The other grievers

Editor's note: The following text is a transcript of a podcast story. To listen to the story, click on the arrow beneath the headline above.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Tuesday, June 16th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Myrna Brown.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: men are starting to take to social media to share their experiences with abortion in hopes of stopping it.

BROWN: In Australia, men who work as carpenters, electricians, plumbers, and mechanics are called “tradies” because they work with their hands in the skilled trades. 

Well now, some tradies are putting their voices to work. WORLD's Lauren Canterberry has the story.

LAUREN CANTERBERRY: They call themselves Tradies for Babies and their videos have racked up tens of thousands of views on social media since they started posting last fall.

MAN 1: G’day, my name’s Luke. I’m sending this video in to tradies for babies.

MAN 2: G’day legends, it’s another tradie for babies checking in.

MAN 3: G’day, I’m a tradie for babies for sure.

MAN 4: Yeah mate. About time us blokes start standing up, aye?

It all started back in September, when a group of tradesmen attended a pro-life rally in the city of Adelaide. Videos of the men speaking in support of legislative efforts to protect unborn babies went viral. Shaun Freeborn is one of them.

FREEBORN: I’m Shaun. I’m a carpenter. And Tradies for Babies right now is run by me and my wife.

When the first videos surfaced, Freeborn’s wife Simone was making social media content for a pro-life organization called Birdflip. Freeborn made a few videos of himself for that platform and again, the content drew widespread interest.

FREEBORN: It’s something within the everyday man or like the tradesman or the blue collar, someone that’s like simple in nature standing against evil that really has taken off.

Birdflip’s founder formalized the brand Tradies for Babies and put the Freeborns in charge of it.

Like many of the men who have joined the online community, Freeborn and his wife came to the pro-life movement after their own experience with abortion.

FREEBORN: We had an abortion when we were younger, when we were 17. Now we have a purpose to use the abortion that we had because it devastates us, you know, every day.

Other Tradies around Australia began sending in their own videos talking about their experiences with abortion, miscarriage, and learning the truth that life begins at conception.

Australia has very few legal protections for unborn babies. Women can request an abortion for any reason up to 20 to 24 weeks of pregnancy, depending on the state. But even after that, abortionists can still kill unborn babies if two doctors agree.

FREEBORN: One of the things that we’re exposing in Australia is that Australia does allow abortion up to birth. But most people would say that it’s always a woman’s choice until you actually then start probing people 'when do you think abortion should not happen?'

Tradies for Babies is currently backing two state-level proposals to protect the unborn. One would protect babies after 26 weeks of pregnancy. Another would protect them from being killed because of their sex.

For years, Freeborn says men have been told that the best thing they can do when their girlfriend or wife becomes pregnant unexpectedly is to accept whatever decision she makes.

FREEBORN: That’s like the worst thing you can say to that woman, because it puts all of the burden on her. We really need to teach men how to support women in those situations.

The pro-life movement has done well to promote the voices of women affected by abortion, but Freeborn says male voices have been missing. That can also leave men alone while they try to process the loss of their own children to abortion.

FREEBORN: A lot of the time, obviously, the woman is the one that we see would grieve the abortion, but now we’re giving men also a voice to be able to say that the abortion they had years ago is actually devastating.

Freeborn envisions the group expanding to providing tangible support for women and couples who choose life. A network of skilled tradesmen would be equipped to meet young families’ specific needs.

And the movement has already caught on outside Australia.

MAN 6: The tradies for babies movement has reached Northern Canada, boys!

MAN 7: Hello, I’m Matthew from England.

MAN 8: If the accent don’t give it away I am not in Australia, I’m in the U.S., West Virginia to be specific.

MAN 9: Dayton, Ohio, getting on board. Protect babies cause they can’t protect themselves.

Freeborn says the movement is a next step in including more people in the conversation around the effects of abortion.

FREEBORN: We need to defend the vulnerable, fight for the innocent, and yeah, it’s our time to, to stand next to women and fight against this evil.

As the group continues expanding and advocating for pro-life legislation, Freeborn is hopeful that the movement will empower men to embrace their natural roles as protectors.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Lauren Canterberry.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.