Pro-Lifers Take on 'Bro-Choicers'
When the pro-abortion group ChoiceUSA coined the term "bro-choice," it probably was not expecting self-described bro-choicer Ben Sherman's July 3 editorial in Burn Orange Report. Letting women abort a fetus older than 20 weeks is important, he wrote, because it helps him have more casual sex. His words led pro-lifers to wonder why such a demeaning view of women is acceptable while pro-life men are told they should have no input in the abortion debate.
"Your sex life is at stake. Can you think of anything that kills the vibe faster than a woman fearing a back-alley abortion?" Sherman wrote in the article, titled "Bro-Choice: How #HB2 Hurts Texas Men Who Like Women."
Burnt Orange Report is a blog "written from a progressive/liberal/Democratic standpoint" founded by University of Texas students.
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"Making abortion essentially inaccessible in Texas will add an anxiety to sex that will drastically undercut its joys," Sherman continued. "And don't be surprised if casual sex outside of relationships becomes far more difficult to come by."
The week after Sherman wrote his article, pro-lifers can be found using the #brochoice hashtag on Twitter.
Kirsten Powers, a journalist for The Daily Beast and a pro-life Democrat who used to work for the Clinton administration, tweeted several passages from the column, then wrote this: "Members of this new #brochoice movement are pathetic. Act like a man and take some responsibility for your choices."
"#Brochoice. Excusing men from their responsibilities by encouraging women to forgo theirs. #gross," added conservative commentator Dana Loesch.
"True #brochoice would be giving dads a say in the fate of the child they helped create. #Life," Eric Teetsel, executive director of the Manhattan Declaration, remarked.
ChoiceUSA has a webpage describing its "Bro-Choice Campaign."
"Through the Bro-Choice Campaign, Choice USA will elevate this dialogue in the media, ultimately disrupting the dominant narrative that reproductive justice is exclusively a 'women's issue,'" it states.
Bro-choicers can sign the "Bro-Choice Pledge," to, among other things, "challenge negative stereotypes and representations of men and masculinity," and "call out sexism and rape culture when I see it."
Pro-life activist Ryan Scott Bomberger also took on the bro-choice campaign with his own unique visual style. At toomanyaborted.com he has a series of memes about "pro-choice multiple personalities" that can be posted to Facebook or Twitter.
"In one breath, abortion activists will declare 'religion has no place in a woman's right to choose!' Then in the next, they scream 'Hail Satan!'" he wrote. "The PRO-CHOICE ACTIVISM MULTIPLE PERSONALITY memes ... may be funny, but they illuminate a serious debilitating condition."
In the bro-choice meme, "'Pro-Choice' Multiple Personality #8450" (shown), one pro-choicer says: "Men have, like, NO say about abortion and stuff." The other pro-choicer adds, "Unless you're BRO-CHOICE like me."
