Abortion and men

Re “Changing abortion’s pronoun,” Column One, Jan. 7

I have only one response to the newly minted “post-abortive men” movement: Give me a break. By their own admission, some of these men never gave a second thought to the women they impregnated or to the possibility of seeing those pregnancies through as responsible fathers. As Chris Aubert states in the article, “It was a complete irrelevancy.” Indeed.

Now comfortably settled into middle age with good jobs and families, they have the audacity to cast themselves as victims. How did Mark B. Morrow get three girlfriends pregnant in quick succession, one of them twice? As far as I know, condoms have been widely available for decades, and he could certainly have taken responsibility for using one after one unwanted pregnancy, let alone four. And what would have happened to his ex-girlfriends if they had not had access to safe and legal abortion? A better use of his time and energy would be spent counseling young men about the responsibilities of fatherhood and the necessity of practicing safe sex.

Michele Greene

Los Angeles

Nowhere in the article did I see any of the men (or women) discuss their regrets about not using birth control to avoid bringing unwanted children into the world. Their decisions to have abortions, which should be terrible for both men and women, could be avoided. As usual, lack of adult conscientiousness about our behavior leads to children being our victims.

Elana Eisner

Westlake Village

I always thought it strange that feminists argue child support is only for “him” and abortion is only for “her.” Good for the fathers in the article who recognize it takes a man and a woman to produce a child, and that both parents should be involved in the decisions regarding their baby.

Kenneth J. Wolfe

Alexandria, Va.

No doubt the fact that it took years for the men in the article to feel responsibility -- or some emotion concerning the abortions of their girlfriends -- entered into the women’s decisions to abort. Just who would be caring for these children while the men took their time in acknowledging their responsibility? It seems the women had good reasons for not wanting to have children with these men.

Joan Wright

Torrance