In the fight over abortion, some claim that men have no right to an opinion on the matter. This is about a woman’s choice and health, they say; men have no grounds to speak into the issue like women.
However, from a biblical standpoint, such a claim lacks foundation. Moral duty is not an arbitrary social construct but based on God’s commands and character, and the judgments we must make based on these have nothing to do with whether we are male or female. If abortion qualifies as murder (and it does), then men and women alike have a responsibility to oppose it. To refrain from having an opinion on the matter is not an option.
In today’s society, the surface-level emotional appeal of this argument is understandable. It appeals to our sense of tolerance, liberty and minding one’s own business. Dig any deeper, though, and the sentiment falls flat. Even without explicit reference to biblical reality, there are good reasons why men should have a say when it comes to public policy on abortion. Here are seven reasons why men have a right to speak out and should not capitulate into silence.
1. Men bear an enormous part of the responsibility for creating an abortion culture.
Negligent men/fathers are a huge factor behind the astronomical abortion rates, and so part of male public repentance must involve speaking against and shouldering much of the responsibility for abortion. Men have a role to play in abortion, at least insofar as their failure to commit to and support the children they have fathered drive many women to feel as though abortion is their only option. These men should repent and show the fruit of repentance by opposing abortion and caring for their children and the mothers of their children.
2. We were all once in the womb.
Men are not simply “male.” Their maleness is only one aspect of their being. They are also human: fathers, sons, brothers, children, adults and former infants. It is unclear why this one aspect of maleness should trump other aspects, which may be relevant. For example, all males were once infants in utero. All males were once potential victims of abortion, and many abortion victims are, in fact, male. Why should these realities not impart to men a right to speak on the matter? Why should it only be that their maleness precludes them?
