I recently met a man who told me a heartbreaking story from his past. He shared the joy he felt as a young guy when he met a beautiful girl on the beach. With just a look, he was convinced she would one day be his wife. He was right. They married and in the early seventies became pregnant. He was anticipating being a parent, eagerly looking forward to his first child. Then his world turned upside down when his wife informed him she was getting an abortion. “Why?” he asked, wondering if the doctors had told her of medical complications for her or danger for the child’s life. To his shock she had no medical reason for wanting an abortion. In fact, she gave him no reason at all. She simply stated she did not want to have a child. He was in great disagreement with her decision, yet felt helpless to stand against it. Abortion was newly legal at this time and He knew little about it. So she went to a hospital and made the choice for them. Over 30 years later this man still had pain in his tone while recollecting his story. He told me once the child died, their marriage did as well. “She killed my child,” he told me. I lost all love for her after that. They were divorced shortly after the abortion.

It’s a sad story, but not an uncommon one in our nation today. A news story broke this week about a man in New Mexico, who, with a pro-life group, put up a billboard with a picture of him holding a shadow of a figure in the shape of a baby. The billboard message was “This Would Have Been a Picture Of My 2-Month Old Baby If The Mother Had Decided To NOT KILL Our Child!” A Time magazine article on this billboard was titled “A dumped boyfriend gets even with an abortion billboard.” His ex-girlfriend sued him for harassment, and some reports say he could even do jail time. The women’s friends say she never aborted their child, but had a miscarriage. The facts are unclear what the true story is, and whether his motivation was revenge, or truly to speak out in his pain.

Either way it brings up a great question. Should fathers have a say when it comes to the issue of abortion? When the man I met told me this painful story He began by saying “I’m going to share with you from a side you don’t often hear from.” He wanted me to know the anguish father’s go through who lose their children to abortion. Not all men are pushing their ladies into clinics. Some are pleading with them to come out.

I think we need to hear from the father’s in America. We need to know that abortion has hurt you. We need to see your tears, hear your heart wrenching tales of loss. Don’t let the feminist movement  tell you this is just a woman’s issue. Don’t let the world tell you, you don’t have a voice. It takes two people to make a child, so why should one have the choice to kill it. Like the wise mother in Proverbs 31:8-9 says:

      Open your mouth for the speechless,
      In the cause of all who are appointed to die
      Open your mouth, judge righteously,
      And plead the cause of the poor and needy.

Open your mouths fathers. We need to hear your voices!