Should Men Even Have A Say?

A reader writes:

You state that in hearing the stories of women who have had to make agonizing personal choices over abortion, you "need time to think and rethink these things" and that you "would not have without reading these extraordinary accounts."

Exactly.  Of course you do.  Of course you never thought of abortion like these people have.  You're a man.  You've never been pregnant.  You've never been married to a woman.  You've never had that woman put into this kind of choice.

Every time I see some new abortion bill being signed, further making it harder for a woman to seek an abortion, it's always signed by an old man at a table surrounded by other old men. Sometimes there's the occasional big-haired Christian old woman nearby - a fig-leaf.  Abortion restrictions are almost always made by men imposing their views on women. The only women I know who support abortion restrictions are ones who've never been in the position that the overwhelming majority of women seeking abortions find themselves.

Of course women have a unique and often more legitimate perspective on abortion. But to strictly genderize the debate is a red herring. After all, Roe was decided by seven old men.