"To be or not to be" a father

A Portuguese investigator , João Martins Ribeiro,

defends the end of official paternity investigations, 

imposed by the State, on behalf of gender equality 

as a basic Human Right.

"Just as a woman has the legal right to decide 

whether or not to terminate a pregancy by having an abortion, 

a man should have the right to decide whether or he wants to be a father 

without having the State impose a forced fatherhood on him"

"The current system has created a generation of parents by force," the researcher claims, insisting that, "in the same way that a man can not coerce a woman to have an abortion, 

the state  should not be able to coerce a man to be a father." 

As for the best interests of the child, "a system that allows non-birth via an abortion, 

can also allow the birth of a child without the attribution of paternal afiliation."

Men should have the same rights as women to decide to be or not to be a parent.

In case a woman should decide to go ahead with a pregancy, against her partner's wishes, 

the man should be able to refuse the legal paternity of the child, 

based on the same argument usually given by women to justify an abortion, 

whether it be for economic or professional reasons, 

or simply because he or she refuses parenthood.