Men—all too frequently seeking to maximize their sexual pleasure at as little cost as possible—found the right to abortion extremely liberating for them; all they risked was having to pay a few hundred dollars to avoid the potential result of their behavior. Meanwhile, women were too often reduced to mere objects for the sexual gratification of their liberated male counterparts. . . .
Rather than liberating women, abortion has rendered women vulnerable to the sexual appetites of unscrupulous men who—freed of society’s expectation that they will care for the mothers of their children—use, abuse, and discard them in assembly-line fashion.
Brian E. Fisher, “Abortion Widens the Gender Gap and Exploits Women”
6 comments:
https://dalrock.wordpress.com/2016/05/06/dont-tell-women-no/
You are denying women's moral agency in the decision of abortion. Years before my wife and I met, she got pregnant 4 times in high school and college and had 4 abortions. In none of the cases did she inform the father of the abortion. Her girlfriend drove her to the clinic which was run by a feminist woman.
I understand the impulse to want to paint men as the culprits and women as helpless victims, but you really need to stop with this. The pro-life movement has itself been corrupted by the feminist impulse to coddle women and exempt them from the moral responsibilities for their own choices. In this sense, I would call myself anti-abortion and pro-choice. I believe women should not choose abortion and I would love it if it was illegal. But sadly it is not, and if women avail themselves of this choice, they must own the moral implications of that choice. Certainly, the fathers are culpable since they had sex out of wedlock. The male abortionists are culpable. But the women are just as culpable. And the results of this are devastating because my wife made another terrible choice when she decided NOT to reveal this to me prior to our marriage.
After 11 years and 4 children, she finally confessed and joined an abortion recovery group at church. I tried to be as supportive as I could be as her husband. But I was a virgin when I married her. I wasn't responsible for her abortions. I played no part and bear no blame. But, I am still paying a huge part of the cost because of the guilt, shame and anger she brought into the marriage. I was subjected to numerous divorce threats because of the disrespect she had of men in general because of the resentment she carried toward the fathers of her aborted children.
I paid a very high cost and did nothing to deserve it. Spare me the anti-male sanctimony. Men AND women are responsible. Sometimes the blame is greater on one side or another.
Rick,
NO, I am NOT denying women any moral agency. Don't read more into the quote than what is there.
The point is that OVERALL men are responsible for abortion being a part of culture; it gives them responsibility-free sex. Abortion from the beginning was essentially forced upon women to rid them of the consequences of the sexual irresponsibility of men who want them to "get rid of" the problem. It has always been that way.
Nowhere in this quote or in the article cited does the author (or me by posting it) deny that women are guilty of murdering their unborn child -- they USUALLY have a choice to NOT do so, but there are often times with the man who caused the pregnancy forces the abortion through intimidation, threats, or actual harm.
I am not "anti-male" and neither is the author of the citation. You seem to be over-reacting rather than understanding the point.
Abortion as a cultural phenomenon owes more to the eugenics movement that Margaret Sanger first espoused as founder of Planned Parenthood back in 1916, decades before Hefner and the Playboy Philosophy took hold of the modern male psyche. The feminist left is currently the primary driver of unlimited abortion. Obviously, there were many fathers and boyfriends who pressured girls into abortion. But to the extent that there is a culture of abortion, it is largely female driven, as an enabler of female sexual independence. In fact, many modern feminists view abortion as tantamount to a sacrament, a testimony to their liberation from oppressive patriarchy.
Women have complete moral agency and, therefore, bear equal if not greater responsibility for the culture of abortion. If some irresponsible men also benefit by freeing their uninhibited sexuality from the consequences, it just means a lot of guys can be pretty awful. But then, I have absolutely no idea what would have happened if my wife had informed one of her boyfriends she was pregnant. Unfortunately, she never gave them the chance to be the lowlife you think they would be or to man up and take responsibility. And our laws do not protect the fathers from having their children aborted without their permission.
Again, I am NOT saying, nor is the author of the comment saying, that women have no moral agency. Every woman who has an abortion has no one to blame but herself (unless she is forced into it).
HOWEVER, it was due to MEN that abortion has EVER been around, men who didn't want responsibility for their actions. Abortion was around LONG before Sanger, and the eugenics movement was just for undesirable children, not as a routine method of "birth control."
