I first realized that there was a need for Dads for Life in 1988. Men
needed to come together in great numbers to be a strong force in fighting
for the rights of fathers. We needed to help protect both the lives of
preborn children and the lives of exploited women. Men needed to show how
they and their families were affected by the painful reality of abortion,
and how they, too, were suffering in the aftermath of abortion. Men needed
to stand with women to say, "You can't kill our children ever again!"
As you know, Father's Day comes every June. For most men, father's day is
very special, but for some men, it's one of the worst days of the year. For
a man that has had a child killed by abortion, it can be a very sad day.
Instead of getting lots of hugs and kisses, he wonders how many hugs and
kisses he has lost. Instead of having a child he can hold, he has a child
he will never hold. Instead of feeling that fatherhood is something special
(and it is!), they feel that fatherhood has no respect.
But a man who has lost his child to abortion does not have to feel this
way. God will take the bad feelings away. God wants to take them away. All
that needs to be done is for Him to be asked. If a man gets down on his
knees, asks God for help and dedicates his life to Him, that man's child
will rejoice with God. Dads for Life helps afflicted men to discover this.
Dads for Life helps men to feel good about being a father and to feel good
about Father's Day.
Dads for Life is an organization where grandfathers, uncles, brothers, and
others who have lost a preborn relative to abortion can turn to for help
and support. With Dads for Life, afflicted men can face their hurt, their
anger, their emptiness, and their feelings of betrayal, and they can join
together to strengthen the pro-life movement.
Just as it is important for women victims of abortion to get counselling,
men need to receive help in dealing with their pain and feelings of
helplessness.
Currently, Dads for Life's top priority is to help educate both the people
who will be counselling and the general public. Dads for Life will do
everything it can to help post abortion support services everywhere to be
properly prepared to help men as well as women. Already, many people around
the country are telling me that more men than ever before are coming to
them seeking the help they need. Kathy Walker, the President of W.E.B.A.
(Women Exploited by Abortion), tells me she's getting more calls from men
than ever before. Dr. Vincent Rue, Ph.D., of the Institute for Abortion
Recovery & Research, in Portsmouth, NH, tells me he is seeing more men than
women.
Dads for Life is working to get chapters going in every state and in
Canada. I have recently spoken in Michigan and Wisconsin, will be one of
the keynote speakers at the B.C. Surrey, Delta, Right to Life National
Convention in Canada, and will also be the keynote speaker at the South
Dakota Right to Life state convention later this year. Dads for Life has
been working with W.E.B.A., since it is very important for men and women to
stand together for life, and it has built a good working relationship with
the National Office of Post Abortion Reconciliation and Healing as well as
many Project Rachel groups around the country. I have also had the pleasure
of working with Victims of Choice, a national Post Abortion ministry in
California.
Many men, victims of abortion, who look around for counselling are turned
away or passed from one person to another, probably because people aren't
sure how to help them. This is tragic, because once they are turned away,
they may never seek help again. Don't let these victims feel unimportant or
feel that no one cares about how they feel.
If you know a man who needs help, write Dads for Life at 908 Thorn St.,
Princeton, WV 24740, or call (304) 487-1644. There are also several
pamphlets available that are directed at hurting men. Lee and Pam Koerbel,
of Post Abortion Ministries, P.O. Box 3092, Landover Hills, MD 20784-0092,
have developed a pamphlet that I feel will be a great help. Easton
Publishing Co., Inc., P.O. Box 1064, Jefferson City, MO 65102, now has a
pamphlet called "Hidden Tears" by Lindy Pierce that I know will also help.
I am working with Pat Hansard, of Abortion Recovery, Canada, to produce yet
another pamphlet to help men suffering the effects of abortion.
In closing, there is a great deal of work to do, and Dads for Life needs
your help. Ask yourself what you can do to help Dads for Life, either
through volunteer work or by a financial donation. Pray about it, and if
God wills it, do it. Also, thank you to all those who have helped so much
already. God knows who you are and will never forget you.
Please help fatherhood get the respect it should have. After all, a father
who has lost a child to abortion is still a Dad for Life.
Gary Bell is the President of Dads for Life.
ALL About Issues, PO Box 1350, Stafford, VA 22555
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