All across America, women are responding to the latest attacks on their reproductive health and rights. Female legislators, leading feminists and concerned women everywhere are fighting back. Good for them, but where are the men?
On the other side of the reproductive divide, there is no shortage of men. There was no shortage of men when a U.S. House oversight committee last week pulled together a panel of "expert" witnesses to testify against requiring health insurers to cover contraceptives for women who work for religiously-affiliated organizations. The majority on the committee called 11 witnesses. They were all men. That's why women on the committee walked out in protest.
Public opinions suggest that men are less concerned about family planning and reproductive health than women. They are also more likely to oppose the president's proposed coverage of contraceptives as it applies to religiously-affiliated hospitals and schools. But the gap between men and women is not that large. When penned down by a pollster on questions about contraception and family planning, plenty of men will come out on the same side as women.
So where are they? If legislatures were requiring colorectal exams for no good medical reason, banning Viagra, outlawing condoms and vasectomies, and otherwise messing with the private parts and reproductive health of men, you better believe that men would be doing more than waiting for a Gallup pollster to ring them up.
Men who truly care about women also care about their reproductive health and rights. Real men, or at least men who really care about women, believe that women should be able to prevent an unintended or unwanted pregnancy. They recognize the value of having government-supported family planning clinics that provide contraceptive services and screenings for breast or cervical cancer. Men who really care about girls and women would never deny them access to emergency contraceptives, particularly in cases of rape or incest.
So where are these men? Why aren't they speaking out? Why aren't they marching on the state legislatures that are defunding the family planning clinics? Why aren't they protesting laws that would require women to get an invasive ultrasound before they terminate a pregnancy? Why aren't they testifying before Congress about the importance of providing women with health insurance coverage for contraceptives? Why aren't they writing blogs or letters to the editors in defense of reproductive health and rights?
There's no good answer to that question. Maybe some men believe that women don't need their help, that they can win, or re-win, the battle for reproductive health and rights all on their own. If so, they would be wrong: Women are losing in state legislatures all across this country. Several states have slashed funding for family planning clinics. And unless more men speak up and treat this issue with the urgency it deserves, women will still lose more legislative battles.
There's nothing wrong with women rallying women on behalf of women and their reproductive health, but unless they want to keep fighting -- and losing -- these battles forever, it's time to enlist a few good men in their cause.
I could be wrong, but I suspect that the vast majority of people reading this blog are women. If you are a woman, maybe you should send this blog to the men in your life and tell them that their help is urgently needed. Tell them that real men care about women and are willing to stand up for their reproductive health and rights.
And if you're a man, don't let Rick Santorum speak for you and your gender on this issue. Let the world know that you care about women and their reproductive health.
to which I ask the question
"Where are the women ?"
when it comes to male reproductive rights? No where, absolutely no where.
Here is the exact text from the Obamacare legislation that describes those services that (i) must be offered by all providers and (ii) must be free of cost or co-pay requirement:
——————-
(a) IN GENERAL — A group health plan and a health insurance issuer offering group or individual health insurance coverage shall, at a minimum provide coverage for and shall not impose any cost sharing requirements for –
(4) with respect to women, such additional preventive care and screenings not described in paragraph [1] as provided for in comprehensive guidelines supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration.
(5) for the purposes of this Act, and for purposes of any other provision of law, the current recommendations of the United States Preventive Service Task Force regarding breast cancer screening, mammography, and prevention shall be considered the most current.
——————-
Breast exam? Check. Prostate health? Out of luck.
Female contraception? Check. Male contraception? Out of luck.
Female reproductive health? Check. Male reproductive health? Out of luck.
Female smoking cessation? Check. Male smoking cessation? Out of luck.
Female violence prevention? Check. Male violence prevention? Out of luck.
Male anatomy was to be placed on a special platform and compressed with a paddle made of clear Plexiglas. The technologist would compress the male anatomy for thirty seconds after they said "ouch."
Anatomy compression is necessary in order to
-Even out anatomy thickness so all tissue can be visualized.
-Spread out tissue so small abnormalities are unobscured by overlying tissue.
-Allow the use of a lower x-ray dose since a thinner amount of anatomy tissue is imaged.
-Hold anatomy still in order to minimize blurring of the image caused by motion.
-Reduce x-ray scatter to increase sharpness of picture.
