When male politicians identify themselves as Pro-Life or vote to pass Pro-Life legislation, the pro-abortion left is quick to label said politicians as woman-haters who want to force women “back into the dark ages.” Outside of the political realm, men who take a vested interest in the Pro-Life movement are similarly demonized, especially by feminist bloggers who champion abortion rights as the way to achieve the same social status as men.
Those who say abortion and other women’s health issues should not be discussed by men have overlooked the role men play in the abortion industry. Scattered throughout the hundreds of Planned Parenthood organizations, men hold many of the highest executive positions: chief executive officers, chief financial officers, and chief operating officers. Male CEOs at the top grossing Planned Parenthood organizations in the country make $200,000 to $300,000 a year. In Texas in 2009, Planned Parenthood of North Texas CEO James Roderick earned $372,021 and Planned Parenthood of Southeast Texas CEO Peter Durkin was paid $211,538.
Allowing men to run an organization that convinces women abortion is the only the way to achieve equality not only exploits women, but it assumes a woman is incapable of succeeding in society simply because she is pregnant. Early American feminists decried abortion: “When we consider that woman are treated as property, it is degrading to women that we should treat our children as property to be disposed of as we see fit,” [sic]Elizabeth Cady Stanton stated in 1873. Alice Paul drafted the original version of the Equal Rights Amendment, but referred to abortion as “the ultimate exploitation of women [by men].”
Yet, Kate Michelman, former NARAL president, called abortion “the guarantor of a woman’s… right to participate fully in the social and political life of society,” blatantly stating a woman cannot achieve full social status unless she has access to abortion. Closer to home, Texas state Representative Donna Howard (D-Austin) recently said on the House floor, “I’m getting a little tired of men speaking for women’s health.”
Howard is one of 32 women who serve in the Texas House of Representatives: 18 Republicans and 14 Democrats. All but one female Republican voted for Pro-Life legislation, including the sonogram law that gives women the right to see an ultrasound before an abortion is performed. Insinuating that only the men of the Texas House vote for Pro-Life legislation is simply untrue. Stating that only men are speaking for “women’s health” belittles the women who serve in state legislatures and vote Pro-Life.
The declaration that men should not be involved in women’s health issues is a falsehood that belies the facts of the Planned Parenthood organization and the abortion industry. According to the pro-abortion left, men are not allowed to have a say in who a woman harms through abortion unless he is championing for abortion.
