The rights and responsibilities of men in abortion situations

Adolescent Men's Attitudes in Relation to Pregnancy and Pregnancy Outcomes: A Systematic Review of the Literature From 1980–2009

“…The endorsement of a man's right to be involved in abortion decision-making has been further explored in many studies on college men's views in individual universities in the United States [37,40,45,46,57]. Overall, the results show male and female endorsements for greater involvement by men [40,37,45,52,57]. However, these studies also highlight the potential for tension between the genders.…”

“…Whites and blacks had similar intentions The rights and responsibilities of men in abortion situations [52] Sampling strategy: Convenience: Two classes in university Data collection: Self-completed questionnaire In both studies the majority of the students believed that the final pregnancy outcome decision should be the female's, but that she should consider the male's opinion Practically all students across the two studies agreed that males do not have the right to require a female to have an abortion, but over one-third in Study 1 believed they have the right to prevent a female from having an abortion Participants felt that males should have greater rights in more ''intimate'' relationships (i.e., dating more than 6 months) Variables related to pro-choice attitudes among undergraduates [53] Sampling strategy: Convenience in one class in one university Data collection: Self-administered questionnaire Some young males were not very active in the planning stage and did not feel in control (young females reported not discussing it in any detail with their partners) Fathers found it difficult to articulate why they wanted a child Some partners felt used by their partner just to have a child. Most of the fathers did not have a steady father figure when they were growing up Preventing pregnancy: A females'…”

“…However, these studies also highlight the potential for tension between the genders. For example, one such U.S. survey of college students revealed that a majority (94%) of the males believed that although the male partner could not require the female partner to have an abortion, 42.6% believed that male partners should have a right to prevent a woman from having an abortion against their will [52]. Unsurprisingly, qualitative and vignette studies suggest a more nuanced interpretation of this tension between the woman's right to control her body and the man's right to be involved [42,55,59,64].…”

Cohabiting Men’s Preferences for and Roles in Determining the Outcomes of Unexpected Pregnancies1

“…Those few studies that do exist indicate that a slight majority of men believed that women should have the final say in pregnancy decisions. However, most men believed that they should legally have an equal say in pregnancy outcomes if a woman wishes to have an abortion that the man opposes and that a woman should not have an abortion against her partner’s wishes, particularly if the union is more intimate or established (Marsiglio and Shehan, 1993; Rosenwasser et al, 1987). Still, it is not clear why men prefer particular pregnancy outcomes or how they negotiate them.…”

“…One challenge of many of these studies is that they focus almost exclusively on single (e.g., Marsiglio and Shehan, 1993; Rosenwasser et al, 1987) or married (e.g., Miller, 1994) men. Cohabiting men may view the prospect of an unexpected pregnancy quite differently because their unions are less institutionalized than are those of married couples (Cherlin, 2004) but often considered to be somewhat more serious than those of dating couples.…”