By Gudrun Schultz
NASHVILLE, Tennessee, April 7, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Country legend Kenny Rogers addresses the sorrow felt by many men after they lose a child to abortion, in the title track of his new album, Water and Bridges.
The pain of losing a baby to abortion is rarely acknowledged as an issue for men – abortion is usually considered a woman’s affair. But in fact men are involved more often and more deeply than is generally believed, both with the decision-making and with the pain and regret after the child’s death. In particular, experts say, men who encouraged or coerced women to get an abortion may experience intense guilt over their role in the child’s death.
The song Water and Bridges tells the story of a man who took his girlfriend to get an abortion as a young man, and now regrets the decision, looking back later in life.
“She called, said she was late. So we took a little drive upstate an’ took care of that…just took care of that,” the story goes.
“But now I’m longin’ back at some of my decisions…it’s much too late to change…a father could have held his son,” the father says with regret. “If I could undo what’s been done.”
The song is not about Rogers, he told CMT News, but “it’s really about choices you make. You make a lot of choices when you’re young, and you pay for them when you’re older.”
Rogers is 68 years old and has been married five times. He has five children, including 18-month-old twin boys.