Pro-choice organizations and activists are seizing opportunities for solidarity and engagement with men
This post originally appeared at ThinkProgress
By Tara Culp-Ressler
NARAL Pro-Choice America is marking this Wednesday as “Men for Choice” day. The group is encouraging male supporters of abortion rights to tweet about their position with the hashtag #MenForChoice, and they’re hosting a first-of-its-kind event on Wednesday evening to celebrate “men for choice and the women who love them.”
While reproductive rights have typically been framed as a women’s issue — and male politicians’ efforts to police them have been widely derided — NARAL isn’t shying away from the notion that working toward bodily autonomy involves leveraging support from people with all different types of bodies.
“Reproductive freedom is a core value that we all share. The recent attacks on our freedoms affect women first and foremost, but are an affront to all people who hold human rights as a value,” Ilyse Hogue, NARAL’s president, explained to ThinkProgress. “We want men on our team, not only at the elected level but at the grassroots level too. This is how we show solidarity and how we win.”
The group’s fundraising event on Wednesday will feature several prominent progressive men, including Vice President Joe Biden’s son, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle’s (D-SD) son, former press secretaries for Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and former Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA). NARAL has indicated that it will be replicated as an annual event.
“Men for Choice” isn’t the only recent campaign of its kind. Several months ago, Choice USA — a national pro-choice group that works to mobilize young Americans for reproductive justice — kicked off a “Bro Choice” campaign. “Many men have realized the ways that reproductive oppression affects them and the ones they love, and how some traditional ideas of masculinity hurt everyone,” the group explains on its website, encouraging pro-choice men to “be part of the solution” and join the fight for progressive policy change.
Kierra Johnson, Choice USA’s executive director, explained to ThinkProgress that the idea for the campaign was actually sparked by college students across the country who work with the group’s local chapters.
“Women in our chapters were looking for ways to authentically engage men on campus, and men were looking for opportunities to work on issues that impact their friends, partners, classmates, as well as themselves,” Johnson explained. “We wanted to create a space for men to have these conversations on how to be good allies, but also about their personal stake in protecting reproductive freedom.”
The Bro Choice campaign coincided with Texas lawmakers’ aggressive push to curtail reproductive rights by enacting stringent restrictions on abortion clinics and banning abortion procedures after 20 weeks. This summer, amid the groundswell of grassroots protests against the GOP-led legislature’s anti-choice priorities, one male activist decided to bring Bro Choice’s message to the Lone Star State.
Ben Sherman, a senior staff writer at the political blog Burnt Orange Report (and a former ThinkProgress intern), published a post in July about why men should stand up against the legislative attempt to restrict reproductive freedom. “The old way of viewing reproductive rights as a women’s issue alone is easier and in some ways encouraged by outdated parts of masculine culture, and it’s wrong,” Sherman wrote. “When men stand with Texas women against this bill, they are also standing with Texas men.”
His post went on to list the reasons why men should strongly oppose efforts to restrict women’s bodily autonomy — after all, he notes, pregnancies don’t happen on their own, and men likely want their partners to be able to decide whether or not to continue them.
Sherman’s pitch for Bro Choice enraged the anti-choice community, which was quick to leap on his blog post as proof that men support abortion rights just so they can have casual sex without worrying about facing the repercussions of a potential unintended pregnancy. Breitbart News, for example, blasted “the disgraceful ‘bro-choice’ movement, created by horny young men who think ‘women’s right to choose’ translates to ‘men’s right to use.’ ”
In an interview with ThinkProgress, the Burnt Orange Report blogger brushed aside the criticism. “The right-wing jumped at the opportunity to accuse me and all pro-choice men of having ulterior, salacious motives,” Sherman said, pointing out that type of knee-jerk reaction is grounded in a “simplistic generalization of men” as primarily preoccupied with sex.
Sherman believes the truth about men is actually “much more threatening” to the anti-abortion community than the false notion that abortion rights groups are trying to spin their cause as an avenue for men to get laid. “Millions of men are waking up repulsed to the suppression of American women, and they won’t pretend women have to bear it alone,” Sherman told ThinkProgress. “Any man with a good head on his shoulders can see that restricting women’s ability to live their lives as they see fit is deeply wrong, and un-American.”
