Jessica Valenti
Pro-Choice Men: Here’s What You Need to Know
Men on the left can’t afford to be as uninformed about abortion as men on the right are. Time to study up.
By now, it’s been well-established that the Republican men legislating away women’s bodily autonomy have little-to-no idea how those bodies actually work. They think women’s vaginal secretions can act as a protective spermicide when we are raped; they believe gynecological exams can be remotely conducted by having a woman swallow a camera. These men are woefully, embarrassingly stupid.
Given all that’s at stake — Roe v. Wade and women’s freedom, to start — men on the left cannot afford to be as uninformed. Pro-choice men need to speak up about the issue of abortion, and they need to know what they’re talking about when they do.
Since the state-level abortions bans began passing in earnest, I’ve seen call after call for men to do something: speak up, share their own stories about abortion, make sure women feel like we’re not in this fight alone.
But it’s not enough that men simply say something, not enough that they voice support for the right to an abortion. They need to know what this battle is actually about, and — especially for male politicians — they need to be…
