Should women need permission from their partners for abortion?

Should women need permission from their partners for abortion?

Courts all over the world have all maintained that abortion rights are reserved for women only. Their partners can have no say in it. The women can decide to terminate the pregnancy at any stage. It has been upheld as the fundamental right of a woman. There have been instances where men protested for their paternity right of unborn children but to no effect. US have been in the list of these countries too.

Recently Oklahoma has seen a bill proposal according to which women will need the consent of her partner before going for the medical termination of pregnancy. While some people support it as father’s right, the others are calling it derogatory to women. According to the bill, a doctor should carry out abortion only if the woman has a written consent of the partner.

No

1. Trump ruling

If this marks the beginning of Trump’s ruling on the anti-abortion law that he promised, it is not a good sign for women rights. He did at one point say that he would appoint an anti-abortion judge to the Supreme Court who would make abortion a punishable crime. If Oklahoma is beginning in this direction, let us remember there were many more derogative things he said about women.

2. It is her body

It is she who will have to go though the tough times of pregnancy. It is she who will bear the excruciating pain of birthing a child. And in some cases, it is she who will have to raise the child all on her own. If she feels she isn’t physically or emotionally ready to have a child, there should be no forcing her to go through with it just because the father of the foetus wants a baby.

3. Contraceptives fail

The bills, that propose that women should be responsible with their body, take precautions to avoid pregnancy if they do not want it or later live the consequences of her irresponsibility, are totally ignoring the scientifically proven fact that contraceptives are infallible. All means of contraception have at least a one per cent chance of the women getting pregnant.

4. Motherhood cannot be forced

It comes naturally when a woman is ready! Law shouldn’t interfere with what a woman wants for herself. They cannot decide whether or not a woman should give birth to a child. It can be mentally tormenting to force a woman to quit her education and career to have a child and raise it. She couldn’t be financially ready for the responsibility too.

5. Calling her a host

The Oklahoma State Legislator says that the woman’s body is not her own but rather a host. She cannot decide if she wants to kill the living thing in her womb or let it be. We can see where the legislator is going with this. The Trump’s promise is what must have lured the sexists to try a hand at the chance of becoming a SC judge. It is worth noting that at least 11 anti-abortion bills have been introduced in Oklahoma recently, including one that classifies the procedure as first-degree murder

Yes

1. Let him have the child

It is understandable that the woman might not be willing to take the responsibility of raising a child due to career or financial issues. But if the father of the child is willing to do all of it, why deny him? Why deny a child the right to be born and live when the father of the child wants to take complete responsibility? If there is written consent that the father would take custody of the child, he should be given the right to prevent abortion.

2. Equal rights

Denying rights to the biological father is a violation of parental right. Feminism shouldn’t be about male bashing. If the father volunteers to take complete responsibility of the child, he should by all means be allowed to have the child.

While all moral teachings could be brought for debate, a woman shouldn’t need consent from the father of the child if she doesn’t want to go ahead with the pregnancy. It is her body and not some host which is obliged to behave according to some rules.