Ross: Every unplanned pregnancy involves a man who refused a vasectomy
Jun 27, 2022, 6:46 AM | Updated: Jun 28, 2022, 6:59 am

Demonstrators protest the ruling on Roe v. Wade near the Westlake Center (MyNorthwest Staff)
(MyNorthwest Staff)
25 states will now have the power to require that pregnant women – who choose to live in those states – must give birth.
But now comes the hard part: enforcing that law, and supporting the children the pro-life movement is saving.
By far, most abortions are sought by unmarried women – most of whom are raising kids alone and don’t have a lot of money. Many of them already have a child and decided they couldn’t afford another. Nor can they afford to go out of state to get a legal abortion.
I don’t think the pro-life movement wants to compel a woman to give birth only to see herself and her family sink deeper into poverty.
But Dave, women should be more careful about birth control. Maybe the new laws will make women more careful about birth control, maybe some will become celibate, and maybe some will find the money to just sterilize themselves.
However, there are men involved here too. In states where abortion is illegal, men have to know that there is now a much higher risk that a one-night stand could lead to 18 years of child support. That might motivate them to be more careful.
But just to make sure – how about a law that says, if a man creates more children than he can afford to support, by law he is compelled to get snipped?
It’s been proposed before – usually as a joke – but now the Supreme Court has cleared the way for state governments to insert themselves into personal medical decisions.
Every unplanned pregnancy involves an un-snipped man, and if it’s constitutional to compel a woman to give birth against her will, how could it not be constitutional to use objective criteria to compel a man to get snipped?
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