Denver, Colo., Jan 21, 2018 / 12:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A man who lost his own child to abortion believes men have important things to say on the issue, and their voices need to be heard.
“We are told that men shouldn’t talk about abortion,” but it’s an issue that affects them too, Jason Jones told CNA in a recent interview. “It’s a man’s issue and it’s a woman’s issue.”
“As a man, I have something in me that wants to protect the vulnerable from violence. That is what men do,” he said.
Jones, a national pro-life advocate, said when he speaks frankly in those terms, men respond to him, because “we need to say the truth.”
“When men speak about abortion, it is very effective,” he added.
It might seem natural to think that women are better pro-life “spokespersons,” or that men should have a diminished role, Jones said. But “men have their place” in the discussion.
“Men share their stories, and their stories are sorrowful. Men who are scared, and manipulated or coerced into having an abortion. Men who can be humble and say ‘I coerced my daughter or my girlfriend or my wife into getting an abortion.’ We need to hear those stories.”
When men tell the truth about their own experience with abortion, “it changes people,” he said. “No one has a happy abortion story. When people tell the truth, it influences people.”
Jones, who often shares the story of his own child’s abortion, told CNA he was 17 when he and his girlfriend Katie found out they were pregnant. Still in high school, they planned to hide the pregnancy while he dropped out and joined the army so he could take care of the baby. He was excited to be a father, he said.
However, while still in basic training and during their third trimester, Jones got a call from his girlfriend’s father saying their “secret” had been discovered and “taken care of.” He was devastated.
An atheist who didn’t fully understand what abortion was, Jones said he realized his daughter, whom they had already named Jessica, had been murdered.
“That was it for me. It horrified me. It was unbelievable,” he said. “I had never been to church a day in my life, I knew nothing about politics. I was just a kid who was last in his class in high school, who to me, school was just something I had to do to play football.”
However, since the moment he found out that his daughter had been aborted, he says he has committed his life “to protecting women and children from the violence of abortion.”
Jones, 46, is now a film producer, author, and human rights worker known for his pro-life activism. He remained an atheist for years, though his contact with Christian organizations and study of political philosophy eventually led him, in 2003, to the Catholic Church.
In his comments to CNA, Jones, who is now married with seven children, said that it can be hard to discuss abortion because the friends and loved ones of someone who has had an abortion often become defensive, saying that to condemn abortion is to condemn a person they care about.
“The irony is that you know your sister had an abortion because she called you crying about it, with a broken heart. And then when that person stumbles upon a pro-life activist, they get angry because they think you are calling their sister a bad person.”
“We need to help people understand that when a woman gets an abortion it’s…an act of desperation,” he said. “She’s a victim just like the child.”
Jones said the pro-life movement needs an “apologetic” that is able to get the truth about abortion across in a simple way, and which teaches men to defend women and children.
“You do not need sophisticated arguments to tell a man: you don’t pay a stranger to kill your baby. As a man, you defend your child from violence … you defend the woman carrying your child from violence…it’s just very simple.”
He said that much of the language used in the pro-life movement is designed for women and to talk to women who are in a crisis situation, but men interact differently and need to be approached in a different way.
“When I talk to men about abortion, I talk to them as a man. I talk to them plainly,” he said. “I talk to them as a man that has lost his child.”
Many people can be cavalier and insensitive about abortion, he said, explaining that he can become passionate and wants to remind people that “we are victims in this too.”
When speaking about abortion, he says men should just be themselves: “Don’t talk about abortion differently that you talk about everything else, don’t put it off to the side. You are allowed, as a man, to talk about an issue like a man.”
Jones said his message to people who might be in a state of fear or crisis because of an unexpected pregnancy, said his message to them would be “what are you afraid of?”
“I had that experience, I became a teen parent,” but looking back, “what was I afraid of? … Being a father is such a beautiful gift … there is no more beautiful thing in the world than being a father.”
[…]
As William F. Buckley once apologized to Gore Vidal, in a National Review article, Gore’s homosexual activity was quite okay, but it was not okay for Buckley to simply use the word; “bottoms up,” he ended.
