Men & Abortion

5 years ago if you would have asked me if abortion had any psychological effects on the fathers of those children aborted, I would have said, probably not. Unless you include the relief that many of them feel of not having to be financially responsible for a kid. The only other thing I would have said is that some of them who wanted the child would mourn the loss like that of any other child. But probably nothing more.

In 2006 I decided to sign up for the Speaker's Bureau training at DBQ Co. Right to Life. Part of the training required of us was to come up with a topic & become sufficently familiar with it to be able to effectively speak on the topic. For my 1st talk I had decided to talk on the emotional & pshychological damage abortion does to women. & I was still looking for an in depth topic for my major speech/talk.

1 night I was listenning to Defending Life & heard Fr. Pavone & Janet Morana mention the emotional & psychological damage done to men by abortion. It caught my ear. That was the 1st time I heard that there could be anything on the same level as the damage done to women by abortion. I decided to look into it further.

In doing so, I began to find out that there were some studies on the subject, but not to the extent that there were with women. 1 of the big ones that I came across was done by an abortion supporter who was surprized at his emotional reactions when he took his girlfriend to a clinic to abort their child. This study, as well as those that followed showed that men are hurt just as much as women. A good number of the early ones were done by abortion supporters. & with the same results.

Naturally, abortion supporters always had a reason to argue the research was faulty, no matter who did the study. But if you looked deep enough, the real point wasn't that the studies on men, or women, were faulty. The real point was that these studies served to undermine the claim that abortion didn't cause any harm, that it was nice & safe & the best thing for a woman to do.

About a year later I made a friend through some of my pro-life activities who had lost a child when his girfriend's father forced her to have the abortion. He could share from his own experience the damage it did to him emotionally.

Because men are just as much victims of abortion as the child or mother is, I try to get the info out whenever I can. That is why over the last couple of weeks I have posted 2 stories from men who have been hurt by abortion.

Fortunately, the message is getting out, abortion hurts everyone involved. & there are groups that are springing up to help men & women who have been hurt by abortion.

If you look in the right hand column you will see a list of groups who offer post abortion healing. Some focus specifically on the needs of men.

Right now I am speaking to you men out there who have lost a child due to abortion. Some of you had no choice in the matter. Some of you talked the woman into having the abortion because you didn't want the child. Some of you even helped the woman financially or by taking her to the abortionist.

& now, well, you may be experiencing inner rage, you may be feeling a loss of your manhood, you may be taking the anger out on others, you may be feeling guilt, you may feel God has abandoned you. You may even feel suicidal. You may feel 1 or more of these I listed or others that I didn't. (More on the websites) I am hear to tell you there is hope. these groups help to provide the spiritual & emotional healing you need.

God loves you. He wants you to experience His love & forgiveness. He wants you to be set free from the damage, the bondage, the prison you are in. Please check out those organizations to find out where you can go for help. If you are Catholic don't forget the gift of the Sacrament of Confession.

It is not too late for you God is waiting with open arms. He is like the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son. He will welcome you home. Don't refuse that love, forgiveness & healing any longer.