What happened to a woman’s choice?

Last week, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg praised Vice President Kamala Harris’ position on abortion, suggesting that the killing of the unborn improves the lives of men. Speaking at an online “White Dudes for Harris” event, Buttigieg insisted Harris was a good choice for president because “men are more free” in a country where abortion is easily accessible.

Wow. Buttigieg just said the quiet part out loud. Twice. He argued, “Men are also more free in a country where we have a president who stands up for things like access to abortion care. Men are more free.”

Thus, Buttigieg implicitly acknowledged that maybe, just maybe, abortion isn’t all about a woman’s choice. As Allie Beth Stuckey wrote, “Deadbeats are definitely freer to be deadbeats when they can have unprotected sex with a woman then pressure her into an abortion.” But query how this view of America is good for women.

Most women do not have an abortion from a position of empowerment. One survey performed by the Human Coalition showed that the vast majority of women who obtained an abortion said they would have chosen to give birth if circumstances were different. In another survey, two-thirds of women were ambivalent about their abortions. And nearly a quarter of them said their abortions were either coerced or unwanted. In addition, an astounding 60 percent said they’d have preferred to give birth if they’d had more emotional support or more financial security.

The pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute confirms these numbers. It has published a study showing that 73 percent of women say they chose abortion for economic reasons. A study cited by the Food and Drug Administration in its defense of its actions to take away safeguards for the abortion pill noted that 31 percent of women reported seeking an abortion because of concerns regarding their partner, including a lack of support. And yet another study showed that more than half of women who have an abortion say they are unsure of their decision and that many suffer mental and physical consequences. A mere 4 percent—4 percent!—said they felt more in control of their lives post-abortion.

Yet, according to Buttigieg, abortion on demand is a good thing because it will make men “more free.” It makes their lives easier. Less demanding. Fewer responsibilities. But unwanted abortions can take an enormous toll on the physical, mental, and spiritual health of women.

The statistics above are heartbreaking because they suggest that abortion decisions are often not about what women want at all. They are about a culture that has sought the easy way out, one that has sanctioned and even celebrated men wanting to be “free” of emotional and financial responsibility.

Indeed, despite the troubling reality that many women choose abortion because of difficult circumstances, the Biden-Harris administration has zealously worked to ensure that abortion is as broadly accessible as possible, all while targeting pregnancy care centers that provide real choice and material support to women with unplanned pregnancies. The day Dobbs was decided, President Joe Biden directed his administration to do everything it could to make abortion drugs “as widely accessible as possible.” And his FDA stripped away the last in-person doctor’s visit before a woman takes the abortion drug, removing a crucial safeguard that gave medical professionals a chance to detect ectopic pregnancies and other life-threatening conditions. Even though studies showed that more women would end up in the emergency room without this visit, the Biden-Harris administration did not pause before allowing abortion providers to ship drugs to dorm rooms across the country for women to take all alone.

Buttigieg’s comments reinforce how abortion has made pregnancy a “women’s problem.” As Ryan T. Anderson writes in his book Tearing Us Apart: How Abortion Harms Everything and Solves Nothing, instead of increasing the emotional and financial support that pregnant mothers need, abortion has allowed for a culture that blames them for having children. They could have chosen an abortion, after all. This access to abortion, according to Pete Buttigieg, makes men “more free.” He just said it out loud. So much for women’s choice.