There is a wholehearted desire not to talk about past abortions and the pain that they cause. People tend to want to push it under the rug, and to let it be something that just happens. He’s found that if you bring up abortion in church settings you’ll often be ostracized and criticized, and so he’s speaking out against that.

Henry Flowers is Urban Outreach Director of Protecting Black Life, an outreach ministry of Life Issues Institute. His mission is to reach the black community with the pro-life message.

“The real meat of the matter is that abortion affects people in ways that you will never understand unless you have been one of those people.”

We, as Christians, need to listen to the stories and the struggles of the people who have gone through this. Henry shares his own experiences with abortion, having lived through one himself and then later in life having chosen to get one with his then-girlfriend.

“I’ve struggled with being valued and being accepted, and my own personal worth. When I was twenty I dropped my girlfriend off at the abortion clinic because at that time in my life I was living just for myself — that day stuck with me.”

“It stuck with me and it still sticks with me today because I know that a life was taken for the sake of my convenience. I think about it often. I wish I had done something differently because I look at the person that I am now and I could have provided for that child. I could have been a good dad.”

Giving support and love is important, and we should approach these situations with care and understanding. It’s difficult to understand the pain and struggle, but people like Henry who speak out are able to tell us what they’re going through.

“There is a certain sense of guilt that I feel when I look at my firstborn son and I tell him, ‘You are my firstborn son, but you’re not my first begotten son.’ I share things with him to hope that he will never get in that situation again.”

Abortion has an effect on women, and also an effect on the fathers, too. The loss of fatherhood is something that is not talked about enough, so let’s get talking.

Highlight: The loss of fatherhood

Podcast: The loss of fatherhood