Nonetheless, abortion opponents are back at it, attacking NARAL’s new “Men for Choice” initiative with many of the same critiques they leveled against Sherman. Some members of the anti-choice community are attempting to hijack the #MenforChoice hashtag with a recent story about a man who slipped his girlfriend an abortion-inducing pill without her consent (which is, obviously, not what lending male support to bodily autonomy means at all).
And efforts to include more men in the fight for abortion rights have drawn some criticism from the left, too. Some progressives have expressed concerns about catering to men’s needs within a woman-led movement, as well as ultimately serving to further the gender binary.
Choice USA disagrees, noting that it’s the young people on the ground who are pushing for this type of approach. “Organizing and advocacy are about meeting people where they are, so you can’t make any part of their identity invisible. Young people are looking for ways to engage in activism that recognizes this and allows them to bring their whole selves into their work,” Johnson noted. “That’s why we have seen a positive response to the campaign on campuses across the country — these students want a place where all genders are welcome to have honest conversations and work together for reproductive justice.”
Image courtesy of Flickr/DaveFayram
The key word in this article is ‘allies.’
The men who are pro-choice are called allies. Not pro-choice supporters. Like a second-tier supporter. The issue is choice, not the genitalia of the supporter.
Any organization or movement that feels the need to add some kind of modifier to someone who supports their position is a group that I choose not to be a part of.
I AM a progressive, but I’m not willing to ride in the back on the bus.
John, I would venture to say that it would obviously depend on the women and how she views her pregnancy and abortion. Many women see abortion as a right in that it’s her body/her choice and completely ignores that there is a child growing inside of her. It’s all about “her” and no one else. I’m obviously a pro-lifer (womb to tomb) and to be honest, I’m not here to debate the abortion issue but more so to try to shed some light on the issue being discussed and that it the men’s rights in all of this. The truth… Read more »
Hi Tom You ask : ✺”If these prospective mom’s simply don’t want the responsibility of raising a child, why shouldn’t the dad have the opportunity to take full custody of the child? Pay for the medical needs while she’s pregnant through delivery and then hand the child over to the dad”✺ Are you sure that never happens ? It can not be against the law if a couple agrees on that arrangement. The man will have to bring the baby to the mother for breast feeding the first year, but apart from that he can be a single parent if… Read more »
I’ve never heard of it happening. Again, it’s about the women’s rights (her body/her choice) and has nothing to do with the unborn child. Breast feeding? Not as common as you may see in other countries. My daughter didn’t breast feet her first child but did with the second. So that’s a non-issue.
But strange science? Strange but True: Males Can Lactate
Hi Tom
Yes I heard the story of a father that breast fed his child after he lost his wife in the tsunami.
Did it actually happen?
I believe that the reality of this is that it wouldn’t be an issue if fathers were treated fairly in the courts or if fathers from the start were allowed the access to their children on an equal level as the mother. The brochoice men are such not because they don’t want to be fathers but rather they don’t want to be put through years of legal battles and often being seen as no more then financial tool rather then a dad. I have to question these men if they were given guarantees that they would have equal parenting and… Read more »
I believe that the reality of this is that it wouldn’t be an issue if fathers were treated fairly in the courts or if fathers from the start were allowed the access to their children on an equal level as the mother. The brochoice men are such not because they don’t want to be fathers but rather they don’t want to be put through years of legal battles and often being seen as no more then financial tool rather then a dad. True. When men walk out on their children they are seen as “deadbeats” (but god knows women that… Read more »
Danny, one of the TV shows I watch is Judge Judy. Yeah,I know she can appear to be a witch but I get a real kick when she has a women suing the child’s dad for whatever reason. Recently there was an episode where mom referred to the child as “her” child. Judy went ballistic on the women and truly dressed her down explaining that is their child and the dad has the same rights. She’s gone off in the past stating that the court system works against fathers. She’s gone so far as to suggest to dads that they… Read more »
@ Tom Brechlin When I said that most men if given the choice would opt out of an unexpected pregnancy, it’s because it mitigates uncertainty. They have a plan or a rough outline of one and this child interrupts the plan. I agree that if men had more certainty of fairness in financial, visitation, and heck custody (why should custody automatically be given to the mother?), fewer men would opt out. That begs the question how many more women would opt for an abortion if custody could be awarded to the father and she had to pay child support, etc.… Read more »
Abortion and the demands of child support are both means by which much violence has been done to the rights of fathers and the best interests of children. The former separates a man from his unborn child, without ensuring that he has a say in the matter. However, if the woman chooses to have the child, he is obviously responsible to pay for it. The whole system of child support payments incentivizes divorce among middle class women. It treats fathers as if they were ‘guilty’ of being so, expending little effort in defending their rights and discouraging women from unilateral… Read more »
This is men’s stake in the abortion debate. If you want to have a child and she doesn’t, you better support a ban on abortion because what you want doesn’t matter. If she wants the kid and you don’t, be prepared to have your life turned upside down because no one gives a damn whether you live the next 21 or so years in poverty (an excuse pro choice people give to allow women the option to choose abortion). Maybe you get lucky and both of you either want or don’t want the kid or want to place it for… Read more »
Hi John Anderson
You write:
✺”Give men the ability to unilaterally opt out of financial / legal responsibility and see what happens.”✺
This makes me curios.
