I posted this in Mariposa's "The paternal responsibility debate" in SLR located here:
http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=183387&r=57
^^ This question is a lot more complex. Most 'accidental' pregnacy's are caused by irresponsibility - ie. not using appopriate birth control. If the father *knowingly* took the risk then YES, YES, YES he should have to pay child support - there has got to be a system in place that prevents men from carelessly contributing to pregnancy without taking any responsibilty. Any guy who falls into this categorie who says "well I wanted the child to be aborted, I *shouldn't* have to take responsibility", is a absolute twit. Man up and take responsibility for your actions. You make up the majority of the "accidental" pregnancy cases and perhaps people who fall into the other categories wouldn't face such injustice if you all used a brain.
If the women *lied* about taking birth control or neglected to mention she had forgotton to take it without following up treatment appropriately ie. the morning after pill, then NO. Why should he have to pay for something his partner was *entirely* at fault for? In saying that, if the father *chooses* to take responsibility in the childs life it's still a big plus +++.
Now my situation is possibly even more rare than the both of these. I was taking the pill, I was taking it responsibly yet due to getting sick - it got cancelled out. Neither of us were aware that we were participating in risk taking behaviour! No-one was at fault in this situation which makes it really, really hard to answer. Should the father have to pay child support even though he took full responsibility as did his partner? I don't know - I'm still unsure. Sure, it was my *choice* to have the child but at the same time, I shouldn't have had to make that choice in the first place. My daughters father does pay child support - initially he wasn't going to but he changed his mind. I don't know what I think in this type of situation - I think it's impossible to answer. Maybe a father in this situation shouldn't have to pay child support but why should a mother have to take *all* the responsibilty for the accident? Having an abortion shouldn't have to be the answer, that's a completely unfair expectation given the circumstances.
To add to this discussion, I don't think it matter who leaves who - my views remain the same.
I also added this in Mariposa's thread - looking more towards childs rights:
It's dissapointing that the majority of this thread is mum's rights vs. dads rights. Only a few people have thought to mention the childs rights!!!
The child deserves the rights to both parents, regardless of any conflict between his/her parents. The child is really the only one who can claim "I had no say in the matter", and we should all respect that innocence. The mother and father both had a say: They chose to have sex, risking the worst possible scenario - whether they used protection or not.
Don't make the child pay because you took the risk. Everyone knows that birth contraceptive's don't provide 100% protection.
I know earlier I made a post outling my views from a mum vs. dad perspective also, but after careful consideration I decided to also make one about the child. No. 1. The person who deserves the biggest say in the matter! Now that's innocence for you....