The neutrality myth

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MARY REICHARD, HOST: Up next, the missing fathers.

Every unexpected pregnancy involves both a mom and a dad, but for decades most pro-life ministries have emphasized exclusively the mother.

NICK EICHER, HOST: New research indicates fathers may have more influence than many have assumed. WORLD reporter Lauren Canterberry reports on efforts to help men speak up—and show up.

LAUREN CANTERBERRY: Sean Corcoran and his girlfriend were in their first semester of college when she told him she was pregnant and had made up her mind to have an abortion.

SEAN CORCORAN: The best that I could do was just say no. And that didn’t work.

Corcoran asked her to reconsider, and his father offered to adopt their baby, but she went ahead.

The couple’s grades took a hit as they struggled in the aftermath. A school counselor agreed to waive his girlfriend’s classes for the semester without penalties but Corcoran was denied the same option.

CORCORAN: They just said no, this doesn’t affect you because you’re a man.

Corcoran flunked out. He became addicted to methamphetamines as he tried and failed to complete his degree two more times. He entered a rehab program and started to see that his struggles were tied to the abortion. A counselor helped him process his grief and suggested he name his unborn child.

CORCORAN: His name is Michael.

Women may carry the physical burden of pregnancy, but pro-lifers say men’s voices are often ignored in the abortion discussion.

Liam Siegler is a researcher with the Vitae Research Institute and he says pro-abortion groups effectively silence men with phrases like “my body, my choice” and “no uterus, no opinion.”

Earlier this year, Vitae published its first study examining how men respond to unplanned pregnancy and abortion. Nearly half said they told their girlfriends or wives they would support them no matter their decision.

SIEGLER: They either said that out of a desire to avoid conflict because they thought that was what she wanted to hear, or they felt that if they took a strong position it would cause a problem in the relationship.

But Siegler said women did not find that response helpful because it shifted the responsibility onto women alone.

Siegler hopes Vitae’s research will equip pro-life organizations and pregnancy resource centers to serve the fathers of babies at risk of abortion.

Crossroads Care Center in Auburn Hills, Michigan is doing just that. When Don Schumaker began volunteering in 2023, he was one of three men serving in the center’s men’s program. Now the team has grown to eight.

DON SCHUMAKER: So teach the guy, ‘you got a voice.’ Do you want this child? You have to let her know that and that means not just wanting the child to live but you’re going to be with her for helping to raise the child.

At Crossroads, men can attend infant care classes and meet with staff to share their needs and concerns. Schumaker is also shifting the men’s classes and locations to accommodate traditional work schedules.

SCHUMAKER: We want them to be working so it’s really coming down to figuring out a way to meet them where they live.

Schumaker said men need community and accountability to feel ready to become fathers. Corcoran agrees.

CORCORAN: There’s a hunger in young men for something greater.

After rehab, Corcoran went back to school, became a lawyer, and started his own family. Now he is the CEO of the national nonprofit Men for Life. It works with pregnancy centers to develop men’s programming.

CORCORAN: By filling that hunger with authentic masculinity, with Biblical masculinity, we can serve that young man to where he has the confidence to raise the child.

A Gallup poll published last summer says 54% of American men identify as pro-life. But Corcoran said more men need to speak out publicly.

CORCORAN: Right now we’ve got half of the pro-life army on the sidelines. When men return back to the arena, to fight boldly for life, that’s when we’ll end abortion.

Pro-lifers say getting men back in that arena will require a new narrative around who should be involved in abortion decisions.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Lauren Canterberry.

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