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.
February 2012
WHAT IS
MEN FOR WOMEN’S CHOICE
&
HOW 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 the statement (or download the PDF file: Men for Women’s Choice 2012) 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.
Click here to download the PDF of “Men for Women’s Choice”
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11 Responses to Men for Women’s Choice
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[...] (on a more serious note): Please check out the statement, Men for Women’s Choice. Updates will be tweeted from: @GenderEQ If you liked this, please share it! And hope you'll [...]
[...] 15 years, I witness them doing so every day. Want to know where you can start? A new initiative by Men for Women’s Choice has a series of action steps men can take in support of women’s health rights. There’s [...]
It’s about time!!! Sick of these attacks. It’s outrageous that women are still having to deal with this and shameful that, as supposedly intelligent human beings, we haven’t been conscientious enough to have taken action before. We’ve become parasitic…on our women and families, the environment and this planet’s resources. The need for action is now!
How wonderfully refreshing to hear from some “REAL” men for a change. Bless you all, and thank you.
I personally think that a “Men for Women’s Choice” Deserves a group for us to join to give our support.
My first glance at the link that went to The Michael Kaufman FB page led me to believe that this is a SCAM to get us to your site to purchase your books… Just my opinion…
I totally agree about the need for a dedicated site. I wrote this statement (hence it first appeared in Facebook as a link to my site where I posted it) but I don’t own it in any way. I just want to get it out there. I’m pleased to say that my colleagues in the MenEngage Alliance have now put it on their site and have also created a Facebook site. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Men-For-Womens-Choice/172707629512314. It’s just a beginning. I do hope that, in different countries, more men will make things happen to support women’s reproductive choices.
[...] http://www.michaelkaufman.com/2012/men-for-womens-choice/ [...]
Wow, you men are great – so onto it
re womens rights to control their own bodies. Congratulations!! Womens rights is the biggest humanitatrian problem of our time. For more on this subject read ‘MEN: Are they the biggest problem in the world?’ at Amazon.com
I am a 69 y/o male and I am mad as hell over these attempts to oppress women. These guys who are doing this must doubt their manhood, are totally insecure, and/or are simply on a power trip.
They want to return to the 17th century. Remember The Scarlet Letter? Of course, most of them do not read.
In my local rural northern Wisconsin community, I can look up and see eagles circling on a regular basis. The creature most loved by the Great Spirit is the eagle, for he tells the story of life. The Eagle as you know, has only two eggs and all living things in the world are divided into two. Here is man and woman, male and female and this is true with animals, birds, trees, flowers and so on. All things have children of two kinds so that life may continue. In order to remember this lesson of life, look to the great eagle. The eagle feather is divided into two parts, part light, and part dark. This represents daylight and darkness, summer and winter, peace and war, and life and death.
Man has two eyes, two hands, two feet and he has a body and soul, substance and shadow. Through his eyes, he sees pleasant and unpleasant scenes, through his nostrils he smells good and bad odors, with his ears he hears joyful news and words that make him sad. His mind is divided between good and evil. His right hand he may often use for evil, such as war or striking a person in anger. But his left hand, which is near his heart, is always full of kindness. His right foot may lead him in the wrong path, but his left foot always leads him the right way, and so it goes; he has daylight and darkness, summer and winter, peace and war, and life and death. Fair and equal treatment of both males and females alike has always been the original plan..it is just that greed for money has taken over, leading to our dismay as we speak.
…we may need your voices to stop all the hatred out there that I see toward Women. I am a born again Christian that thinks instead of judging other people and their own unique experiences we might all take that time to look at ourselves.