7 reasons men DO have a right to an opinion on abortion

CHICAGO (Christian Examiner) – Conventional wisdom among pro-choicers says men have no right to debate the merits and morality of abortion, but a writer at a prominent blog is challenging that head-on.

"In the fight over abortion, some claim that men have no right to an opinion on the matter," Daniel Hoffman wrote at DesiringGod.org in his post, "Seven Reasons Men Have a Right to Speak Out Against Abortion."

"However, from a biblical standpoint," Hoffman continued," 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."

Hoffman, who holds a master of divinity degree and teaches history and Bible at Cherokee Christian School in Woodstock, Ga., wrote that "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."

Among Hoffman's seven reasons:

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," Huffman wrote. "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.

"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?" Hoffman asked.

3. Every aborted child has a father.

"A child is an extension of the father as well as of the mother. This is true objectively and scientifically as it concerns the source of genetics and DNA, and it is recognized socially and legally with regard to last names, dependence, custody, inheritance, and in other ways," wrote Huffman. "The Bible assumes and affirms this reality as well (Genesis 5:3; Genesis 44:30; Micah 6:7). The child to be aborted is not an isolated unit but the fruit of both a mother and a father. Surely the father should have some say in what happens to the baby."

4. We are part of a society that is being deprived, annually, of hundreds of thousands of people.

"Over fifty million babies have been aborted in America since 1973 — close to a sixth of the American population," Huffman wrote. "There is inherent value and dignity in each of these individuals, and it is mind-boggling to think of all the potential contributions to society and culture that this lack represents. If society generally is of public concern (and clearly it is), then men should have some say on whether such massive numbers of those coming into it should simply be snuffed out, or allowed to participate."

To read the rest of Hoffman's column, click here.