Doug Emhoff aims to get more men involved in the fight for abortion rights
‘This is an issue of fairness to women. Women are dying,’ the second gentleman said.
When it comes to the battle for abortion legality the leaders in the movement have traditionally been women. Second gentleman Doug Emhoff wants to change that.
“This is an issue of fairness to women. … Women are dying,” Emhoff told NBC News’ Yamiche Alcindor. “It’s affecting man’s ability to plan their lives. And it’s also an issue of what’s next, what other freedoms are at risk. And these freedoms are affecting all Americans, not just women.”
Emhoff became the first second gentleman in U.S. history after his wife, Kamala Harris made history when she was elected the first woman vice president. He has partnered with Men4Choice, an organization that was founded in 2015 to educate men as allies in the reproductive rights movement, to host events in states such as Florida, Arizona, and North Carolina.
In June 2022 the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, removing the constitutional right to abortion for millions of Americans. Today, 14 states have total bans on abortion at every stage of pregnancy.
When asked what role men should be playing in the fight for abortion rights, Emhoff said he talks to his “dad friends” and his son.
“We talked at length about freedom because even if this isn’t your issue, it should be because again, women should not be treated less than, where does it end?” Emhoff said in the interview. “Because if you look at the concurring opinion in Dobbs, it’s really what are we coming after next? Is it contraception? Is it right to marry who you want to marry? Love who you want to love? Read what you want to read.”
Emhoff also talked about a case in Texas, where a man petitioned a court to investigate the person who helped his partner obtain an out-of-state abortion in Colorado. Texas has a total abortion ban and providing an abortion is punishable by up to $100,000 and the possibility of life in prison.
“It’s all about taking freedom away and trying to control how other people live in the year 2024,” Emhoff told Alcindor. “This is the way it used to be, this is what everyone has fought for. This is what the long line of Supreme Court decisions were about, granting more and more freedom and taking the government out of it.”
Emhoff said he will be crossing the country and spreading the message about the importance for people to get out and vote.
“This is a binary election. You’ve got the former president on one side who is celebrating the overturn of Roe v. Wade, saying, ‘Women must be punished,’” he said. “And the other side you’ve Joe Biden and Kamala Harris who’re on the right side of each and every one of these issues. And that’s why I’m going to do nothing but work as hard as I can to make sure they get reelected, so issues like Dobbs, we can hope to remediate.”
