Mother can keep birth a secret

[MamaMaiasaura]

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7109774.stm what do you think about this?

i am utterly gobsmacked that there are people who actually believe a woman should be forced to carry a child she doesn't want.

i am a human being, not an incubator!

the whole entire post implies that women who chose to have sex deserve to be punished for their sinfulness.

i'm astonished.

Control we'll just have to agree to disagree on that. I think you are wrong and you think I'm wrong I get it.

Elizabeth you are so wrong about that. I do think that men have responsibilties and most definatly should live up to them. Of course I do. Men should have to also consider whether they are ready to be a parent every time they have sex. Just like a woman.

"Women do have the right to their bodies"

Well, no they don't, if men have the right to control those bodies.

Can you not see that the idea of women having the right to their bodies, is directly contradictory to men controlling their bodies Paula?

Why don't you just accept that you don't believe women should have full control over their bodies? Then at least your position would be consistent. Wrong imo, but consistent.

I don't think Paula thinks only women have responsibility, nor has been condemnatory of women for being sexually active whilst saying nothing about men. I have read her comments about responsibility as applying to men and women alike.

Can't believe you're saying you're not a misogynist in one breath Paula and then in the next arguing that a woman should be forced to be used as a man's incubator.

That's what feminists fought against and are still fighting against, the idea that we're owned by men and exist to serve their needs not our own.

"I don't think Paula thinks only women have responsibility, nor has been condemnatory of women for being sexually active whilst saying nothing about men."

You're right, she said that men shouldn't be required to financially support children they didn't want. It's not really strengthening her case is it?

I happen to think being a parent is a wonderful think and I don't see it as punishment and I have never suggested that people should be "punished for having sex. I don't think its sinful. Don't put words in mu mouth.

My point is that in todays "liberated society" why should it just be up to the man to call. I think the rule that men should do all the calling is ffrom the dark ages

but whilst agreeing about the concept of responsibility I don't for one second agree with ppb on the idea of men forcing women to carry babies. that makes me shudder. as someone said "enslavement" is the correct word to describe that. ppb - read the Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Attwood. a truly horrible horrible vision premised on the idea of men having this control.

Thats not what I meant Elizabeth. What I said was that as long as women have the right to opt out of parenthood that men should have the same option. I actually think you know thats what I meant.

I've read it Thanks.

But you are posting completely opposite things PPB. How can men have the right to have an opt out on parenthood if at the same time they should only go to bed with women with whom they want to procreate?

I am now bewildered. Maybe it's because it's late.

I know that's what you meant. However it's a specious comparison. Women have the right to control our own bodies and fertility, thus women need access to safe abortion. On the other hand if men don't want to have to support children they need to keep their penises out of women's vaginas. If they don't they need to face up to their responsibilities (although many don't).

like i said before, what do you mean by suggesting she should have called him? she obviously didnt want any further contact with him....

I get that they seem at opposite ends of the spectrum. Let me be clear I think both parents should be responsible for a child.

All I am suggesting is that maybe it is unfair for a woman to be able to say "I'm not ready to be a parent" but a man is not. All of you are obviously very pro-choice -for a woman, not for a man an thats what I don't get. Why should only one sex have the choice?

err, for all the reasons that people have pointed out to you on this thread but which you have chosen to ignore.....

parp!

ppb - because only one sex gets to be pregnant.

because it is the woman's body and health that pregnancy and childbirth happen to, not the man's, paula.

that is the huge and inherent difference.

I think it's already been explained Paula.

Anyway I'm going to bed this is obviously pointless and will only keep me awake. Good night all.

if he was a work colleague, how could he not notice that she was pg? He's had more than a year to contcat her, if he were intertested in suporting their child or indeed, adopting him/her

Because only one sex gets pregnant Paula. Choosing to have an abortion and supporting a child once it's been born are two different things.

If men can get pregnant by women at some time in the future, I'll fully support their right to choose, and for the children they bear to be financially supported by their mothers.

I'm sorry I haven't heard a good reason yet. All I hear is you banging on about a woman's right. You believe a man shouldn't be able to force a woman to have a child, but then you turn around and say that its ok for a woman to force a man to be a father. I just don't understand that.

paula - he did have a choice - he chose to have sex with her then he chose to walk away, back to his long term relationship

Look I applaud her for going through with the pregnancy, I do. I just feel that the father has a right to know. Just because he worked with her doesn't mean he knew it was his.

women and men DONT have equal right in this situation because they dont have equal reponsibilities, the man can walk away and pretend it never happened - the woman cant

Paula you don't seem to be able to see the difference between having a child forced on a woman, which involves taking over her body, and a man becoming a father which isn't forced because he already chose to inseminate a woman.

Forcing a man to become a father would involve stealing his sperm.