What do you think will happen if we change the laws and let it men not have any responsibilities ?
Hi Iben, As it relates to this article, I believe that most of the pro choice men, though they’d probably remain pro choice, would stop being active in the movement. I think some if not most are afraid of having to financially support a child they don’t want and see abortion rights for women as their only possible way out. They’re hoping that if they get a woman pregnant that she feels the same way they do. As far as men actually choosing to opt out, I think men would actually become more responsible depending on when the decision had… Read more »
What do you think will happen if we change the laws and let it men not have any responsibilities ? I think if nothing else a lot of guys that would ultimately opt out would where in on their sleeve (ie make sure the woman in question knows). Remember for the most part when men “opt out” of caring for the child they helped create they are committing a criminal/civil action (said man can be chased down and held financially responsible for the child and child support is one of the few debts whose failure to pay can actually land… Read more »
” This makes me curios.
What do you think will happen if we change the laws and let it men not have any responsibilities ? ”
I think we will get a radical increase of high quality parents, and bad mothers and fathers would be harder to come by. Because they choose to become parents, rather than becoming thanks to a subterfuge or accident.
Does reproductive rights – FOR men – come into it? Might men also seek reproductive rights? Might paternity certainty be the other side of the coin? Each sex might have issues that the other sex might be more likely to oppose: we need a dispassionate debate examining BOTH sides of the equation.
Hi Alastair Thank you for writing this: ✺”And the idea that men should also have this pernicious right to ‘opt out’ should be seen for the evil that it is. If a woman bears my child, I am responsible to sacrifice my private ends for it, for her, and for the wider network of persons to whom we are related. I am the child’s father and her partner in its rearing and, whether I like or choose it or not, I am responsible to both of them and they have natural claims upon me that nullify any supposed right that… Read more »
Thanks, Iben. I suspect that you are right in many cases. I have encountered a few too many cads who dissemble as male feminists on such issues, knowing that it will cost them little and might even enable them to absolve themselves of a few responsibilities along the way. One of the problems with the whole abortion debate is that it is so narrowly framed. Abortion is a social justice issue. In all too many cases, the ‘choice’ that many celebrate seems to be the only one that society has left a woman with. Even though they are the source… Read more »
Alastair …. again, spot on
Hi Iben,
Most people, men or women, don’t talk about how they’d handle an unexpected pregnancy prior to sex except in some LTRs where there is some discussion of a future life together. It’s probably a responsible thing to do, but it kills the mood. Would you rather discuss getting an STD or just use a condom? Most people who are worried would just take precautions. Some guys make the mistake of trusting their partner has already done so. Some times the precautions aren’t effective.
And I wonder if all the men that say they fight for the right to opt out are have courage and integrity to tell the woman they make love to abou this before they are intimate. I don’t think so. They are the cowards that only share this attitudes when the baby is in its way.
You wonder and then declare them cowards? Nice.
So women who don’t share their attitudes on the subject of abortion (not to mention the ones that change their minds) until the child is on the way also cowards?
Hi Danny If a woman lies about her view and values about what to do if she gets pregnant, that is not good. If she lies about her use of contraceptives that is worse than being a coward. You can call it what ever you want . I still mean men know they want to opt , and support this right for men out have to be honest from day one before they have sex and makes sure they always uses a condom,uses it correctly and also asks the woman what kind of contraception she uses. Then they know the… Read more »
So men must know their position on opt-out and articulate that prior to sex, but women can flip-flop on their position on abortion prior to and after sex. Is that a sexist double standard, or just a stereotype of a mindless woman? Either way your comment is HORRIBLE.
