"My Partner Had an Abortion"

I've found a very good suggestion in some of the comments on my blog entry "I Had an Abortion" (July 30, 2004) at Portland IMC: "Wearing a tee-shirt would be a coragous [sic] act to break that stigma. I would wear one, altough [sic] I am male, because I have confronted that decision and it was a very difficult choice. When shame is a tool to suppress discussion of very important matters then it must be confronted directly. Declaring it boldly might open the conversation" ("Personal Choice," July 30, 2004, 22:18); and "I wouldn't mind seeing guys wearing t-shirts at all (although it might also be good to have 'my partner had an abortion' shirts)" ("I Wouldn't Mind Seeing Guys Wearing the T-shirts," July 30, 2004, 23:26).

If "at least 30 million American women have had abortions since the procedure was legalized" (Barbara Ehrenreich, "Owning Up to Abortion," New York Times, July 22, 2004), there must have been roughly 30 million American men whose errant sperms led to unwanted pregnancies. Yes -- men, too, ought to own up to abortions.

Enterprising feminist men -- and lesbians who have not had abortions themselves but whose partners have -- may employ CafePress.com to make their very own "My Partner Had an Abortion" T-shirts. That will open up a new political conversation.

BTW, CafePress.com has several related products on sale for feminist men. Here is one example:

No Sperm Zone White T-Shirt
Product Number: 8435140
$17.99

The merchant Addicted To Beads says that the shirt is a "[g]reat gift for the guy who just had a vasectomy."