A Modest Proposal

With the leak of the Supreme Court draft decision concerning abortion, it is now clear that Roe v. Wade will soon be overturned and abortion will become illegal in many states. Many people are upset by this. Many people, no doubt, are celebrating. It is a divisive issue. I have some thoughts. And a possible compromise solution. A modest proposal.

The goal of Pro-Choice folks is to prevent unwanted pregnancies. The goal of Pro-Lifers is to prevent abortions. If you think about it, both goals can be achieved (for the most part) by tightly regulating pregnancies.

Why do pregnancies occur? Because of sperm. The woman’s egg also, of course, but without the sperm there is no pregnancy. It takes two to tango.

The easiest way to do this is through vasectomies. All males could be required to have a vasectomy before reproductive age, say at the age of 13. No exceptions. It could even be seen (maybe ironically) as a ritual of manhood. “Now you are old enough to have sex, young man.” without the worry of getting the girl pregnant. The demand for abortions then largely disappears (except in the cases where there are risks to the mother in continuing a pregnancy).

The vasectomy would be reversed only when the man is ready to become a father. Of course, the man could still cause unwanted pregnancies at that point by having unauthorized sex through rape, incest, or adultery.

But this could also be easily controlled (the technology exists) by taking DNA samples of every 13-year-old boy getting a vasectomy – which would be all boys turning 13). It would be part of the ritual. The resulting DNA database of all American men of reproductive age could be compared to the DNA of every baby born to determine exactly who the father is. In the of case rape or incest, they would be castrated. In the case of adultery, they pay child support or be castrated.

There are still some details to brainstorm, of course, but I think this could work! And it would put most abortion doctors out of business, just like the conservatives on the Supreme Court want.