Men for Women’s Choice

February 2012

From Michael kimmel, NOMAS Spokesperson

Like an ever-growing number of men around the world, we think that women should control their own bodies. We hold these truths as deep moral beliefs. All humans should have the right to autonomy and bodily integrity. For women and men, this often means the same thing, but for women it has an additional meaning: the ability to make choices regarding whether she will bear a child.

We believe that no man should be able to force a woman to bear a child she does not want. No man should be able to limit her ability to obtain safe and effective means of contraception.

We believe that the government has many important roles in our society. But the state has no place in the bedrooms of the nation.

There are those (including some who support this statement) who believe that abortion and contraception interfere with the workings of God. Men who support women’s choice respect each person’s right to make their own birth control and abortion choices based on their beliefs. At the same time, we share the belief that none of us has the right to limit or interfere with a woman’s moral position or personal choices, nor interfere with health care providers who are assisting her right to exercise those choices.

As men with strong moral beliefs, as men for women’s choice, we especially emphasize our belief that no man – no husband, no boyfriend, no judge, no doctor, no politician, and no religious leader – should have control over a woman’s body. Ever.

With a wave of fresh attacks on women’s rights, now is the time for us, as men, to speak out with loud and clear voices to express our profound concern. We urge men:

• to speak out in our communities, media, places of worship and halls of government in support of a woman’s right to safe and effective means of contraception and abortion;
• to oppose arbitrary laws and regulations that make it difficult to obtain these medical services;
• to keep abortion out of criminal law and see it solely as a medical procedure to be utilized by a woman in consultation with her doctor;
• to support enhanced government funding and policies to ensure that women’s reproductive rights are not only rights on paper, but that all women, regardless of where they live, where they work, or their financial resources, can obtain safe and effective birth control and abortion if they so choose;
• to support positive sexuality education in our schools that focuses on healthy relationships, sexual decision-making, and reproductive health (including the safe and effective use of birth control);
• to support political candidates who support these rights.

WHAT IS MEN FOR WOMEN’S CHOICE  CAN YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

1. We are not an organization nor a conventional campaign. We are part of a decentralized effort to encourage men to speak out in support of women’s right to access safe and effective means of birth control and abortion.
2. We are men of all walks of life, religions, races, ethnicities, and political affiliations.
3. We encourage you to copy this statement (or download the PDF) and:

• Circulate copies to your friends by email or in print form;
• Post it on your website or Facebook or Google+ page;
• Encourage members of your teams, clubs, organizations, unions, and associations to sign on and circulate it;
• Use it as the text for an ad in your local paper;
• Tweet about it.

4. We urge you to start a local campaign and:

• Create posters, videos, music;
• Hold breakfasts, vigils, press conferences in support of women’s reproductive rights;
• Raise money for organizations that campaign for women’s reproductive rights or provide birth control and abortion services.
• Support political candidates that support women’s rights.

5. We also encourage you to speak with respect to those who disagree with you; and you should expect the same respect in return. One of the main tactics of those who want to control women’s rights is to muzzle thoughtful discussion, to polarize, and to vilify and demonize those who disagree with them. We encourage men to take the moral high road, proudly holding our beliefs while respecting the right of others to hold their personal beliefs, as long as they don’t force them upon others.
6. Who are we? What is Men for Women’s Choice? It is us. We are you.