Abortion is a “women’s issue” and men’s opinions shouldn’t matter, right? Yet, men seem to be content with this idea. A 2023 study from the University of Southern California found that 80% of men aged 18-50 in the U.S. and Canada are fine with abortion. If women need it and most men are fine with it, why is abortion still a hot button issue?
As a man, I admit we cause most of society’s ills. What world wars have women started? How many weapons have they invented? On the abortion issue, I believe men are responsible for the whole culture of it.
Abortion drugs promise to “liberate” women, but men too often have used them to harm women. Cases of men spiking women’s drinks with abortion pills have, well, spiked: from coffee to water to hot chocolate to orange juice. An Illinois man forced abortion pills into his pregnant girlfriend’s body. A Washington nurse practitioner did the same to his mistress because he was cheating on his wife.
Men pushing abortion on women is hardly new. Every surviving court record from colonial America about abortion involved men forcing it on women. What’s really driving abortion culture? Are women fighting for their “freedom,” or are men fighting for theirs?
From 1965-1973 a Supreme Court panel of nine men transformed American culture. A flurry of decisions legalized contraception in marriage, then outside marriage, and finally abortion. The day Dobbs overturned the infamous Roe ruling, I remember reading online reactions. One article asked men to consider how they benefit from abortion and can avoid unwanted parenthood even more than women. So, abortion lets men be promiscuous? Color me surprised.
Susan B. Anthony, a suffragist and abolitionist in the 19th century, had a lot to say about men’s place in moral issues. “Guilty? Yes,” she declared of a woman’s role in abortion, “…but oh! thrice guilty is he who, for selfish gratification…drove her to the desperation which impelled her to the crime.”
Dr. Horatio Storer, a founder of the American Medical Association, observed in the mid-1800’s that history is full of tribal men killing infants “to avoid the trouble of their support.” Yet, even in his day, he saw abortion as mostly “advised and abetted, if not compelled…by us men.” Storer and Anthony didn’t see eye-to-eye, but they agreed on the root evil of abortion.
Men have long invented tools to liberate their desires. In 1838, a German doctor created the first rubber cervical cap. In 1855, Charles Goodyear, the pioneer of vulcanized rubber, produced the first mass-marketed rubber condoms. In 1909, Dr. Richard Richter, a German physician, developed the first contraceptive intrauterine device (IUD). Two male physicians in 1967 crafted the first copper IUD. In 1980, two Frenchmen scientists synthesized mifepristone: the first pill in the abortion drug regimen. A Finnish male doctor led the research team at the University of Helsinki to design the first hormonal IUD at the turn of the century.
As with colonial era tonics, women bear the risks. Hormonal IUDs are supposed to ease a woman’s natural period and prevent pregnancy. But, over time, they can lead to mood swings, depression, and suicidal feelings. Some physicians have pressured women into using an IUD for birth control, causing them pain and injury.
Sure, many women are behind modern abortion activism. But men literally engineered it. If we could line up those inventors on a stage for a female audience to applaud, would that paint an eerie picture? Do women need men’s anti-baby inventions as much as they need men to sacrifice and commit?
Having a child with a man can give a woman a sense of grounding. A baby binds them together. That sweet, little bundle of cuteness encourages commitment, sacrifice, and security. Motherhood and security are natural desires in a woman. Men must offer both.
But instead of walking this journey with her, too often a man shatters her expectations. That pregnancy test excites her—until he crashes the party. Under his charm lay an overgrown child unwilling to commit. When a man violates a woman’s nature for nurturing and bonding, her fairy tale turns into a dystopian nightmare.
Men, it’s time to stop our endless pursuit of irresponsibility! Jesus taught men to commit to their wives when they wanted no-fault divorce. He willfully submitted to crucifixion. Through His selfless atoning sacrifice He is exalted as Lord of all. He is our role model.
If Jesus can sacrifice and die for others, we can sacrifice to be husbands and fathers. If we can take a bullet for our country, we can tame our base desires. We must be the balance of strength and tenderness to the ones who need it the most: women and children. Men, let’s make marriage and family great again! Abortion culture is our responsibility.
