this point). I concur that men should also know what possibilities are there after having sex. Since abortion is legal, this is a possibility. If the man wants to raise a child, make sure that the woman wants to carry a child to term and deliver a child. But the question still remains, what about the rights of the child to live and become whatever it can and will become? I know that people will talk about quality of life and the social ills that come from children not being raised in productive environments, but I still say that the answer to all of this is that if the adults do not want to deal with all of these issues, then DO NOT HAVE SEX!!! don't deny the right of a child to have a life.
Blackwatch!!!!!!