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What is "evil" about not wanting to see a child that you presumably didn't want to begin with? A woman with an unwanted pregnancy can abort. Men don't have that

What is "evil" about not wanting to see a child that you presumably didn't want to begin with? A woman with an unwanted pregnancy can abort. Men don't have that option. But that doesn't obligate them to an emotional bond with the child.

oh_sigh 7y ago
Read the article - he wanted the son until he didn't, and then he peaced out.
vanusa 7y ago
Okay - "evil" may have been a touch too strong. I'll go with "scummy and reprehensible". And: "deeply at odds with the ethical standards that Google once claimed to stand for (not that we ever took them seriously when they said those things)."
- hackinthebochs 7y ago
  I can endorse scummy and reprehensible.
- senordevnyc 7y ago
  Do we really want companies firing employees for personal morality issues that have zero bearing on their ability to do their job?
  - andrewprock 7y ago
    No, we don't. But we do want companies firing employees for personal morality issues which have bearing on their ability to their job.
defen 7y ago
> What is "evil" about not wanting to see a child that you presumably didn't want to begin with? The child doesn't get a choice about being brought into the world, so your desire or intent to produce a child is irrelevant. If you don't want to father a child, don't do anything that could reasonably lead to producing a child. If you father one anyway, that's on you. To deliberately alienate yourself from your child in that way, especially when you have the wealth and resources he does, is evil in my opinion.
- hackinthebochs 7y ago
  And yet, we generally accept that women have the right to an abortion regardless of their willfully chosen actions prior. How do you square the two positions? Note that I'm not arguing that the man has a right to absolve himself of financial responsibility.
  - defen 7y ago
    An abortion doesn't result in a person so it's not really comparable. My understanding is that the vast majority of surgical or medical abortions occur due to either 1) grave risk to the mother's life 2) serious genetic defects or malformities in the fetus or 3) well before viability (during a time when spontaneous abortions are also common)
    - hackinthebochs 7y ago
      Basing a principle of rights or duties based on contingencies (live birth or not) seems dubious. If the mother has a right to decide against the burden of a child, the father should as well (all things being equal). Granted, all things aren't equal, but the financial obligation seems sufficient to fulfill a duty to the living child. Besides, why should we force contact when the father doesn't want it? I don't see that as benefiting the child.
      - rayiner 7y ago
        > If the mother has a right to decide against the burden of a child, the father should as well (all things being equal). This is your false premise. Nothing about fairness requires the law to give someone additional rights to offset someone else’s intrinsic advantages. Neither men nor women have a “legal right to decide against the burden of a child.” If either has a child, they’re on the hook for it. The law doesn’t need to give men an additional legal right to “make up” for the fact that women can terminate a pregnancy by exercising their natural right to control their own pregnancies.
        7y ago

oh_sigh 7y ago

Read the article - he wanted the son until he didn't, and then he peaced out.

vanusa 7y ago

Okay - "evil" may have been a touch too strong. I'll go with "scummy and reprehensible". And: "deeply at odds with the ethical standards that Google once claimed to stand for (not that we ever took them seriously when they said those things)."

hackinthebochs 7y ago
I can endorse scummy and reprehensible.
senordevnyc 7y ago
Do we really want companies firing employees for personal morality issues that have zero bearing on their ability to do their job?
- andrewprock 7y ago
  No, we don't. But we do want companies firing employees for personal morality issues which have bearing on their ability to their job.

defen 7y ago

> What is "evil" about not wanting to see a child that you presumably didn't want to begin with? The child doesn't get a choice about being brought into the world, so your desire or intent to produce a child is irrelevant. If you don't want to father a child, don't do anything that could reasonably lead to producing a child. If you father one anyway, that's on you. To deliberately alienate yourself from your child in that way, especially when you have the wealth and resources he does, is evil in my opinion.

hackinthebochs 7y ago
And yet, we generally accept that women have the right to an abortion regardless of their willfully chosen actions prior. How do you square the two positions? Note that I'm not arguing that the man has a right to absolve himself of financial responsibility.
- defen 7y ago
  An abortion doesn't result in a person so it's not really comparable. My understanding is that the vast majority of surgical or medical abortions occur due to either 1) grave risk to the mother's life 2) serious genetic defects or malformities in the fetus or 3) well before viability (during a time when spontaneous abortions are also common)
  - hackinthebochs 7y ago
    Basing a principle of rights or duties based on contingencies (live birth or not) seems dubious. If the mother has a right to decide against the burden of a child, the father should as well (all things being equal). Granted, all things aren't equal, but the financial obligation seems sufficient to fulfill a duty to the living child. Besides, why should we force contact when the father doesn't want it? I don't see that as benefiting the child.
    - rayiner 7y ago
      > If the mother has a right to decide against the burden of a child, the father should as well (all things being equal). This is your false premise. Nothing about fairness requires the law to give someone additional rights to offset someone else’s intrinsic advantages. Neither men nor women have a “legal right to decide against the burden of a child.” If either has a child, they’re on the hook for it. The law doesn’t need to give men an additional legal right to “make up” for the fact that women can terminate a pregnancy by exercising their natural right to control their own pregnancies.
      - 7y ago