Young and newlywed, Reg Platt and his wife were settling into married life when they learned they were expecting their first child. While Platt was happy about the impending birth of their child, his wife was less so.
Platt told Live Action News, “Actually, it was quite a surprise that my wife got pregnant so soon because she thought she could never have children. Yet, she was more concerned with launching her acting career than she was with being a mother. She told me she wanted to have an abortion.”
While Platt was unhappy with her decision, he agreed to go along with the abortion if that’s what she wanted. He knew she had pinned her hopes on performing as a dancing Indian princess in an outdoor drama, and being a visibly pregnant woman would eliminate her from consideration for the role.
“When I look back, I realize I was abdicating any responsibility for my part in the abortion,” Platt said. “But I was only 19 years old, and I believed I was doing it to save our marriage.”
He was fearful his fiercely independent and “liberated” wife might tell him “goodbye” should he insist she carry the pregnancy to term.
As Platt drove his wife to the abortion facility, he was crying inside. The abortion seemed to put his marriage on shaky ground.
“We started bickering and fighting more often,” he said. “Within six months our fledgling marriage had failed.”
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His emotions were in turmoil, and Platt lost the desire to live. He was also still in denial for his part in the abortion and in the disintegration of his marriage.
“I was so depressed and angry,” Platt said. “I thought I was going crazy, but I never connected it to the abortion, but the soul can’t be fooled.”
A life broken by abortion is littered with drug abuse and failed marriages
As he stood in front of the bathroom mirror one day, he felt revulsion for the man he saw staring back at him. He wanted to end his anguish.
Platt said, “I was holding a razor above my wrist when I made eye contact with myself and for a flicker of a moment, saw Christ within me. I knew then that God still had plans for me.”
He had left Houston and was now living in Dallas in search of a fresh start, but he soon realized that he could never escape problems of his own making. He couldn’t hold a job and began abusing alcohol and drugs to numb the pain he’d stuffed deep inside.
“I started to feel sorry for myself.” Platt said.
His life spiraling out of control, Platt found himself living first on the street, then with a squatter for a few months.
While in Dallas, he had met another woman who was eight years his senior.
They had something in common: an ongoing struggle with alcohol and drugs. Still, they married, and although Platt’s new wife wanted children, the couple could not conceive.
Platt said, “I was not getting her pregnant. I learned that my drug abuse had lowered my sperm count.”
As a result, his wife turned to other men sexually but initially resisted letting go of the dying marriage.
“As my life again took a nosedive, I dabbled in black magic, trying to seize control of my life, but it didn’t work,” Platt said. “I just let in more darkness and confusion. For a time, I couldn’t believe in God; I guess you could say I was an atheist.”
God’s grace shows up and spurs a journey of self-awareness and a pro-life mission
Platt spent the next 15 years grappling with depression, his life devoid of happiness or joy. One day, God gave him an epiphany.
Platt said, “It hit me that I should have a fifteen-year-old child, but I didn’t. I hadn’t lifted a finger to defend my child and because of that, I was just as complicit as my ex-wife in killing our child. Abortion had broken my heart, and I didn’t know how to mend it.”
Through His grace, God had provided Platt with an opportunity to repent for his role in the abortion and to finally get forgiveness.
“It was now time to face what I had done and to heal,” Platt said. “I realized I didn’t want to live without God in my world.”
He returned to church, and it was there he was referred to Rachel’s Vineyard, a post-abortion retreat.
Platt said, “I really didn’t think I needed it, but I learned otherwise. I started to dig deeper and understand things about myself that was instrumental in my growth and healing.”
It was during this journey that old memories came to the surface, including one that was particularly disturbing. He recalled that his first wife, after their divorce, had come to him again to ask him for help in obtaining an abortion.
“I had erased that memory from my mind,” Platt said. “For me, it was a turning point. I decided to name those lost souls. This helped me in not only owning up to my involvement in ending their lives, but also allowed me to have a relationship with them.”
While living in Chicago, Platt’s apartment caught fire. Not knowing where else to go, he turned to the Catholic Church for assistance.
Platt said, “I was met with compassion and a cheese sandwich. It seems strange to say a cheese sandwich meant so much to me, but it did. I was given such love there and it was really the catalyst for becoming involved in the pro-life movement.”
After returning to Texas, he participated in 40 Days for Life, a peaceful and educational pro-life campaign that takes place over 40 days twice a year. Though he had found the Rachel’s Vineyard program to be valuable, he had felt a post-abortion retreat specifically for men would fill a much-needed gap. He learned about Project Joseph, eventually becoming the project coordinator, and he helped the program expand, attracting men from across the country.
“Project Joseph is instrumental in addressing the unique issues that post abortive men grapple with,” Platt said. “As a Catholic and pro-life advocate, it’s now my life’s passion to guide men out of the darkness and into the light.”
Editor’s Note, 4/30/24: Some of the details and order of events have been corrected.
