Core Concepts 2 – Abortion Rights and Bodily Autonomy

Let’s start this with a caveat — I’m a man. I’m a white man. I’m a white cisgendered man in full control of his own reproductive system and with a substantial amount of legally-recognized bodily autonomy. So of course what the world’s been waiting for is for me, as a white cis-man, to bring forth my opinion on this controversial and fraught conversation about abortion and a woman’s right to choose.

I would like to see fewer abortions. I would like the overall number of abortions every year — whatever that number actually is — go down. Ideally we would live in a world where not a single abortion ever had to be performed, except in cases of medical necessity, and I’d like to see medical technology progress to the point where medical necessity was is vanishingly rare.

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Core Concepts #1 – Addressing Privilege

I’m going to start this blog off with a series of posts on certain core concepts in progressive politics. Some of these are going to be tough to write, some are going to be tough to read, and some might end up being controversial. Stick with it, though.

I want to start these posts with a caveat — I’m not an expert. I’m not a professional politician or philosopher or anti-oppression trainer or anything like that. What I am is a large white cis-gendered LGBTQ man who’s spent more than twenty years as an activist trying to negotiate very diverse spaces and relationships in a respectful manner.. and let me be clear: I have not always done so successfully, but I’ve been fortunate enough to be surrounded by people who have recognized that I’m making the effort and made allowances for my shortcomings… while simultaneously refusing to let me get away with them.

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