Pro-life activists say that improving fathers’ involvement and support during pregnancy will empower mothers to save their children’s lives by preventing abortions.


reviewed study published in the Cure- us medical journal in January 2023. Pro-life activists say that improving


fathers’ involvement and support dur- ing pregnancy will empower mothers to save their children’s lives by pre- venting abortions. Interestingly, men (47%) are more


likely overall than women (33%) to describe themselves as pro-life, according to May 2022 Gallup poll. Just 48% of men describe them-


selves as pro-choice, compared to 61% of women. Current case law and policy do not


ensure the rights and responsibilities of fathers are asserted and protected while their female partners face preg- nancy, according to pro-life activists. Sometimes this leaves fathers


unable to prevent their child from being aborted or mothers without the financial and emotional support dur- ing and after pregnancy, according to Support After Abortion, a Flori- da-based nonprofit that conducted a nationwide poll among fathers affect- ed by abortion. “Many don’t know who to turn


to or who they can trust. The fear of being judged, condemned, and reject- ed is real. There is help available and we want to make sure anyone who wants help can find it,” the survey concluded. The poll found that 71% of men


agreed there has “been an adverse change in yourself since you experi- enced the loss.” Among all men in the study who


had fathered an aborted child, 34.3% said the decision to abort was made by both parents, while 49.3% said the decision was “hers.” When asked “Did you have a voice/


choice in the decision,” 50.7% of men said “yes,” while 44.8 % said “no,”


and 4.5% said “some.” “I wanted the child, my girlfriend


didn’t,” one respondent told research- ers. “I told her it would be the end of our relationship, if she went through with it. “I ended the relationship shortly


after. I was devastated. She called me years later to tell me she was sorry and had bad dreams and regrets often, and wished she wouldn’t have done it.”


FATHERS’ RIGHTS In 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Planned Parenthood v. Dan- forth that there is no constitutional right for a father to prevent a preg- nant mother from obtaining an abor- tion, with the legal reasoning that a mother is more directly affected by pregnancy. Legal scholars report that U.S.


courts have largely treated fathers’ rights in abortion decisions as sec- ondary to those of the mother. Other means exist for fathers to influence the decision, namely, through private agreements. Typically, in these private agree-


ments, the father obtains a legal agreement to pay full pregnancy costs and obtain full, permanent custody of the child. In 1992, the Supreme Court ruled


in Planned Parenthood v. Casey it is unconstitutional to force a mother to notify a father of pregnancy. However, in light of the Supreme


Court’s historic 2022 Dobbs v. Jack- son Women’s Health Organization rul- ing finding no constitutional right to abortion, these precedents depri- oritizing fathers’ rights to protect an unborn child could be revisited. Additionally, policymakers could


weigh measures to protect the rights of upstanding fathers, including


Fathers’ Responsibilities


T


he Guttmacher Institute found 73% of abortive mothers said


they could not financially support a child at the time of their abortion. Current federal law does not mandate paternal child support for unborn children. The 2022 Unborn Child Support


Act gives pregnant mothers the ability to receive child support payments from fathers. It allows a court, in consultation with mothers, to award child support payments for unborn children — retroactively to conception as determined by a physician. It requires judges to block


paternity tests if a child could be endangered. The U.S. Census Bureau reported


in 2020 that 69.8% of custodial parents were due child support payments but 62.2% of that amount was received, averaging $3,431 per custodial parent for the year. Less than half (45.9%) of custodial


parents who were due child support received full payments. In order to ensure fathers


of unborn children are held responsible, activists for children’s rights say policymakers and judicial systems must do more to enforce current child support programs. Pro-life supporters say this will help ensure fewer abortions, as mothers receive the financial support they need to deliver their babies. — C.S.


mandatory pregnancy or pre-abortive paternal notifications and policies to support negotiated agreements empowering worthy fathers to pre- vent abortion and assume full cus- tody of their unborn child.


MAY 2023 | NEWSMAX 27


ZIMMYTWS/SHUTTERSTOCK


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