Abortion and the husband's rights: a reply to Wesley Teo.

Abstract

the concluding section of Abortion: The Husband's Constitutional Rights.' Wesley Teo states that spouses should agree jointly whether to terminate a first trimester pregnancy. He maintains: In the preceding I have not argued, nor do my arguments imply, that the husband be given veto power in the matter of abortion. My arguments cut both ways. Neither spouse may be accorded an exclusive right. The constitutionally sound position is that an abortion decision, as far as a married couple is concerned, must be made jointly. This is an unexceptionable position. Surely any couple having difficulties with a pregnancy should discuss the matter and decide upon a course of action suitable to both parties, for each has a right to participate in decisions affecting them. This right would be violated if the wife had an abortion without consulting her husband, or if he simply denied her that option. But why did Teo write the main body of his article if this reasonable conclusion is all that he intends? For in it he envisages circumstances in which the partners cannot agree: a woman wants an abortion and her husband does not. He gives constitutional arguments which do imply that a husband could go to court and that a judge could uphold his legal right to require her to bear their child regardless of her wishes. If a judge were to use the arguments developed in Teo's paper to support a finding against the wife, he would be using his authority on the husband's behalf to override her wishes. It is true that this does not, strictly speaking, create a veto for the husband since it is the court and not the husband himself who is judging that the husband's right has priority. Nevertheless, such a legal procedure is undesirable. For a court decision of this kind does not constitute the joint decision Teo recommends-it is an imposition of the husband's will upon his wife. But Teo has failed to show that such an imposition is ever justifiable. Let us examine his arguments. Teo claims that to deny a husband an equal right in decisions whether to obtain a first trimester abortion infringes three rights guaranteed by the Constitution. These rights are (1) the right to procreate, (2) the