It’s easier to verify rote memorization than actual understanding so naturally shitty schools focus on the former at the expense of the latter. Most American schools are shitty by academic standards.

If you are supporting a scenario in which a woman can choose to carry a child to term without input from her partner which society will then force him to pay her for then you are directly advocating for women having financial control over men. You can say the words bodily autonomy as much as you like but it won’t change that fact. No one here is suggesting women should not be able to control their bodies. I’ve said I agree with you on that several times now. Get that sophomoric strawman out of your head.

Similarly, don’t talk about how things were 80 years ago, don’t make emotional appeals to unrelated domestic violence victims, directly address the inconsistency between what you say is fair and this obviously unfair outcome or stop pretending that you’re participating in this discussion in good faith because you’re not. You’re refusing to engage beyond regurgitated buzzwords and lines that might as well be pulled directly from a pro-life pamphlet to argue in favor of abortion and that’s absolutely asinine. I am legitimately shocked that you can talk about the “natural consequences of sex” for men and refer to abortion as a woman’s inalienable right in the same sentence without collapsing from the exhaustion caused by the mental gymnastics required to make that argument coherent.

I don’t think money is the same thing as your body and I never said that. I said you’re making contradictory statements about the nature of choice. On one hand you’re arguing that women should get to make their own choices about the level of involvement they have with their child because becoming a parent is their choice to make and no one else’s, which yes we’re on the same page there. On the other hand you’re saying that men don’t get to decide whether or not they want to become a parent because they have to support whatever decision women make. That is obviously not equitable. You are simultaneously arguing for and against the right to choose not to be a parent and all that comes with that decision.

It doesn’t make sense to allow one person to both make a decision for someone else and force that person to be financially responsible for the choice that they had no part in. If a woman chooses to keep the child she should be choosing to accept the financial consequences of that decision as well. Anything less is based on the idea that abortion is not available as an option which entitles women to financial support to continue on a path that can no longer be changed. Abortion provides an alternative which, when waived, should remove that entitlement.

If a woman chooses to keep a child that a man does not want and demands a portion of his income to support that choice, how is that not “being a controlling dickwad… dictating to others what their boundaries and responses should be” as you so graciously phrased it?

That’s a very convenient exit ramp from introspection you’ve created for yourself. Unfortunately it’s not even internally consistent logic, much less a convincing counterpoint.

Isn’t that the same logic anti-abortion activists use to argue against a woman’s right to choose? She should have kept her legs closed, birth control exists, abstinence, etc. It’s pretty odd to me that you don’t see the hypocrisy in that.

Ignoring that this is a form of birth control, would you quote a woman who asked the same question the price for a hysterectomy?

The point I’m getting at is that women have a disparate amount of control over determining the outcome of the situation. In many ways that’s how it should be but the obvious follow up question is is it fair to force someone else to pay money to support a decision that you made without their consent? If you’re going to give women the option to back out of a pregnancy without input from their partner after their birth control fails then why can a man not have the same option?

I’ve never heard an actual answer to these questions aside from “men have had the power for centuries so deal with it” and sure, that’s true, but I don’t think that’s adequate justification for implementing a system that is ostensibly supposed to be more equitable than what we had before. This just seems inequitable in the opposite direction.

Aside from birth control, abortion and adoption are the options available to moms. What is dad’s option?

Fuck tiktok

How many beans have you harvested? How many bushels of wheat have you grown? None, damn I guess that means we all have to starve to death.

No

By that logic it should have made them run to vote for Biden too and yet here we are.

They did that a long time ago so why are you phrasing this like it’s a future transition?

I think he loves all hamberders equally

Your use of capital letters is confusing as hell

Yes I’m saying that the branch of government whose job it is to craft laws should be the one crafting laws. It’s amazing you can disagree with such a basic statement in such a condescending way and not even question whether or not you’re a acting like an asshole. Take your shitty attitude somewhere else.

You’re assuming experts are always in charge of government agencies and I don’t think that’s true. Government always runs at least partially on the honor system, hoping that voters will punish those who abuse the public trust. We don’t do that anymore. They abuse our trust and we reelect them anyway.

Technically their interpretation is correct, laws should be explicitly enumerated by the legislative branch which has the most accountability to voters. We’re all just so desensitized to the fact that Congress is a wasteland of gridlock and special interest money that we don’t even expect them to do the job of creating laws anymore. If we had a working legislative branch this would be a gentle reminder for them to be thorough and use detailed language when crafting legislation, instead it’s a depressing reminder that our government quite literally cannot function without outsourcing the central function of one of the main branches.

You served your purpose Joe. You saved us from Trump in 2020. I wish you would have done it 6 months ago but it’s time to make as graceful an exit as you can. America has to persevere or succumb to fascism and I feel you’re making the latter more likely. It may feel like abandoning your post but it’s for the good of the nation. We need to look forward and you only remind us of the past. Please pass the baton.

I mean, everything is made in China. I’m not one to shy away from calling out Republican hypocrisy but this one seems like a stretch. There’s plenty of things to criticize these guys for without making it sound like you’re just looking for something to be contrarian about.