Conclusions from the Body: Coerced Fatherhood and Caregiving as Child Support

Abstract

With Samuel Alito likely to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court, many feminists question what will become of reproductive freedom. If, in fact, American women are going to receive less and less access to contraception and abortion, we are presented with the issue of how to deal with the inevitable outcome of unwanted pregnancies: children. While choice should remain central to the feminist movement, child support provides an alternate rallying point in an era of reproductive restriction. We must force courts and legislatures to examine what happens after the pregnancy, including the roles of parents in raising children. This issue is relevant to all pregnancies, not just those that will result from further limitation of reproductive freedom.