‘Cos you were just a small bump unborn for four months, then torn from life
Maybe you were needed up there but we’re still unaware as why.
–Ed Sheeran, Small Bump
With the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 came the legalization of the ultimate usurper of fatherhood: abortion. Forty years later, America faces the unpleasant reality that, thanks to abortion and the sexual revolution, the role of fatherhood has rapidly made an about-face. Fatherhood has gone from being an unquestioned ingredient in family life to a variable that occurs in the family dynamic only when circumstances are aligned just right.
It is this dilemma that prompted Online for Life President Brian Fisher, in anticipation of Father’s Day, to release a FoxNews column about the impact of abortion on men. Fisher begins by acknowledging that the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 was a welcome liberation from perceived shackles of fatherhood. However, as the years have dragged on, more tragic and dark realities have emerged as true consequences of abortion’s mitigation of fatherly rights and responsibilities. Says Fisher:
Of course, millions of men welcomed the change. The sexual revolution was booming, and men were experiencing a new kind of empowerment we hadn’t previously enjoyed…
Abortion didn’t empower women. It empowered men.
Fast forward to Father’s Day 2013.
Fifty-five million aborted babies later, it seems many men are realizing the Supreme Court got it wrong. Fatherhood doesn’t start with birth. It starts when we opt to sleep with a woman. And, despite federal law, our consciences testify that we are wired to protect and care for a child when it is conceived, not nine months later.
What are the unfortunate side-effects of elective abortion for men? According to Fisher, abortion is beginning to show its ugly face in the form of many tragic consequences, including depression and the exploitation of women:
We are just now considering, though, that we victimize ourselves.
Depression, guilt, shame, a loss of self, a loss of honor, and destroyed relationships are common male consequences of abortion.
In our heart of hearts, we are coming to grips with what we’re doing. We are willfully taking the lives of those we are wired to protect.
Men, born to be honorable and full of valor, Fisher says, have traded their innate sense of responsibility for a perceived freedom that is not worth the cost. He says that a man’s fundamental calling to defend those who are dependent on him, including the unborn, is squashed by the abortion mentality.
He concludes by suggesting that, although Father’s Day is a time to remember and honor the good men in our lives, it has also morphed into a day when the nation should mourn. As we need a Veterans’ Day to thank those who have fought for our freedom, we also need Memorial Day to remember those who have fallen victim to the ravages of war. Similarly, every Father’s Day since 1973 has become a day when we cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that fathers are undermined by a culture that affirms “a woman’s right to choose,” since that tragic choice eliminates what is good about men and fathers.
Organizations like Rachel’s Vineyard work to heal the wound that abortion has left on women and men alike.
