My Four Part Plan To Make Abortion Rights More Fair For Both Parents: And Why Abortion And Roe v. Wade Causes So Many Societal Problems

I wrote this as a newspaper op-ed (opion-editorial) around 17 years ago, on the 20 year anniversary of Roe v. Wade (1973), and I lost the original copy so I'm having to start from scratch here. Check back for any comments and updates to this article as I'm sure I'll have other recollections in the coming days that I will have to add to this blog.

Some of the Societal Problems (SP) related to Roe v. Wade and the unfettered on-demand abortion rights granted by Roe v. Wade... and my four part Plan (P), to make abortion more *fair* for both parents, are as follows:

SP1. Increase in promiscuity because the chance of getting pregnant and having to have a baby kept many teen girls and boys from being promiscuous and having sex without the worry of getting pregnant. Nowadays, a girl can have sex with every Tom, Dick (pardon the pun) and Harry and if any birth control was used and failed, she can just get an abortion.

SP2. Ability to walk away from responsibility by both the mother and father of the unborn baby. Prior to Roe v. Wade, if a young unmarried couple found themselves pregnant, there was a high likelihood of a "shotgun wedding" where the young man and woman were forced to get married by their parents so their child would not be an illegitimate bastard child. Nowadays, either parent can choose to get an abortion and walk away from their responsibility. Other government and liberal societal standards makes it "OK" to have an illegitimate child. (See below for more clarity about "either parent can... walk away")

SP3. Loss of "Value Of Life" since the following generation of young people and adults could kill an unborn baby at will, it further desensitized these same people to the value of life since over ONE MILLION unborn babies were legally killed due to Roe v. Wade. There are other things that also desensitized this generation but things like movies, music and video games were all about *fake* deaths, whereas Roe v. Wade was about being able to legally kill a real life... OR A MILLION... without the fear of punishment.

SP4. Illigitimate Birth Rate has climbed dramatically since Roe v. Wade... which has led to a dramatic increase in crime from the children of single parent homes. 7% Illigetimate Birth Rate in the 1960's to over 40% today (and over 70% in the African American community).

I'm sure I'll add more Societal Problems as they come up but I think you get the point of the problems caused by legal and unfettered abortion.  See my General References below and especially this article, http://www.heritage.org/Research/Commentary/2010/05/Unwed-Birth-Rate-Signals-the-Collapse-of-Marriage for other Socital Problems.

AND... now my four part Plan (P) to help curb the numbers of abortions on demand while still keeping it legal, since the Supreme Court says it is... but also to try and make things more fair for all parties:

P1. If both the mother and the father are unmarried and want to have an abortion, then both have to sign legal documents and then they can get their abortion. Same for married couples. Some thoughts are that these folks should have to attend a counseling session and/or safe-sex class to try and disaude them from having an unwanted pregnancy again. If both the mother and father are minors, then the parents or legal guardians of the minor children have to sign the legal documents on behalf of the minor children and both the children and their parents/guardians have to attend the counseling session and/or safe-sex class.

P2. If both the unmarried mother and the father want to keep the child, then both have to sign legal documents whereas they both agree to jointly pay the costs of having and raising the baby. This is pretty much already handled by law and case law for married couples. Unmarried couples will have to attend counseling and/or safe-sex and or parenting classes. If both the unmarried mother and father are minors, then the parents or legal guardians of the minor children have to sign the legal documents on behalf of their children and attend all of the classes... or they can strongly suggest that their minor children get emancipated and married... without the need for a shotgun, hopefully! ;-)

Now things get a little sticky but these next two would make things more fair for the mother and father... and most importantly, the unborn child.

P3. If the mother wants to have an abortion and the father wants to keep the child, the mother and father would have to sign legal documents stating their wishes and the mother would have the baby and sign it over to the father. This would relieve the mother from any right to visitation or support of her unwanted baby and the father would be accepting full responsibility for the baby and the cost of supporting the baby. If the mother and father are minors, then the parents/guardians would sign all legal documents on their behalf and agree to the visitation and support restrictions. Counseling and safe-sex classes for all parties involved. Parenting classes for the new parent and his/her parents/guardians.

P4. If the father wants to have an abortion and the mother wants to keep the child, the mother and father would have to sign legal documents stating their wishes and the father would sign over all of his parental rights to the baby, have to pay a proportionate amount of the cost of the pregnancy and delivery of the baby and then would no longer be financially responsible for the baby and lose all of his rights to the child. The mother would agree to pay her proportionate cost of the pregnancy and delivery of the baby then would accept full parental rights and financial responsibility for the baby. If the mother and father are minors, then the parents/guardians would sign all legal documents on their behalf and agree to the visitation and support restrictions. Counseling and safe-sex for all parties involved. Parenting classes for the new parent and his/her parents/guardians.

Some of the discussions and debates that I had after I wrote the above op-ed were as follows:

Someone asked, "What If either parent did not want to voluntarily sign the legal documents?" Family or juvenile court remedies would be available and then a Judge would order things be done or just issue a Judgment.

Someone asked, "Why shouldn't things just stay the way they are?" Well, I listed four SP's above but I think the main reason that so many fathers have chosen to walk away from the pregnant wives/girlfriends is that many of them "told the girl to get an abortion" and when she chose not to get the abortion, they felt that she then took full responsibility for the child and he could now walk away. In talking to young men about this, I've had many tell me this in so many words. They also feel that the laws are unfair to the father since it gives all of the rights and choices to the mother and then the father just has to accept her decision. If she chooses to abort, the father has no say-so. If she chooses to give the baby up for adoption, he has no say-so. If she chooses to have the baby and keep it, he has no say-so, but then he is legally responsible for supporting the child for the next 18+ years and can go to jail if he doesn't. (This is what I was talking about when I said "either parent can... walk away"... many young men walk way since they have no say-so in the matter anyhow!)

My above plan gives all concerned parties some rights and choices instead of it just being a choice made by a girl/woman without regard for how her choice might affect everyone else concerned... including the soon to be grand-parents.

Well.. I'm sure I'll think of more after I publish this and I'll come back and edit this blog and add other points as I remember them.

Lenny Vasbinder

General References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe_v._Wade
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legalized_abortion_and_crime_effect
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Commentary/2010/05/Unwed-Birth-Rate-Signals-the-Collapse-of-Marriage
http://blog.heritage.org/?p=4039
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/05/08/the-spiritual-quest-of-mother%E2%80%99s-day/

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