I Can't Speak for All Men... Although I Should

First off, I don’t buy the whole religious concept behind the pro-life argument, because I don’t see anything in scripture that says that God doesn’t like abortions. There are things that can be “interpreted” as such, but nothing clear cut and concise. So we don’t know God’s stance on it, do we? I’ll tell you what…when I go and finally meet God, whomever He or She is, I’ll make sure to ask about that. I’ll have to file it amongst the many questions I’ll have for Him/Her…a little bit after “What’s the secret of the universe?”, “Why are we here?” and “A platypus…what were you thinking??”

Moreover, my usual response the question of how I feel about abortion is simple. I have no feelings on the issue. Why? Because it’s not my issue.

Why? Abortion is a woman’s issue, period, end of sentence.

I am a man. Thus, I am not properly equipped. I can’t get pregnant. I have no idea what it’s like to have a baby, a life, growing inside of me. I have no concept of what it feels like…physically, mentally or emotionally. I will never be able to truly understand it in the way a woman can. I can’t make the moral judgment. Can a fetus be defined as a life? I have no way of knowing as a woman can.

Sure, we men can fool ourselves that we’re sharing the experience. We can get the vest that simulates what the physical sensations of pregnancy are like. We can go to the classes and read the books. The only way it’s really going to affect us is having to deal with the arrival of the Evil Hormone Fairy…you know; the one that brings our lovely women the extreme mood swings, tuning her into an screaming demon at the drop of a hat. We can duck for cover from the crazed she-beast by going on the midnight run for Ben & Jerry’s. Big whoop. We don’t have to deal with the sore nipples, lactating, having a baby kicking at our rib cage or stepping on our bladder. I’d be a raving beast too. Above all, we men get to stand there and look silly, telling the love of our lives to breathe and push, when all she wants to do is kill us cause we’re responsible for the fact that she’s passing a 9 pound baby through a very small hole.

We men get off easy. And there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t thank the Powers That Be that I have a penis. I don’t have to deal with the entire myriad of emotional, physical and mental changes and challenges that only a woman can experience.

So abortion is strictly a woman’s issue. And, as a man, who can never truly know what it’s like, I have absolutely NO right to tell a woman that she can not have an abortion. I have no standing, moral or otherwise, to tell a woman what she can or cannot do with her body.

Okay…there is one time that I would at least have a say. If my girlfriend happens to become pregnant, I at least have the right to voice my opinion in the matter, being that I participated in the creation. But in the end, the decision still belongs to her.

I’ve made an interesting observation. I’ve noticed that most pro-lifers, especially the real hardheaded ones, are men. White men. I find this most interesting and rather distressing. Where do they get off? Where do men have the right? Simple…we DON’T have the right.

Birth control isn’t covered by insurance most of the time, but Viagra is. WHY? And the same people…mostly men of course…who make those decisions are the first ones to be standing outside the abortion clinic, harassing the women going inside.

Can I speak with some authority? Yes. I have witnessed childbirth twice now. I have seen the beauty of it…and the horror. And I know that I wouldn’t trade places with a woman for anything.

I usually try to avoid any real debates on this issue. There’s no real way of winning an argument. It’s all purely a judgment call based on personal moral opinions. There is no right answer. But I immediately discount any male opinions about it. Any member of the male species can’t stand up and preach to anyone about the rights and wrongs of abortion. It’s a woman thang…we just wouldn’t understand.

I tell you what though…the first time a man has to deal with 9 months of pregnancy and squeeze a 6-pound life form out of his penis, you’re going to see a LOT of changes…