Would you let a plumber decide what the best surgical approach was to remove a cancerous tumor? Would you really take advice on raising children from someone who doesn't have any children of their own? Would you tell an African-American how to deal with racial strife in this country if you weren't African-American yourself? If you answered no to these questions, then I would say you fall into a large majority who believe that the best people to decide certain things are those who are directly involved in whatever situation.
So why is abortion any different?
As a male, I will never know, nor fully comprehend and understand, the miracle of pregnancy and childbirth. I am biologically and psychologically incapable of empathizing with women when it comes to bringing another life into this world. As a man, I will never go through the physiological changes and hormonal roller-coaster some women experience. I will never understand the despair of becoming pregnant and then having the father walk out on me, leaving me alone to provide for my future child.
So why is abortion legislation being drafted by a majority of men?
Of the 435 members in the House of Representatives, only 76 are women. That means that women make up a little over 17% of all representatives. In the senate, ironically, 17 of the 100 senators are women. So this means that the legislative body in this country is composed of 535 seats. 93 are occupied by women, leaving women with an abysmal 17% representation in Congress.
What does this mean?
This means that even though women make up a bit over 50% of the U.S. population, their voice in government is almost inaudible in a sea of male lawmakers. It is no wonder that feminine care products have a luxury tax added to them while erectile dysfunction pills are covered under Medicare.
It is disturbing that abortion remains such an issue within the male population of this country. While the decision to go through with, or terminate a pregnancy, ideally would be hashed out by both the expecting mother and father. But seeing as how the woman is the one that will have to carry that child for nine months, watch what she eats, and endure incomprehensible pain during childbirth, to be told how and what to do with her own body and what is best for her by a group of men who will never know what that's like is nothing short of patriarchal privilege.
As a male, I understand that bringing a child into this world is more than just making one. It entails a lifelong responsibility and relationship with another human being. But for those men who think it is their God-given right to dictate and regulate bodily processes they will never endure, that takes some serious brass. It is an exercise in male privilege. It is the epitome of male privilege. It is a clinic on male privilege. It is an ethical and moral abomination and it needs to stop.
