Men play a critical role in determining whether a woman chooses to have an abortion, according to a survey released last week.

“You can’t be serious about ending abortion unless you are serious about engaging men on the issue,” said Roland Warren, president and CEO of Care Net, a US network of Christian crisis-pregnancy centres.

Care Net released the finding of a Feb. 25-March 26, 2021, survey of 1,000 American men whose spouse or partner had had an abortion. Findings show that roughly 3 out of every 4 men, or 74%, said their partner talked with them about getting the abortion before going through with it.

Forty-two percent of the men surveyed said they either “strongly urged” or “suggested” their partner have an abortion when they learned the woman was pregnant. An additional 31% say they did not give their partner any advice one way or the other.

Among the men surveyed who remained silent about the abortion decision, 63% said they thought it was “her choice” to make, and 61% said they were “ready to support her either way.” Nearly 20 out of every 100 men said they “didn’t feel they could say anything.”

The study found that 38% of men whose partner had an abortion think they were the “most influential on her decision.”

The data also reveals that “men play a key role in breaking the cycle of abortion and building strong families,” Warren said.