• At a time when men are changing roles and become increasingly involved with raising their children, they are systematically denied the right to be involved in life-or-death decisions affecting their unborn children.
• Sociologist Arthur Shostak observed in an article for The Family Coordinator that three out of four male respondents said they had a difficult time with the abortion experience and that a sizable minority reported persistent day and night dreams about the child that never was, as well as considerable guilt, remorse and sadness.
• Emotional resolution is nearly impossible because there is no visible conclusion. Because the unborn child was denied humanity, he or she is denied a grave or marker. The grieving process is left unfinished.
•Clinical experience shows that men become hostile when they have been excluded from decision making and when they discover they have been deceived and manipulated.
• In the abortion decision, the male’s role is often marginal and passive. He may be bypassed by his sexual partner, ignored at the abortion clinic, and helpless in the act and aftermath. This role conflict may well be responsible for some of the increase in male sexual dysfunction.
•The results of a national poll indicate that three out of four respondents still believe that the ideal man is one who will fight to protect his family. Yet how can one protect when one is not allowed by law to be involved in a life-or-death decision?
•Reconciliation of the death of one’s unborn child ultimately involves the act of forgiveness. Forgiveness for abortion flows from being willing to know and tell the truth.
Forgotten Fathers: Men & Abortion (2002) Life Cycle Books, www.lifecyclebooks.com.