-Representatives were to be asked to change positions between images. But the session was adjourned without a set time to reconvene.
How about women legislators everywhere do more of what the woman in Virginia did and actually propose amendments requiring an anal probe prior to a viagra prescription or vasectomy? How about some women pharmacists (and they are legion) refusing to sell viagra due to their religious beliefs? This would shift the debate and get a real conversation going.
No, real men would commit themselves to a long-term relationships with one woman, provide these needs for them through work and an income, and not foist a government handout or insurance mandate on them. Real men would provide for the women in their lives through their own toil and would take the issue of contraception and of preventing an unwanted pregnancy seriously enough to ensure that they take the steps, or provide the resources to provide these needs for the woman they are intimate with.
This real man's wife doesn't worry about these things because this real man has already provided for her needs in this area.
They don't really get that men who sleep with women also enjoy the benefits of contraception.
They don't realize how much access and control over reproductive rights have changed the life of women.
The answer resides in educating men and women, boys and girls on reproductive rights, abortion and contraception, and show them that it is a global issue and that everyone will be impacted.
A liberal all male supreme court created the right to abortion which has no real constitutional basis
Men have continued to fight alongside women for this right for the past 40 years.
You need a education on how men have fought for women's rights and learn some respect for the opposite sex. The man blaming approach is absurd. You have nearly half of women who are Pro Life and you completely ignore the possibility of changing their mind.
Did you know Roe from Roe Vs Wade became a Pro life advocate in the 90's? Educate yourself and stop making sexist assumptions about what men think.
I am never going to get pregnant, and I am never going to "accidentally" impregnate somebody either. But I have a sister, and a mother, and cousins. I have a niece, and I will never support any candidate who wants to the their choice away from them, for what they do with their own body. I will very actively and loudly speak out against the kinds of laws that restrict freedoms, of anybody, regardless of who they are. I just wish more people did as well.
I applaud you for calling them out, and I intend to do my part as well.
This man bashing and shaming needs to stop. Being treated with respect is not suppose to be a privilege you earn by being some activist obedient slave. Men should not have to prove they care about women anymore than women are expected they prove they care about men. Sexist generalzations about what men lthink, how should they feel, or what they have to do in order to be men, are invalid lines of attack.
Bringing up the sexist gender relic of males as the protector of women is also invalid. Women have enough agency to defend themselves in a political fight since they are the majority of the electorate and if they want men's support they can ask for it nicely. You don't tell me I am not a "real man" then order me to do as you please in order to get my manhood back. It's shameless manipulation and utterly disrespectful.
I see a lot of men here whining about having to actually support the children they made, and most likely did NOT want to have aborted. Then if I tell them to stop whining about child support, I'm labeled a man hater. Well BULLSPIT! You men can't have it both ways.
Men die younger than women do.
Females are protected against involuntary genital mutilation. Males are not.
WHERE ARE THE WOMEN?
Also, I don't have sex. I don't have sex with men. I don't have sex with women. I am not interested in sex. So, no, this is not my battle. And frankly as someone who would be labeled a progressive on every other issue, I do not comprehend why Democrats don't work harder to reduce the number of abortions that take place. You can study what factors lead to fewer abortions and try to implement them. I am not embarrassed to say that I don't find anything about abortion progressive. It is literally a prehistoric solution to a problem that with modern contraception should be exceedingly rare. And some forms of abortion that Democrats tried to fight to keep legal such as IDX are horrific.
I am interested in the protection of the individual, and at some point—and I don't know what point that is—the fetus is an individual, especially when it can live on its own.
It has been noted that women do not typically say "hold my beer and watch this" or do bacon shots.
Should. Loudly. f&F
Please get a clue. Talk to your mother, your sisters or your girlfriend -- if you have one -- and get an idea about how women think and feel before dismissing this.
The defunding of PP is all about abortion. Some people believe life begins at conception. They are not going to stop trying to get rid of something they consider murder. Blaming men for the existence of these very real moral questions is dishonest.
Instead of facing reality and changing minds feminist go back to doing what they know which is blaming men for not getting their way.
Hmmm. Rhetorically, your comment indicates that insurance should only cover accidents or sudden, unexpected health problems (e.g., the unforseen heart attack or stroke).
That's not what insurance is for: it's a collective agreement to ameliorate the cost of preventative as well as responsive medicine.
Men can go to Planned Parenthood for condoms if they can't afford them.