“When he saw the baby on the ultrasound, that was it,” Karla told us, “We’re not going to get an abortion.”
Women’s Choice Network seeks to empower those most vulnerable to abortion to choose life. But did you know that when a woman faces an unplanned pregnancy, the father of the baby is the most influential voice in her decision?
More than her best friend, her parents or even a trusted doctor, women consider the father of the baby to be the most important voice in a pregnancy decision. But sadly, our culture has built a divide between couples telling men it’s a “woman’s choice.” He’s relegated to the sidelines and asked to sit down, shut up, and pay. His voice has been silenced or marginalized during the decision making process and beyond.
At the close of 2019, we launched a men’s program to address this very divide. Our mission was to meaningfully engage dads from the moment of decision and to build skills during the first years of his child’s life. We were overjoyed to hire Alex Hettinga, a long time member of our Board of Directors, to lead this initiative.
And we’ve seen immediate results. Alex has already recruited 6 male volunteers, all of whom are serving actively. “All these men have incredible wisdom and ministry experience,” Alex told us, “I am so thrilled at what they bring to the table.”
“Overall, I couldn’t be more excited about our growing ability to reach men,” Alex reported, “With this new emphasis, we aren’t only helping individuals; we’re building families. We’re bridging the exact divide that causes so many women to feel alone in their most important decisions, and it is so powerful to see the difference. I can tell that many of the guys I work with have never been listened to this way in their lives, but when they are included and treated with care and dignity, they start to feel how valuable their voice and leadership can be.”
We see an unplanned pregnancy the way God sees it: with both the man and the woman as vital partners when determining the future of their child. Whether a couple comes in for STD testing or for pregnancy testing, we are much better equipped to help them once we know both sides of their story. Sometimes all a couple needs in order to choose life is a chance to talk things out separately and then together, and we can facilitate and encourage that. Other times things are very complicated and we realize how much of the picture we would have missed if we only worked with her.
Thank you for your recent giving.
Amy Scheuring
Executive Director
Comments