“Viewpoints” is a place on Chapelboro where local people are encouraged to share their unique perspectives on issues affecting our community. All thoughts, ideas, opinions and expressions in this series are those of the author, and do not reflect the work, reporting or approval of 97.9 The Hill and Chapelboro.com. If you’d like to contribute a column on an issue you’re concerned about, interesting happenings around town, reflections on local life — or anything else — send a submission to viewpoints@wchl.com.
The Importance of Being a Pro-Choice Man
A perspective from Andrew Gary
I was seven years old when Hurricane Gustav hit Louisiana. The Red Cross was working to evacuate individuals on buses from Zephyr Stadium in Jefferson Parish, and my parents were volunteers sent to help. I had no idea what was going on. All I knew was that I would get to spend the afternoon driving around on an ATV, loading water and food onto the buses that would eventually take people to safety. While I was confused at first, I realized that the simple act of loading supplies on buses would have an impact: what I was doing would help people feel safe during a scary situation. This seemingly small experience made me curious about how I could contribute to the health and lives of my community.
As I grew up and learned more about the world around me, I came to learn that many in my community’s health and safety were being compromised on a daily basis by the very people who should have been helping them. The stories I heard from my friends made me look deeper at what was going on and how government policy was hurting them. As I learned more, I arrived at the inevitable conclusion that protecting reproductive freedom was key to keeping people safe.
Over the course of my life, reproductive freedom has been under constant attack and it has been women that have taken on the brunt of this fight. It is well past time that men step up and do their part to support their communities, friends, and family. Anti-choice men are already leading the charge to see that abortion is not just banned but criminalized across this entire country, it is time for pro-choice men to stand up and join with those that have been fighting this fight for decades to say enough is enough. To all of the pro-choice men out there, when we do join this fight it is not as leaders, but as allies. There are plenty of women that have been fighting this fight for decades, it is our job to give them the support they need to finally win. So this election, it is time to do our part and show the anti-choice movement that their radicalism will not succeed and that men and women across the country and in North Carolina have had enough.
“Viewpoints” on Chapelboro is a recurring series of community-submitted opinion columns. All thoughts, ideas, opinions and expressions in this series are those of the author, and do not reflect the work or reporting of 97.9 The Hill and Chapelboro.com.
