The ruling is the first time in the US an unborn baby has been recognised as a person.
"I'm here for the men who actually want to have their baby."
In the first time in US history that an unborn baby has been recognised as a person with rights, a judge in Alabama is allowing a man whose girlfriend aborted their child to sue the abortion clinic, as well as the pharmaceutical company that provided the abortion pill.
Justice for "Baby Roe"
19 year old Ryan Magers begged his girlfriend not to have an abortion when she fell pregnant in 2017, but she went ahead with a medical abortion when the unborn baby was seven weeks old.
Mr Magers filed a lawsuit in Madison County on Wednesday suing Alabama Women's Center, their employees and the pharmaceutical company who makes the medication used in an abortion. The decree issued by Madison County probate judge Frank Barger explicitly states that "Baby Roe" is a person, and allows plaintiff Ryan Magers to name the unborn baby as a co-plaintiff in the suit for "wrongful death".
Ground-breaking case
The ruling follows the passage of legislation to protect the unborn in Alabama. In November, 59% of voters approved Amendment 2, to "declare and otherwise affirm that it is the public policy of this state to recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children, most importantly the right to life in all manners and measures appropriate and lawful; and...provide that the constitution of this state does not protect the right to abortion or require the funding of abortion."
Attorney Brent Helms, who now represents Baby Roe's estate, said the victory "was the first one of its kind, ever.
"This is the first estate that I'm aware of that has ever been opened for an aborted baby."
Speaking up for fathers
As well as being a breakthrough in the recognition of the human rights of unborn babies, this ruling shows just how devastating abortion can be for fathers. "It was just like my whole world fell apart," he said. "I'm here for the men who actually want to have their baby...I believe every child from conception is a baby and deserves to live."
As this blog on men and abortion explains, recent findings from the charity Abortion Recovery Care and Helpline (ARCH) found that 10-15% of those calling for help are male. For some men, the trauma resulting from the loss of their child leads to them taking taking their own lives. A journalist for the Australian Daily Telegraph wrote an article on the link between abortion and male suicide, and was forced to conclude that the effect abortion has on men "is a heartbreaking ocean of pain I had no idea existed".
Let's hope that this ruling is the first step towards a society where the rights of mothers, fathers and babies are protected.
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