"Out of the mouths of children and babies Thou hast ordained praise...." (Psalm 8:2)
An Appeal to Men to Stand Up for Women and Care For and Defend Their Children
by Randy Alcorn
The history of abortion in America should bring more shame to men than to anyone. No pregnancy happens without a man. Men
should take the responsibility for their own purity and to protect that of women. When they fail to do this, they should
be the first to accept full responsibility for the consequences of their actions, including the conception of a child.
As George Gilder argues in "Men And Marriage", when men exercise deep loyalties to women and children, when we take responsibility
to protect and defend them, we are at our best; when we violate these loyalties, we are at our worst. We become abusers on the
one hand, or passive cowards on the other. We place ourselves under the rightful scorn of women and under the judgment of God.
When I spoke on this subject at my church, a man in his sixties told me of a girl he got pregnant thirty-nine years ago. She gave him
the choice of what to do, and he chose an abortion. He said it has haunted him since. He thinks about the woman he failed
and the son or daughter he lost and wonders about the grandchildren he'd now be holding. He said to me, "Tell people about the consequences.
Warn our young men - tell them God will hold them accountable for what they do with their children." Then he broke down in tears and said,
"I don't want our young men to do what I did thirty-nine years ago."
One of our home Bible study leaders came to me, tears in his eyes. He told me of an abortion he paid for years ago and the
devastating impact it had on his life. A quarter of a million babies are aborted each year by women who describe themsleves as
"evangelical" or "born again." Most of these women no doubt have some church affiliation. In many cases, the father of the child attends the
same church. It is not only a moral crisis, but a matter of great shame that Christian men have been so weak that they not only
commit sexual immorality, but allow a child to be killed to cover up their sin and make their lives easier (until their
conscience takes revenge).
For the sake of women and children - and for our own sakes - it is time for men to stand up and make whatever sacrifices are
necessary to care for children they have fathered. If this means begging the forgiveness of women, or standing in front of
church leaders or a congregation and confessing their sin, so be it. If this were done more often, more young men in the church
would be encouraged to pursue purity and discouraged from ever letting a child die for their sins.
Abortion isn't a women's issue. It's a human issue, and its effects are devastating to women and men alike. But it's high time
for men to take personal responsibility, stand up for women and children, and exercise the kind of leadership God expects of us.
