Legal ‘male abortion’ on table in Sweden thanks to Liberal Party's youth wing
It’s not just up to women to decide whether to have a baby or not, says the youth wing of Sweden’s Liberal Party. It has proposed granting expectant fathers the right to “legally abort” their unborn child up until the 18th week of pregnancy.
“Men should have an equal right to opt out of parenting and choose whether or not to become a parent,” Marcus Nilsen, chairman of the party’s youth wing West (LUF) told the Swedish Aftonbladet newspaper.
This means that men are proposed to have the right to disclaim paternity until the 18th week of pregnancy, as long as it’s possible for a woman to undergo the abortion procedure.
The suggested “legal abortion,” if chosen, would be irreversible and require the father in question to renounce all parental rights and duties, including the right to see his child once it has been born, should the mother decide to keep it.
According to Nilsen, the original motion initially came from female members of LUF and was backed by the party wing. They believe there are many men who don’t dare to say they don’t want children, or suggest they wish to be excluded from parenthood when their partner becomes pregnant.
“There are endless examples of men who can’t even say whether they want to be involved in parenthood or how involved they want to be. It is important that men remain honest with themselves and their intentions. We see our proposal as a clear legal decision,” Nilsen said.
This latest move is not the first controversial proposal to be suggested by LUF recently.
At the end of February, LUF filed a motion to legalize incest between two consenting siblings aged over 15. In an interview to Aftonbladet, Cecilia Johnsson, president of LUF Stockholm, said: “I understand that [incest] can be considered unusual and disgusting, but the law cannot legislate for this.”
The group also voted in support of legalization of necrophilia, or sexual acts with a corpse, on condition that the person gave consent while still alive: “You should have the right to decide what happens to your body after you pass, and if someone wants to will their body to a museum or to science, or to bequeath it to someone for sex, they should be allowed to do so.”
The central branch of the Liberal Party was furious with the motion. Spokesman Adam Alfredsson told local media his party was not going to endorse such ridiculous motions.
A former Swedish Liberal MP, Carl B. Hamilton, also expressed his discontent in ever harsher words with LUF on his Facebook page. He openly ridiculed the group’s proposals: ''Surely, you must understand that people are laughing at your liberalism, you nitwits? And what other challenges facing society is on the top 100-list for Stockholm's Liberal Youth? Sex with hippos?”
