I’m not taking a stand here on the morality of criminalizing / not criminalizing abortion or on the act of getting or refusing to get an abortion. My own take is that until men can become pregnant, they lack the empathy to understand either side / any side about criminalizing abortion, and should avoid lecturing to women about what men might consider the correct philosophy. Male elected officials should be allowed to vote their conscience on any issue relating to abortion but should do so with humility and an awareness of their own cognitive / experiential limitations. I would prefer that male legislators not initiate legislation about abortion.

But I do think it’s valid for anyone to discuss the nature of the debates surrounding abortion, as long as the discussion doesn’t lead to a simplistic condemnation of a side that one disagrees with. We can (and should) talk about how we talk about abortion.

In my view, the Democratic Party tends to be less empathetic with women who call themselves pro-life than with women who call themselves pro-choice. The voices of all women should be listened to and taken into consideration. I do have one reservation about terminology, however. If you use the terms “pro-life” and “pro-choice” as this article and the survey cited within do, then you’re slanting the argument toward the so-called “pro-life” side. The “pro-choice” side is not “pro-death” or “anti-life.” As far as I know, they’re not even “pro-abortion.” We won’t get very far in our discussions and in our attempts to empathize with all sides if we use loaded terminology or if we reduce the complex opinions to two simple sides.

And I don’t see any evidence that Democratic party officials and elected officials “celebrate abortion.” Their most common stance is to defend the constitutionality of Roe v. Wade, which is not a celebration nor an endorsement of abortion per se.

Now I do believe that most of the Republican Party elected officials can be classified as “anti-choice” rather than “pro-life” for obvious reasons (and a not insignificant number Republican officials can be seen as anti-woman or as apologists for the male right to commit rape).

But in opposing Republican patriarchal pappyism, we Democrats should be careful not to vilify women who view themselves as pro-life, and to understand how attacks on these women can drive them toward patriarchal oppression, thereby strengthening those who are our true opponents.