Let me tell you a little about myself. I'm 33 years old, divorced and the
father of three children. My son Terry is four years old and loves his
father very much. Though he lives with his mother, he and I have a very
good relationship. We talk on the phone frequently, and he comes to visit
me every three months for a week, and for four weeks during the summer. I
let him know I will always be there for him, and we do the best we can with
the time we have. I love him more than words can say.
My other two children are James and Sue Ann. I love them both very much,
too. But they will never hold my hand or look into my eyes. We have never
taken walks together or played a game of ball. You see, both James and Sue
Ann were killed by abortion.
James lost his life in the summer of 1981 without my knowledge; I didn't
even know my wife was pregnant. Sue Ann was killed in the summer of 1982; I
begged for her life on my knees. Attorneys I had called for help told me I
had no right to save her because she had no right to live. One told me I
had to change my "value system"; what he meant was I had to pretend that my
child did not exist, that I didn't care.
After years of heartache, depression and nightmares, my marriage fell
apart. Even the birth of Terry couldn't change that. Still, to this day, I
don't think of my wife as one who murdered my children, but as herself a
victim of abortion, and of the exploitative tactics and anti-family
rhetoric of the National Organization for Women, which now claims her as a
member.
After years of silence I began to tell my story and to speak out for the
right of fathers to protect their preborn children and the women they love
from abortion. But it soon became clear to me that this wasn't enough, that
men needed an organization to make them part of the pro-life family-an
organization that would defend their rights as fathers and help them deal
with the aftermath of abortion.
The organization is called Dads for Life. In my capacity as its president
and founder I have, over the past two years, been on many television shows,
including "The Today Show," "The 700 Club," "Straight Talk," "Crossfire,"
and "Sonja Live." I've spoken at two of National Right to Life's annual
conventions and at Human Life International's Eighth World Conference in
Miami, Florida this spring. I've also gone to many state conventions around
the country, where I've told of the horrors of abortion and the love I have
for children and life.
Over the past two years many men have come forward telling me how they've
lost children to abortion and how this has affected their lives. Such as
the man who lost a child because the mother felt being pregnant was
hindering her summer social life by spoiling her appearance in a bathing
suit. And the man from South Dakota whose child was killed because he
couldn't afford to buy the house the mother wanted. And the man who lost
his child to abortion because his wife demanded he buy her a new car that
he could not afford. He tried: he went to the bank, he asked friends for
the money, but to no avail. In her sixth month she aborted.
Dads For Life wants to help these men, and to prevent such things from
happening to others. But we desperately need your help. We need money to
pay our rent, to buy office supplies and equipment, to put out newsletters,
and to hire attorneys that will defend the rights of fathers whose
children's lives are threatened. We also need you to invite us to your
local and state pro-life rallies and conventions, so that the people in
your area can better understand how abortion is hurting men and what can be
done about it. And most of all, we need your prayers.
Please do what you can to help us help the fathers-and their babies. Write
or call Tom Beaudette, director of Dads for Life, at 2703 Galilee Ave.,
Zion, IL 60099; (708) 872-5340. Or write or call me, Gary Bell, at 908
Thorn St., Princeton, WV 24740; (304) 487-1644.
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