Nothing on child support then?
Abortion is a knife held to the throat of human relatedness. At the centre of the abortion debate is the concept that the decision is purely about a woman’s ‘own body’. The crucial belief is that the woman’s body is an entirely autonomous entity and even in sexual relations there is no integral relationship between bodies that ought to be honoured. However, women’s bodies are the deepest source of human relatedness, of the bonds that tie us together. Women’s bodies are where the bonds that tie us to fathers, grandparents, siblings, and extended family are forged. In permitting and enabling… Read more »
This is by far one of the most insidiously creepy justification for reducing women to obligate organ donors I’ve ever heard. I’m not your “guardian of human relatedness” and I don’t want any honor or moral authority people like you want to attribute to that role you made up in your head. All I want is my freedom to decide when to donate my organ functions to a fetus and get treated with the same respect as a corpse when it comes to the use of my body to keep other humans alive (even if it were to keep 10… Read more »
Alastair, I agree with you 100% …. Well articulated. I feel that Meredith missed your point at the end and that is “I am the child’s father and her partner in its rearing and, whether I like or choose it or not, I am responsible to both of them and they have natural claims upon me that nullify any supposed right that I might have to radical autonomy.” Which takes blows her statement “We women are not the slaves of future generations, don’t tell me it’s in my best interest to pretend like I am” away.
I’m glad to see this. I’ve been pro-choice since I was old enough to articulate a position.
So often this issue is presented as if ‘men’ as a group are the enemy trying to control women’s bodies. That’s just not true and it unnecessarily alienates people that would otherwise unequivocally support the position. The problem is social and religious conservatives not men.
SO are they campaigning for men’s right to opt out? I support abortion for women but men should also get the choice to opt out, I just find it a lil sad that I’m yet to see any major campaign for that whilst people banging on about “equality”.
“Many men have realized the ways that reproductive oppression affects them and the ones they love, and how some traditional ideas of masculinity hurt everyone,” Oh please. Men have seen this for a long time but for the longest the attitude that women had towards men when it comes to abortion (and women’s reproduction in general) was something to the effect of “If you don’t ovulate stay out of the debate”. And even now these sudden pushes for solidarity for men are coming off as attempts to selectively rewrite history to the point that it looks like the only reason… Read more »
I’m sorry but this just isn’t true. If you look at the history both men and women have always been a part of this political conflict and on both sides. As Kristen Luker pointed out in her classic study of the emergence of the so called “Pro-Choice” and “Pro-Life” movements “Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood” both men and women played a huge role in the politics over this issue both before and after Roe v Wade. Religious housewives were a huge part of the formation of the Pro-Life movement after Roe, and remain a big part of it to… Read more »
“I’m sorry but this just isn’t true. ”
– I’m sorry, but that’s the reality of the grass-roots pro-choice movement. Go to any major news cite with an article about abotion. You get the “If you don’t ovulate stay out of the debate” every time. The little history lesson you provided is irrelevant to this fact.
Well I do think the history of the politics of sex and motherhood in this country is very relevant to questions about abortion. And actually my looking at news sites shows that your quote isn’t there “every time.”
If you have a specific point about my comment of the piece specifically, please make it. Otherwise your straw man argument is a waste of time.
Your comment is divorced from the reality of the modern pro-choice movement. Specific enough?
John, did you really think he means every single time? You know what he was saying and it’s simple .. men are to stay out of it because they are not women. That simple. I’ve been debating this for probably more years then you’ve been alive. I was around when Roe v Wade was passed and continue to be proactive in my pro-life beliefs. From day one and I witnessed it first hand, face to face, it was and is all about women and has nothing to do with the unborn or anyone else who may be affected by the… Read more »
I’m sorry but what I myself and other men have experienced doesn’t cease to exist just because you said so. I mean yeah it would be nice if your saying that’s not true would somehow undo the past but it just doesn’t work that way.
So how about we stop trying to deny the experiences of those whose realities don’t match our own and go forward?
I am a pro life man. If we are going to fornicate with a woman, we take the risk of getting her pregnant. If we get her pregnant we should honor her and the child by marrying her. If you think I’d change my mind if the child was going to have a birth defect like a cleft lip and palate, you are wrong. Been there done that.