Indeed, it was the Playboy philosophy which took hold for men to promote abortion BEFORE the current feminist movement. And it was the MEN of SCOTUS who sanctified and legalized abortion, making it 100% culturally acceptable so women won't be so shamed.
MEN are the reason for abortion-- irresponsible men who want to just have sex without consequences. And it was MEN who desensitized women to abortion. And that is a fact.
So quit reading into the citation anything about anti-men or lack of holding women responsible for their actions. The point is only WHY the abortion culture has become prevalent.
"So quit reading into the citation anything about anti-men"
Let me explain the purpose of the article. The citation doesn't really do justice to full meaning.
It is a truism that all cultural, political, social and economic systems were, in one sense or another, created by men. Men are responsible for most of the great evils of history but also most of the great advances in human rights, science and technology. To say that men are responsible for abortion in this context, isn't really saying anything. Duh! Men decided on Roe V Wade because there were no women on the court. Henry Hyde was also a man and was one of the most stalwart pro-life champions in congressional history. I'm not a big fan of the papacy, but they have been pretty stalwart pro-life advocates. Same with so many movements in history. The civil rights movement was led by men. The anti-slavery movements were led by men. So were the movements to institute prohibition and then to end prohibition. Men have made many things better and many other things worse. It says NOTHING to blame men as men. (re: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacy_of_composition)
But the author is trying to accomplish something different. He is trying to appeal to the anti-male sentiments of women to persuade them NOT to abort as a counter to the feminists who use anti-male sentiment to argue for abortion. The writer is essentially saying, "You know those slutty evil conniving men who want sex with you without consequence? If you get an abortion, you'll be playing right into their dirty rotten philandering hands. And what could be worse than knowing you are secretly doing the bidding of evil awful men? So become pro-life and show those jerks that you see right through them."
The writer mistakenly believes that one emotional manipulation can counter another. Unfortunately, the feminist left is not falling for it at all. And any pro-life appeal that depends on its effectiveness on a fundamentally anti-male argument, will eventually fall apart. We don't need more "pro-life feminists." We need more women to respect men and to stop trying to leverage their resentments to achieve pro-life ends, which they inevitably will not.
Even if men promoted abortion as a way to hide the results of their philandering ways, it doesn't change the fact that women need to see men as their allies not as their enemies. Don't underestimate the powerful appeal of rebellion that women deal with. Remember Genesis 3:16 and the curse on Eve:
To the woman he said,
“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,
but he shall rule over you.” (ESV)
No argument that caters to the innate desire of women to rebel against their husbands or men in general will ever glorify God or lead to good ends. You may dismiss this yet again as me "reading too much into it." But it is not credible to suggest that an article that is titled "Men are responsible for Abortion" is anything else BUT anti-male.
How about "Men have a huge part in making abortion legal and ubiquitous".
Or maybe "A lot of godless men who can't control their libidos are using abortion to get more illicit sex without consequence"
Not as catchy or provocative, but certainly closer to the truth.
So now you know the intent, the heart of the person, the reason they wrote the article? And it was to appeal to anti-men sentiment? Funny, but I still don't see that.
I think there is projecting from YOU about YOUR problems.
I stand by my title - it is provocative, yes -- it's to provoke thinking. If men would stop using women as sexual objects of self-gratification, if MEN would tell the woman, "NO" rather than helping them to the abortion clinic, if MEN -- who outnumber women in legislatures -- would actually make laws outlawing abortion and over-riding the SCOTUS decision, etc, then perhaps the abortion culture would change. Women are those who are guilty of the murder of their children, but men are extremely complicit in said murders.
No one, not me nor the author of the quote, are trying to make men the enemies of women. We are trying to make men step up to the plate.
More citations on this blog on the topic:
https://moralophobia.blogspot.com/2015/09/abortion-helps-men-exploit-women.html
https://moralophobia.blogspot.com/2014/09/abortion-helps-those-who-use-women.html
https://moralophobia.blogspot.com/2014/07/abortion-is-child-murder.html
If you'd look at ALL the citations under the label "Abortion" then you'd get a better picture of my stance. Taking one citation and twisting beyond its intent may make you feel good and help you deal with your own situation, but it is a disservice to this blog and to the author of the citation.
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