Men have a right to abortion too

by Editorial Staff - 2016.05.10

Men should also have the right to abortion. This may sound like a joke but it's a bill being put forward and supported by the youth branch of the Swedish Liberal Party, led by Marcus Nilsen. They are convinced that gender equality should prevail even on this issue.



Their argument is simple but also seemingly brutal. To balance women's 'natural' power to choose to terminate a pregnancy, a law is needed that gives men the right, if they don't want to become a father, not to have to look after the child: no rights, no duties. This is an option that would exonerate men from any obligation. But there's more.



This kind of law would give couples equal responsibility and decision-making for an event that changes both of their lives but over which, until now, women have always had the last word. Men would not only be protected from pregnancies they don't want but also from pregnancies planned and carried by a partner (or ex-partner) for their own purposes, without the man knowing. Women, for their part, would know immediately if the man wants to recognise his paternity, giving the woman another element to decide, before it's too late, whether to abort or not. Not forgetting that in Sweden, abortion is allowed up to the 18th week, rather than the 12-week limit established by law in Italy.



And if the child, one day, should wonder about his father's identity? “It is a problem that already exists. There are single mothers who conceived through artificial insemination or who simply don't know who their child's father is,” countered Nilsen, convinced that this is the only way to open up a sincere and honest debate on the role of the father in the modern family.