Caleb Bonham's "Bro-Choice" Video Is Male Chauvinism in Action

The “Bro-Choice” video is an ultimate example of male chauvinism and an illustration that Caleb Bonham and his supporters do not understand what a women’s-reproductive-rights movement entails.  

For those unfamiliar with the phrase “bro-choice,” it was coined by Sarah Silverman with a PSA calling for a movement of men — or bros — to support women’s reproductive rights. Its online use increased after a liberal blogger for Burnt Orange Report delineated several reasons why straight men should oppose a bill restricting abortion rights. Ben Sherman warned men that supporting the bill put their sex lives at stake.

Caleb Bonham, the “mastermind” behind the “Bro-Choice” video, is a former Colorado legislative aide to Republican State Representatives J. Paul Brown and Brian DelGrosso and a self-described “Christian politico with a sense of humor.” He became a national conservative celebrity with “Revealing Politics,” a video in which he interviews Obama Denver rally attendees who are unable to defend their positions on the government getting involved in social issues.

In his latest video, Bonham explains that “A bro-choice is where I am pro-choice because I am a man and if women don’t have access to abortion on demand then I won’t get laid as often.” In the video he interviews students at the University of Colorado at Boulder about their views on abortion rights. When students were asked if “on-demand” abortion made it easier for male students to have sex with women, students said yes.

Bonham, who clearly does not support women’s reproductive rights, suggests that male pro-choice supporters advocate for abortion so they can get laid more often. Bonham believes his “video reveals a rarely discussed but prevalent self-centered mindset among the college aged pro-choice crowd. One that views abortion as a means to ensure materialistic, responsibility-free sex.”

Since when did interviewing a few college students qualify as a “prevalent” attitude “among the college aged pro-choice crowd? Pew Research Center must be wasting their time with large survey sample sizes. Apparently they didn’t get the memo that interviewing a handful of individuals constitutes a widespread opinion.

Putting Bonham's pathetic argument aside, his video clearly demonstrates a lack of education on a movement advocating for the protection of a woman’s reproductive rights. He fails to acknowledge that anti-abortion legislation is an attack on a woman’s right to make choices about her body and health. In 2013 alone, over 300 anti-abortion bills have been established in the U.S in direct violation of the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade. If a woman is pro-choice or pro-life that is her decision to make and should not be forced upon her with legislation introduced by men or crude videos. The use of humor and fictitious arguments to try disparage the reproductive-rights movement is childish and further highlights some males' attempt to control women’s choices. 

The “Bro-Choice” video is extremely offensive and its attempt to advance the farcical notion that men who support abortion rights make women more likely to sleep with them is infuriating. It is time we reject male chauvinism and its effort to create restrictions that deny a women her reproductive rights. Speaking out against Bonham is a good place to start.