No one can take the place of a father – in the household, in the family, in the community, and in the church.

The presence of a father provides children with an important and unique source of emotional support and a critically necessary example of spiritual and practical male leadership, which can potentially influence a child for a lifetime. For the mother of a child, the presence of the father in their lives creates a partnership that is potentially a strong foundation of a family rooted in love, stability, compassion for others, and self-respect.

We believe the beginning of a child’s life is the beginning of the responsibilities of fatherhood. When a woman chooses life for her unborn baby, and the father chooses life with her, she is strengthened for the journey ahead.

Tragically, many women and men in the African-American community are not choosing life for their unborn babies. In fact, one in five black babies are aborted each year in Louisiana.

Louisiana Right to Life, New Orleans Right to Life and Louisiana Black Advocates for Life celebrate all the men who have embraced the responsibilities of fatherhood and experienced the joy that accompanies that choice. This month’s billboards around the New Orleans area, part of a year-long billboard campaign, focus on fathers.

“Fatherhood Begins in the Womb” reminds us that a child needs to be loved and protected at every stage of life.

Have you seen the message? The billboards are up for a month, currently on Jefferson Highway, the Pontchartrain Expressway, and on the Westbank in Gretna. Additionally, the message is being displayed on digital billboards this weekend. Those locations are Interstate 10 East at Franklin Avenue, I-10 East at the highrise, 1-10 at the Superdome, near the Westbank off the GNO Bridge, and near the toll plaza at the GNO bridge.