Pregnancy in America

I suggest the following laws be proposed and debated.

Deterrents:

• All male rapists must be either chemically or physically castrated after conviction.
• If the father of a child does not help care for the child, either by missing childcare visits, payments, or similar, the father will be chemically castrated until such time as he is able to fulfill his minimum duties as a parent (i.e., he makes restitution for the missed childcare).
• All children of male rapists that are not wanted by the mother must be given to the rapist to raise.
• Vasectomies can only be performed after the age of 25 and with a partner's, or the person's parents, consent. There is a waiting period of a minimum of 7 days to get a vasectomy. The person requesting a vasectomy must watch an hour-long video on the dangers of the surgical procedure and the joys of parenthood.
• In Texas, both the male and female participants will be tried and, if convicted, sent to the death penalty if the woman has an abortion. DNA testing is mandatory to determine with the greatest accuracy who the father of the child is.
• Males must wear athletic supporters and protective cups whenever performing any sports activity or dangerous activity to ensure their reproductive organs are safe from harm. Anyone found to be willfully harming the penis or testicles can be arrested and confined for up to 5 years or a fine of $25,000 per offense.
• Males must see a doctor a minimum of once a year and have their reproductive organs checked, including providing a semen sample to check for sperm viability.

If we make it in any way illegal to have an abortion, and it is done to "protect the child," then we must also propose the following laws to ensure the safety and welfare of that child:

• Increased federal funding and mandated minimum staffing for foster care.
• Increased federal funding and facilities for pregnant mothers to help ensure successful pregnancies and births. Alternately, a program by which all pregnant women get free healthcare while pregnant and for a pre-determined time after pregnancy to ensure both the mother and child are healthy long-term.
• Funding for and research into accessibility to medical care to ensure that all pregnant women have "reasonable" access to healthcare. Reasonable will be defined to mean within a 1-hour car, bus, or train ride from the person's home, a fully-staffed hospital, clinic, or other facilities that can perform all identified healthcare needs for a mother and child through the age of 5.
• Increased funding and accessibility for mental healthcare for pregnant mothers and post-partum women.
• Increased federal funding and increased access to food and post-birth medical care to ensure as many children that are conceived live to see the age of 5 (an age where mortality rates drop significantly).
• Federally mandated vaccinations.
• Increased federal funding for schools and all education programs.
• Federal funding for childcare services after birth so the parent(s) can go back to work, if needed, or can get child care services when required.
• Federal minimum time off requirements of at least 6 months for both the mother and father to care for the newborn baby.

If the pro-life, Republican politicians that are so stringently against abortion are *really* proposing these laws "for the children," and are not simply about controlling women's bodies, it seems like these rules are pretty much the *bare minimum* they should be proposing to both a) ensure that every child conceived has the best chance to survive to birth, b) to give every mother the best chance to carry the child to birth, and c) to give the parent(s) the best chance to raise a healthy child after birth.

Somehow, though, I don't think these suggestions will even be considered nor do I think these laws would make it even up for a vote. During the debate, I bet these white, male, "pro-life" politicians will laugh at the suggestions that males be held equally accountable for the pregnancy. I know already that they won't even consider plans to educate, care for, feed, or otherwise provide for the best welfare of the child once it is born as they have systematically attacked all of these institutions already.

These people are not pro-life. They are simply against women's rights because they know that to keep women "in their place" is to keep the men in power and to keep the current power structure strong. Women are a threat and this group is scared of them.