(A father's reflection)

I wasn't strong enough to get up and walk out

My wife found herself pregnant at 20 years old and we decided we both weren't "ready" to have a child.

We had it done in Oakland in 1975 at an old hospital converted to an abortion clinic. We were there almost six hours waiting. I had a lot of "second" thoughts during that wait. I knew deep down inside that what we were going to do was wrong, but at the time wasn't strong enough to get up and walk out.

I feel a great loss for the child I could have had. That decision I made about the abortion has definitely affected my present life. I have, by the grace of God, dealt well with my feelings of guilt but the sorrow and loss of a child will always be there.

The main thing I did was realize that my sin was forgiven by God and that one day I will see the child I could have had on this Earth.

I realize that there is a baby in a pregnant mother and that the baby is there as a gift of God. It might not seem like that when you are going through a crisis pregnancy but years later that truth becomes apparent.