A  PROCHOICE  MAN  SPEAKS  DIRECTLY  TO  MEN

As a dedicated male feminist, I have fought for abortion rights since 1984.

Yet in all these years, I have never spoken directly to men about why every prochoice man needs to join this fight.

The time has come.

In a few weeks, the MAGA Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade, the historic 1973 ruling that made abortion accessible and legal throughout the United States.

The results will be immediate and devastating, especially for women of color, poor, young, or LGBTQ+ people.

Just look at Texas, where MAGA Republicans banned abortions after 6 weeks - just 2 weeks after a missed period. Abortions in Texas dropped by half as women were forced to travel long distances to neighboring states. After Roe, many neighboring states will slam their doors shut.

What about shipments of safe abortion pills after 6 weeks? You guessed it - Texas banned those too.

Extreme, anti-choice Republicans in state legislatures have been ramming through laws regulating and prohibiting abortion for the last 30+ years, often in the dead of night.

For example, Louisiana Republicans in 2006 outlawed nearly all abortions, including for rape and incest. The law punishes anyone who performs or aids in an abortion with up to 10 years in prison - specifically forced labor camps - and a maximum fine of $100,000.

So when Roe is overturned, abortion will be outlawed or severely restricted in as many as 28 states, leaving the most personal, private decisions of 58% of the country controlled by MAGA Republicans.

For a brief time, abortion will remain legal in deep-blue Democratic states like New York, Illinois, and California.

But if MAGA Republicans win Congress in November - which polls say is possible - they will immediately pass a law to outlaw abortion in all 50 states - even Democratic-controlled states.

And this MAGA Supreme Court will do nothing to stop them.

So prochoice men: it’s time for all of us to join the solution.

Women have been fighting for reproductive freedom and abortion care since the 1960s. Women have marched, lobbied, donated, campaigned for prochoice candidates, and run for office themselves - even for President.

But MAGA Republicans cannot be defeated by prochoice, politically active women alone.

Moreover, abortion access has never been just a “women’s issue.” It affects every man who has ever experienced an unintended pregnancy with a partner - or tragically discovered a medical circumstance that made abortion necessary.

Abortion is an issue of personal freedom vs. governmental control over private decisions which impact everyone in a community and a family - including men.

We are fighting for a future where abortion is available in all of our communities, and all people can create the families they want without barriers, stigma or shame.

It’s time to call in every male ally to join the fight.

Ask yourself: are you "prochoice"? It's an extraordinarily simple question.

If a person gets pregnant - and believes deeply that she cannot carry that pregnancy to term - who should decide?

The person with her family and medical team, or Republican politicians, or anti-abortion vigilantes, or local law enforcement?

If you answer "the person," you're prochoice - just like me.

So now - in the post-Roe era - ALL pro-choice men must act.

Thanks for all you do.

Bob Fertik
Co-founder, #VOTEPROCHOICE
President, Democrats.com