Dads For Life (2)

DADS FOR LIFE (2) by Gary Bell, copyright 1991

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.

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