Biden might not be certifiably stupid, but he is an evil puppet by now redefining Title IX to include gender identity. Also, at least sorta stupid, given the science–and evidence of underlying problems–which cannot be suppressed forever.
https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/executive-summary-sexuality-and-gender
“[….] Compared to the general population, adults who have undergone sex-reassignment surgery continue to have a higher risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes. One study found that, compared to controls, sex-reassigned individuals were about 5 times more likely to attempt suicide and about 19 times more likely to die by suicide [….]”
Mr. Beaulieu;
I was not familiar with the particulars of Mr. Buckley’s apology to Mr. Vidal, so your quoting it – particularly the phrase ‘bottoms up’ gave me a much-needed laugh, for which I thank you.
Were Bishop Gruss my Bishop I would be proud of him and I would tell him so. He had to know in advance that what he said would get him in trouble.
1) He said it
2) He got in trouble
3) He made the proper apology
ergo
4) Mission accomplished
Never apologize for speaking the truth, your Excellency.
Maybe he should have referred to Biden as a moral imbecile. Still harsh, but true nonetheless.
I have said a lot worse about Biden and I don’t apologize for it. Whether his senility has rendered him stupid is an interesting question. He certainly was smart (and unscrupulous) enough to eventually occupy the most powerful political position in the world, even though he is not calling the shots.
Bishops Gruss should have ignored whatever backlash he may gotten from his offhand remark. It was a nonstory that didn’t deserve a reply. Of course, he did just the opposite, offering an apology and even saying that he doesn’t harbor any anger towards this Catholic president who has relentlessly and consistently implemented extreme anti-Christian policies. Apparently, His Excellency does not think there is such a thing as righteous anger. It was a pathetic performance, so typical of what we get from the hierarchy of the Church. We would be much better off if they didn’t say anything.
I think the word, “unwise” would have been more accurate and more acceptable to Pres. Biden and his supporters. Also, the adjective should have been connected with Pres. Biden’s words, not with him personally.
Perhaps you are not aware that at this time in history, children are not permitted to use the word “stupid” in most school, sports, or childcare settings. It antagonizes others and can lead to a counterattack, which for children, often means hitting, slapping, etc. Among older children, insults like this can lead to even worse and more violent retaliation.
If children can’t use the word, adults should set the example and not use the word. There are many words in the English language that can communicate a message without insulting the person.
It’s intuitively obvious to the most casual observer that Bishop Gruss’s choice of this adjective in describing Joseph Robinette Biden Jr is entirely accurate regardless of the offense that the thin skinned cabal may take to it.
stupid stu·pid adjective
a: slow of mind : obtuse
b: given to unintelligent decisions or acts : acting in an unintelligent or careless manner
c: lacking intelligence or reason
thank you
Well Mrs. Sharon, you are correct that we shouldn’t insult others. Especially as Christians.
But I think stupid is a perfectly good word and I hate to see the thought police clamp down on the English language.
Really dreadful obscenities are a routine part of our entertainment industry these days but we get more upset over old fashioned words like stupid. And I’m not picking on you Mrs. Sharon. I just mean our current culture.
Well Sharon, mark me down for “couldn’t care less” what the kiddies are allowed to do. I am not interested in having my use of language confined to what is appropriate for slap-happy toddlers, just because some woke administrator says so. I am not interested in the leftist playbook of suppressing acceptable speech, or distorting it with made up words, but I am sadly aware of efforts in that direction by our “educational” institutions. “Stupid” is a perfectly good English word, which means showing a lack of intelligence or common sense. There are a great many stupid politicians to whom the word applies.Joe Biden is one of them. His mental acuity has deteriorated to an obvious and considerable degree, and his fantasy stories of uncles eaten by cannibals ( along with MANY other proven lies and exaggerations) does not help his intellectual profile.
As for kids hitting each other, I am aware that some schools are so extreme as to prohibit children striking a blow to DEFEND themselves. Here is what I always told my sons: Never let me discover you were the first to hit someone. But if they hit you first, hit them back hard enough to make certain they will not attempt to hit you again. Pacifist is another word for willing victim.
I needed a good laugh this morning. Thank you!