I will never forget when I was 17 and my girlfriend told me she was pregnant.
I have told Keith’s story (not his real name) so many times over the past few years because it made such an impact on me. Usually when people think of abortion, they think of it as a woman’s issue. I had the same perception until the day I met Keith.
Keith, tall and in his 80’s, walked into the Pregnancy Resource Center and handed me a check. The check was folded in half, and I could not see the name or the amount of the donation. I was the Center Manager at the time and politely said thank you as I received his donation. He asked if he could tell me his story.
“I will never forget when I was 17 and my girlfriend told me she was pregnant. The only thing I could remember was how frightened I was and how I told her she should get an abortion. I gave her some money to deal with the problem and she did. I got married to a different girl a few years later, and I remember her telling me that she had an abortion when she was 16. I was saddened by the news, and it brought back memories of my own abortion experience. Fast forward about 20 years later, and my wife I and are sitting across the table from our teenage daughter. She let us know that she was pregnant. She wanted to finish school and didn’t want to have a baby. Her abortion was scheduled for the next day. Fast forward another 25 years, and I just found out that my granddaughter had her 3rd abortion recently.”
At Pregnancy Resource Center we are sensitive to people’s spiritual beliefs since decisions they make that don’t align with their belief system can cause pain and confusion in the future. As Keith continued his story I could see how this was true in his life. “My wife and I began attending church in our late 30’s but had never really talked about our experiences. It just seemed nobody would understand, let alone forgive us for the 6 innocent lives that are missing from our family because of our choices. I know that my financial donation can never change the decisions I made, but I want this to stop. I want the generations of abortions to stop within my family.” I was shocked by the pain in his voice and had never considered that men could be affected so deeply by “a woman’s choice.”
Keith and I prayed together and I thanked him for his financial support to the Pregnancy Resource Center. I invited him, his wife, and family to be a part of our Hearts of Hope program and ensured him that God has forgiven him. (If this was donors eyes only I love the word Christ, but for our clients I sense it may be a little too strong)
That day Keith helped me realize that abortion is not just a woman’s issue. It affects men deeply, and it can have devastating effects on generation upon generation. Like Keith, “I just want this to stop.” I hear too many other stories of the pain many women, and men, feel after abortion. Often it’s because they made the decision because of outside pressure and too quickly without having time to think about how it could affect their life. At Pregnancy Resource Center we are to meet the needs if you find yourself unexpectedly pregnant. We will listen and answer your questions with factual information.
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The Hearts of Hope program is open for men and women. We have men who meet one-on-one with you to talk about your feelings after an abortion experience. Email us by using our confidential contact page.
