Husband forced to marry to avoid unwanted baby

Submitted by GaryB on Sun, 2011-07-10 22:04

This guy wanted to dump his girlfriend, but she told him she was pregnant - and, if he didn't marry her, she'd have the baby. Knowing that would mean 18 years of slavery, she told him his only option was to marry her. Amazingly though, a judge actually lets the guy off the hook when he comes to the court and asks for a divorce. And women wonder why guys are avoiding marriage... Excerpt:

'A MAN who claimed he was forced into marriage by his girlfriend after she promised she'd terminate her pregnancy has been granted a divorce after a judge found he'd been "under duress" when he agreed to wed her. The unnamed couple were in an on-off relationship for six years from 2004, and lived together for six months in 2008. The Family Court heard that last September, the man told his girlfriend he wanted to break up, only to be told by her that she was expecting his child. The man said she told him: "I'm possibly not going to terminate the pregnancy unless you marry me." "(I said) to her, 'I don't want to get married', and she replied, 'Well, I'm not terminating the pregnancy unless we get married'," he told the court.
...
The pair wed two months later, but the husband said: "I felt therefore there was nothing I could do but to marry her to ensure she undertook the termination." His wife told him a short time later that she'd had the abortion, and the pair split up on Christmas Day.'

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... if men had the option of a paper abortion, just as women have the option of an actual one.

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Submitted by Matt on Sun, 2011-07-10 23:27

I notice it says the judge said "With some hesitation, I have concluded that duress has been established by the husband,". What was the hesitation from? The idea that a woman can do something bad? If it was a woman claiming coercion by the man, there wouldn't be a stitch of hesitation by the judge.

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Submitted by Kratch on Mon, 2011-07-11 01:34

Hesitation or not this set a precedent which can be used in a future same or similar situation. What counts in the end is that he did it.

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Submitted by otomo on Mon, 2011-07-11 06:46

As far as blackmail and bizarre situations with pregnancy it can happen from all different angles depending on where people's values are.

If the man is pro-life the woman can say marry me or I will terminate the pregnancy. If paper abortion is allowed the man could say abort or I will abandon the child, or the MAN could say marry me or I will abandon the child; or if the man wants to be a father the woman could say marry me or I wont allow you to be the father, etc. (or if he chooses paper abortion, and then changes his mind after the baby is born, I guess the mother will set the price for him to see the child, which could include marriage, as he will have no help from the courts).

I don't think either gender should feel blackmailed into making such decisions and I don't think innocent babies should suffer the consequences of such blackmail (death from abortion or a life of parental abandonment). If the system was evened out, each parent would feel an equal amount of enjoyment and/or responsibility which would increase the likelyhood of couples making decisions together about abortion or parenthood.

In another article on this same story it says the man told the judge that she had terminated other pregnancies with him in the past. Obviously birth control is not working and he is aware of it and continues a sexual relationship with her regardless.

What a bunch of stupid losers. I bet they get back together soon.

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Submitted by Kris on Tue, 2011-07-12 16:30