On a personal level I agree with you. However, it’s more complicated when you look at society as a whole. We can definitely discuss this if you like but it’s hard to do it in sound bites, there are complexities to these issues…

I will say that one of the truly unfortunate ramifications of the sexual revolution is the breakdown of the family.

Now, I do not think all women (or men) should be married, or have children. I fully support the rights of individuals for self determination. Women are not defined solely by their roles as mothers.

That being said, when a woman has a child by a man, I think she deserves special consideration by that man as the mother of his child. And I also think the man deserves special consideration by the woman as the father. They should both give each other respect and work together to make sure the child has a stable home environment.

All that I’ve said about self determination flies out the window when you’ve produced an infant. What people seem to have forgotten is that marriage does not exist solely as an expression of love between two people. It exists as a social construct to provide a stable vehicle to raise children. Which doesn’t mean that child free couples are any less married or less valid. But when it comes to rights, if a couple has children, the child’s rights should come first.