Reclaiming Fatherhood, the conference which I have attended in San Francisco, was the first ever conference to address and focus on abortion and its effects on men. In the past, the Pro-Life movement benefited greatly when women who lived through the ordeal of abortion began to step forward and speak up about their pain and how abortion have ruined their lives. Their testimony spoke and continues to speak laud and clear. However in past two or three decades, we were brainwashed that abortion is a “woman only” issue. Approximately 46 million abortions take place each year around the world. Unless these pregnancies are the result of immaculate conceptions, abortion leaves behind 46 million men robed of their fatherhood.
In my upcoming posts and articles I will write in grater detail what I have learned form the San Francisco conference. Today I will limit myself only to acknowledging organizers, speakers and sponsors- because without their hard work and dedication such conference will not be possible.
Organizers and Speakers
Vicki Thorn
Vicki Thorn- the founder of National Office of Post Abortion Healinign and Reconcilliation. Vicki has been working in post abortion counseling since the early 80s. Vicki is also the founder of Project Rachel. Her contribution to understanding better after effects of abortion is enormous. Besides working with post abortive men and women, Vicki also has spoken on countless occasions to young men an women around the country about biochemistry of sexual relationships.
Reclaiming Fatherhood could not have happened without Vicki and the National Office of Post Abortion Healing and Reconciliation.
Dr. Vincent Rue
Dr. Rue is the Director of the Institute for Pregnancy Loss in Jacksonville, Florida, an independent non-profit research & treatment center. Dr. Rue received his Ph.D. in Human Development & Family Studies from the University of North Carolina in 1975. For 30 years Dr. Rue has been a practicing psychotherapist and has served on the faculty of California State University at Los Angeles and United States International University in San Diego.
In 1981 Dr. Rue provided the first clinical evidence of postabortion trauma, identifying this psychological condition as Postabortion Syndrome in testimony before the U.S. Congress. In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Rue also serves as a litigation consultant assisting numerous offices of the state Attorneys General in abortion & family related statutory challenges. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress and a Member of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. He has lectured throughout the United States, and has also presented in North and South America, Europe and Asia. Dr. Rue has authored one book and numerous professional journal articles on the topic of postabortion trauma and has been the principal investigator of the International Pregnancy Loss Research Project.
Catherine T. Coyle, RN, MSN, Ph.D.
Cathy Coyle earned her doctorate in Developmental Psychology at the University of Wisconsin. She is a registered nurse and holds a master’s degree in clinical psychiatric nursing. She has taught at both Edgewood College and the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Dr. Coyle has developed a healing program for men who have been hurt by abortion and has scientifically documented its effectiveness. She is the author of the book, “Men and Abortion: A Path to Healing”, which is based on her research and is available from Life Cycle Books. Dr. Coyle is an associate of the International Forgiveness Institute, co-director of the Alliance for Post-Abortion Research and Training, and continues to pursue research in the areas of both forgiveness and post-abortion trauma. She has published several papers and given numerous presentations concerning these topics.
Tom Golden, LCSW
Tom is the author of “Swallowed by a Snake: The Gift of the Masculine Side of Healing” and has been teaching mental health professionals around the world about men and boys and their unique paths in healing from stress, grief, and trauma. Tom’s book has been acclaimed by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and others. Tom enjoys presenting workshops in the United States, Canada, and Australia, having been named the “International Grief Educator” by the Australian Centre for Grief Education. His workshops are known to be entertaining and informative. Tom brings a gentle sense of humor and a gift for storytelling as he draws on his twenty-five years of practical, hands-on clinical experience. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and U.S. News and World Report, as well as on CNN and CBS Evening News. In 1995 Tom created the internet’s first interactive web page for grieving people webhealing.com and designed and started the worlds first internet memorial page, the Place to Honor Grief.
Warren Williams, MBA
Warren has a BA in Psychology and an MBA from the University of Colorado. He is a Charter Member of the American Association of Christian Counselors. He and his wife founded Boulder Caring Pregnancy Center in Boulder. Since 1978 he has been a student of fatherhood loss and the affects abortion has on men and society. In 1992 he founded Fathers & Brothers Ministries International, a ministry to men who have experienced loss of their fatherhood through natural pregnancy and elective choices. He is an Elder at VineLife Community Church in Boulder, CO.
He is a published author: “Fatherhood Lost” Suggested Guidelines in Leading a Bible Study, and the companion Bible Study “Missing Arrows”. He has written and self published many other booklets and articles on men and pregnancy loss including: “Restoring the Fugitive:” “A Father to the Fatherless-Overcoming the Affect of Absentee Fatherhood:” “Men in Sexual Crisis:” “Men in Reproductive Crisis and Recovery;” and a Bible Study for men titled “Missing Arrows.” In addition he and the late Guy Condon co-labored in authoring the Book entitled “Fatherhood Aborted.” Warren has been working on the promotion of these and other materials thorough Care Net, Promise Keepers, and Focus on the Family.
Warren has been a presenter at many national seminars and including Care Net, PACE, Healing Visions, Caring to Love, and Focus on the Family. He has been interviewed many times on radio and TV, co-authored many articles, and is widely quoted on the topic of the disenfranchising of male grief.
Gregory Hasek
Greg Hasek is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Oregon, and a Professor in the Graduate Counseling Program at George Fox University. He is also the Executive Director of a Christian non-profit agency called Misty Mountain Family Counseling Center. They provide individual, premarital and marital counseling out of their office in Portland, Oregon. In addition, they specialize in working with individuals, couples and families who have been affected by sex addiction, pornography and post abortion issues for men and women.
Gregory has presented on topics that include: Post Abortion Healing for Couples: A Family Systems Perspective, Unrecognized Post Abortive Grief in Males and the Link to Sexual Addiction, The Secret Destroyer of Marriage: Unresolved Abortion Related Trauma. In addition to speaking, he has published articles and appeared on television programs and radio discussing these issues around the country. His recent work includes studying the impact abortion and sex addiction has on the divorce rate, especially within the church. Greg has also developed a training program to help pastors and church leaders understand the impact abortion has on men and women, and how to create a healing culture within the church. Gregory is also executive director of Misty Mountain Family Counseling Center.
Reverend Martin Pable
Reverend Martin Pable is member of the Capuchin Order. He has a doctorate in Counseling Psychology, has taught in seminaries and is currently serving in retreat ministry at St. Anthony Retreat Center, Marathon, Wisconsin. He is the author of seven books, including one on male spirituality entitled “The Quest for the Male Soul”.
Andrzej Winkler, MA
Andrzej Winkler, MA is a psychotherapist in private practice in Poland. He had been the director of an outpatient clinic for addicts from 1989 to 2000. He has worked with male groups since 1989. He is the President of the Responsible Parenthood Society. He and his wife Magda are the parents of three adult children. Andrzej is also sharing his counseling experience with his colleagues in Easter Europe including Ukraine.
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco along with San Francisco Knights of Columbus facilitated the conference.
I have originally planned to place a picture of each speaker here in this articles. It turned out however, most of my pictures from the conference are out of focus. I will update this article with photos of each speaker as soon as I can find their pictures.
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While many in pro life movement welcome this news, abortion laws in NJ require more urgent attention. Currently NJ abortionists are not required to notify the parents of the girl and can offer the procedure to any girl of any age. According to New Jersey Department of Health between the years 1991 and 2004 there were 468,776 performed. These numbers are broken down by the week of gestation and show that 21,043 abortions were performed on 20th or later week of gestation.
