The Left seems to have gone full-bore on abortion with no restriction (here, here, here, and here); perplexingly, they’re more interested in calling out Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam for his blackface/KKK photo than his comments about murdering babies after they’re born.

What’s causing the above? How did we get here?

Those are, I believe, good questions. How about a much more basic one: Why do women get abortions? I ask, because former New Orleans Saints tight end Benjamin Watson offered an answer on the Fox News program The Story with Martha MacCallum. And it’s an explanation you surely haven’t often heard.

According to Ben Wednesday night, if not a cause of abortion, certainly a component which could prevent the act, is rudimentary: men.

Here’s what he had to say:

“We’re living in a time, Martha, of abortion on demand. We’re living in a time of relativism. And while I would agree that hopefully these happen in very rare instances where someone would wait nine months before having an abortion, the fact still remains that whether it’s at nine months or whether it’s at eight days or 18 days, when the heart is developing, when the baby is breathing, it’s still the same life.”

Ben made a good point — in addition to advocating for the child, society needs to support the parents, who may be in a very stressful situation:

“So no matter what the reason is, science proves it — that this is an individual entity, this is an individual person with their own DNA, with their own dreams, with their own blood type even. And so it’s important to not only be people that stand for abortion as if it’s some sort of political stance — which it kind of turns into sometimes — but be someone that stands for whole life. Be someone that’s willing to support not only this baby that’s coming into the world, but also to support the mother and the father that may be in crisis, whatever they may be going through. I think that it turns into a divisive issue when we stand for the unborn, but we’re willing to neglect the mothers that are going through these difficult choices.”

Now the crucial point; Martha asked, “What’s your message for men? You say even if it wasn’t demonstrated for you by a father, you can be different.”

“Look, men are in a role of leadership in many areas. Men are protectors. We are providers. Many women would not be seeking abortions if the men involved in their lives were doing what they were supposed to be doing. And that’s a challenge to myself, that’s a challenge to all men who are listening, that’s a challenge to men everywhere to step up.”

What about toxic masculinity? How do men rise to an occasion they’re being told is a position of oppression, of subjugation, of inexcusable chauvinism? The question reminds me of a quote by Lucille Ball, dismissing women’s lib: “I’ve been so liberated it hurts.”

Can society turn things around in a way that again encourages men to be men, according to Ben? With so many dadless sons, there’s a profound lack of male role models passing the baton. Moreover, we’re being told that — in addition to men being cultural poison — there’s really no such thing as men. What happens to a society that decides basic familial roles are social constructs?

The Left don’t appear to want men to stand up. From their side, we get punishingly dumb statements like this and idiotic acts such as this, while men are blamed for society’s greatest ills (like this). But as I wrote here, men are necessary. Though they may be toxic if left to roam the planet without women, they are also an antidote. In Ben’s view, they’re the cure for an ill at the center of the moment’s political debate — an issue of life or death. His opinion, it seems to me, is sound. And it should be sounded much more loudly. It’s a counter-balance to the opposing lie, and one that a tilted world needs to hear.

For more of Ben’s thoughts — and there are certainly more quotable points from the interview than those aforementioned — please watch the video below.

-Alex

Relevant RedState links in this article: here, here, here, and here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

See 3 more pieces from me: white privilege, wife privilege, and wide privilege.

Find all my RedState work here.

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