Abortion Myth #7
Abortion is a woman’s issue.
Abortion Facts
Abortion is not only a woman’s issue. It affects fathers, siblings, friends, family members, the medical profession, and society as a whole.
Since men are not the ones who get pregnant, society tends to suggest that abortion concerns only women. In Canada, fathers have no legal rights over their unborn children.(1) On one hand, men are told that they should take responsibility for an unwanted baby by giving the mother financial help and emotional support if she chooses to give birth; on the other hand, men are legally denied a voice if the mother chooses to abort. The father of the child is equally responsible for that child’s very existence. As a parent of that unborn baby, he deserves a legal voice.
The father of an aborted child will often regret the loss of his child. Even years after the abortion procedure, men often face intense feelings of guilt and sadness as a result of their partner’s abortion. “The anger and frustration of not being able to protect and provide for his unborn baby because of abortion can manifest itself as alcohol abuse or a drug addiction, ‘workaholic’ tendencies, failed relationships due to resentment and mistrust towards women, homosexual experimentation, poor decision making skills and several sexual dysfunctions.”(2)
This is what some men have to say about an abortion in their past:
Paul Chimera, a Williamsville independent journalist and teacher:
“Long after the abortion was carried out, the emotional fallout continues, at least for me. I still occasionally have sleepless nights, thinking about what we did and why.... Who was the child we never knew? Would he have been my son? What would he or she be like today, at 20 years of age?... The pain of that decision and the regret, linger.”
Phil McCombs, United States:
“I feel like a murderer, which isn’t to say that I blame anyone else, or think anyone else is a murderer. It’s just the way I feel and all the rationalizations in the world haven’t changed this. I still grieve for little Thomas. It is an ocean of grief.”
Abortion Affects Society
“A nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.” Mahatma Ghandi
“A society will be judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members and among the most vulnerable are surely the unborn and the dying.” Pope John Paul II
(1) Chantal Daigle case July 27, 1989. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that a father has no right to prevent a mother killing their unborn child by abortion.
(2) Mattes, Bradley. The Impact of Men. Life Issues Connector, June 1996