This week’s swearing in of Justice Neil Gorsuch brought the end of Roe vs. Wade one step closer to reality. Gorsuch, who evaded questions about choice during confirmation hearings, replaces ultra-right wing Antonin Scalia. Though Gorsuch has made it clear he opposes abortion, the Court will need at least one additional conservative justice to break in favor of reversing—or substantially eroding--Roe.
Choice activists have focused primarily on what will happen to women and their doctors if abortion is sent back to the states. But babies don’t miraculously appear in women’s uteruses. It takes two to make a baby, and men will suffer too if abortion becomes a thing of the past. Here are five ways men’s lives could change under an ultra-conservative Supreme Court.
Skyrocketing Child Support Bills
Paying child support is not optional, whether or not a man wants the child. Women forced to carry pregnancies they did not want or did not prepare for are in an economically vulnerable position. This gives them a strong incentive to pursue child support, even against one night stands.
Nearly a million abortions are performed every year in the United States. That’s a million more men who will receive a child support bill if Roe dies.
Raising the Children of Criminals
Want a sample of how restrictive stat abortion laws will become if choice isn’t protected? Consider the fact that many new abortion regulations offer no exceptions for rape or incest. This means women could be forced to birth the children of men who raped them. Children could be forced to birth the products of incest.
That means the men who love these women could find themselves raising the children of criminals. And in the 31 states that allow rapists to sue for custody of their children, men could even find themselves embroiled in custody battles with men who raped their wives or daughters.
An Increasingly Restrictive Sexual Environment
Abortion rights and the pill birthed the sexual revolution. Suddenly people could safely have sex without worrying about pregnancy. The end of Roe is the first step toward reversing this trend. Without the ability to terminate pregnancies, more women may be reluctant to have sex.
If contraceptives become less accessible—something Republicans are lobbying for with an end to the Affordable Care Act—we could see a return to pre-1950s sexual mores.
The Rebirth of Shotgun Weddings
Two generations ago, young couples who produced a baby outside of marriage were expected to get married, regardless of the consequences to their lives, careers, or relationship. The reason was simple: with abortion inaccessible, it was unfair to force a woman to raise a baby alone. A return to a pre-Roe legal climate may also mean a return to a pre-abortion social climate, in which men who get a woman pregnant are expected to marry her.
1 in 3 women will have an abortion at some point. That means about 1 in 3 men could be facing a shotgun wedding.
Caring for Sick Partners and Babies
Choice rights allow women and their doctors, in consultation with families, friends, and spiritual leaders, to decide when an abortion is right for them. If a pregnancy endangers a woman’s mental or physical health, or if the baby would be born severely or terminally ill, a woman has the right to terminate.
If choice rights disappear, it will be up to politicians to determine when—if ever—a woman can have an abortion. That means women may be forced to carry to terms pregnancies that injure or kill them. They may be forced to give birth to babies with crippling disabilities for whom they cannot care—or for whose care their insurance will not pay. After all, Republicans also want to see an end to the Affordable Care Act, and the maternity and pediatric coverage it requires.
Men may end up caring for women permanently disabled by pregnancies, for children who suffer daily or live in vegetative states. In some cases, they may be stuck parenting alone when a woman dies because of a denied abortion. The costs of pregnancies that injure women and their babies could be financially and emotionally astronomical.