Essentially, because of the fact that the mother of the child is affected much more deeply by a pregnancy than the father is, she has the right to have an abortion or decide to keep the baby without the consent of the father. This has been an issue in the courts before because in certain circumstances the father may not want to have children, or he may want to have the child that the mother is planning on aborting.
Whether or not the mother decides to have an abortion is completely in her hands since a pregnancy affects the mother’s health, financial situation, home environment, mental health, etc. In some cases, it isn’t physically safe for the mother to carry the child to term because of health problems she may have.
Regardless of whether or not it is safe for the mother to carry the baby to term however, she may decide to have an abortion without the consent of the father. The mother doesn’t even have to tell the father that she is pregnant or considering having an abortion. As far as the law is concerned, the decision to have an abortion is the mother’s decision to make.
If, however, she does decide to tell the father that she is pregnant and would like to have an abortion rather than going through the pregnancy, the father may offer to pay for all the pregnancy related expenses with the understanding that when the child is born, he will have sole custody. If an agreement such as this is reached in a legal setting, then the mother would have a legal obligation to either not have an abortion, or being legally liable for breaking a contract, and be expected to return the money the father gave her for the pregnancy related expenses.
In some cases, the father doesn’t want to be a father and would rather the mother have an abortion, yet she wants to keep the child. When this happens, the father can choose not to be in the child’s life, but he is still financially responsible for the child. So, to sum up a father’s rights regarding abortion, he doesn’t have any save for working out an agreement with the mother of the child to pay for all the pregnancy related expenses and have custody of the child when it is born. If the mother doesn’t agree to this she can have an abortion without the consent of the father without any legal consequences.
If the mother decides to keep the child, the father has the right to see the child as long as he proves to be a fit parent and it is considered to be in the best interests of the child. If the father doesn’t want to be a part of the child’s life, he has the right to not be around the child as long as he takes care of the child financially. The father doesn’t have the right to tell the mother that she can’t have an abortion, or to attempt to make her have an abortion however.
