Do Men Need More Rights on 'Forced Fatherhood'?

With Father's Day near comes a debate about "forced fatherhood." The phrase refers to guys who get turned into fathers against their will through unplanned pregnancies, explains Laurie Shrage in the New York Times. Men in this situation "have few choices," she writes. It's ultimately the woman's call on whether to have the baby, but her decision could saddle the man with years of child support even though he had no intention of becoming a dad. It's time we gave men more "reproductive autonomy" by providing them with more options, writes Shrage. For example, maybe he contributes only to the medical expenses related to the pregnancy and birth, and the couple goes their separate ways.

At Jezebel, blogger Meher Ahmad isn't having it. Is this kind of situation unfair to the guys? Yep, and they're just going to have to suck it up. "At the end of the day, the only thing the government, and society, requires fathers to do is pay money, which is a hell of a lot easier than raising a child alone, as most mothers who have children out of wedlock are forced to do," she writes. "Yeah, it's unfair for them, but it's not nearly as unfair as forced motherhood." Click for her full column. Or for Shrage's full column. (More fatherhood stories.)