Topic: Loving and Leaving Abortion, by its very nature is a "sexist" event. A man's inability to
conceive limits his ability to get pregnant. But, this same failing of his
gender should not limit his responsibility to the woman with whom
he has had some sort of sexual relation. Should not, but very often
does. For every woman who procures an abortion, there is a man who is
at least partly to blame for the circumstance in which she found herself.
How many went alone to the doctor's office, and how many had the husband,
boyfriend, or one-nighter with them? How many men are there when she tells
her family? How many men were instrumental in the decision to abort the
foetus? And how many men suffer the heartache and agony of the abortion,
at the time and for the rest of their lives? The answer to most of
those questions is "a few", maybe even "a lot". But the answer to the last
question is "none". And it is because of that, many of the other questions
become irrelevant - except one. What selfish ideas have to be running
through a guy's head when he goes through his litany of reasons that she
must have an abortion? "What am I gonna do? I don't need a family
right now", "I already have a wife and kids", "This is going to tie me
down, strap me for cash", "This is going to cramp my lifestyle", "I've
almost got the car paid for - I don't need this". Maybe it's just that
he's not ready for a family. "I guess you know what you have to do. It's
the right thing - for you, for me, and even for the baby". If you're
sexually active, whether your 15-years old, or fifty, you'd better be
prepared for a family. That's the funny thing about intercourse - it's
part of procreation. Being pro-life, when I read stories about women who
have undergone abortions alone, or worse are coerced into the procedure
from some guy - husband, lover, boyfriend - who bares neither the physical
or emotional scars of an abortion, my resolve to stop the procedure as a
means of contraception redoubles. A man launching into a physical
relationship, without consideration for the possible consequences of that
relationship, pales in comparison to a man whose solution to a pregnancy
in which he wants no part is that he convince the woman to procure an
abortion. It is irresponsible, it is contemptible, and more, it is the
decision of a coward. Life is difficult, and sometimes we experience
something which makes it even more difficult. Shirking on the
responsibilities of fatherhood is bad in itself. But to do so with the
termination of the very life we helped to create, simply because that life
is inconvenient, is vial. Abortion, regardless of who makes the
decision, is a death: the death of a child, a life, a soul. A man
convincing a woman of her need for an abortion then, to me, makes this man
complicit in a murder, and no better than the people who provide the
abortion, or demand it's free and easy access.
Mike.
Date: October 19, 1997
By Mike Brown
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Copyright © 1997 Mike Brown
Reprinted here with permission from the author