Paper abortion

Paper abortion, also known as a financial abortion or a statutory abort, is a term that refers to the proposed ability of the biological father, before the birth of the child, to opt out of any rights, privileges, and responsibilities toward the child, including financial support. By this means, before a child is born a man would be able to absolve himself of both the privileges and demands of fatherhood, in a similar way that women can through abortion or adoption (including through safe haven laws).

In a 1996 article "Abortion and Fathers' Rights," philosopher Steven Hales made an argument that presupposes the following assertions:

Hales contends that the conjunction of these three principles is prima facie inconsistent and that this inconsistency should be eradicated by firstly acknowledging that men have no absolute duty to provide material support for their children, and secondly by admitting that fathers have the right of refusal.

Laurie Shrage, professor of philosophy and women’s and gender studies, questions whether men should be 'penalized for being sexually active', and she puts the subject in the perspective of feminists who had to fight the same idea with different gender portent, namely that consenting to sexual intercourse isn't the same as consenting to parenthood. Furthermore, both men and children are punished, according to professor Shrage; children have to live with an absent father who never 'voluntarily' became a parent.

if women’s partial responsibility for pregnancy does not obligate them to support a fetus, then men’s partial responsibility for pregnancy does not obligate them to support a resulting child.

At most, according to Brake, men should be responsible for helping with the medical expenses and other costs of a pregnancy for which they are partly responsible.

Paper abortion has met opposition by those who see it as an excuse for men to shirk their responsibilities as a father. Critics say that men should use birth control or practice abstinence if they want to avoid the financial and personal responsibilities of fatherhood. Critics also argue that a father's paper abortion is different from a female abortion since a child is born. Thus the best interests of the child should weigh more than equal opportunity to deny parenthood.

The concept of a paper abortion was first introduced in Denmark in 2000 by the socioeconomicist Henrik Platz. He says that it is necessary from an egalitarian perspective, to ensure that women and men have equal rights under the law. According to a Gallup poll from 2014 and earlier polls, between 40% and 70% of Danes agree with legalizing paper abortion.

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