Donald H said:
I hear you. My opinion is that the man who got his girlfriend pregnant should have no say in the matter. He's already guilty of making one bad decision.
and
QV said:
In the words of Dave Chappelle: "My wallet, my choice."
Should one person's decision be able to affect so many others in such a profound way? For example, in an unplanned pregnancy (a casual sex situation) where the mother wants to keep but the father does not, should the father than be absolved of any future financial and parental obligations?
I cannot give a clear answer on these statements. I believe it was in Québec where a young couple found out that she was pregnant. The father wanted to keep the pregnancy whereas the mother didn't. He went to court to stop the abortion and while it was winding through the court, she went ahead and had the abortion. A couple of days later, the court declined the father's wishes and then he found out she had had the abortion.
As for financial obligations, I think the man usually loses.
Slightly different - apparently if a man and woman live together and she has a child from another relationship, if the current man accepts the child (not adoption) and they later splitup, he can be made to pay child support. In another weird twist, a man raises the child thinking he is the father, and the couple split up, he would probably have to pay child support even though he is not the biological father.
Perhaps one of the legal beagles (no offence meant) can clear my a/m post.