Ezra's Bad Take on Abortion

If You Want a BAD Take on Abortion, Just Ask Ezra Klein

There's a ritual in American political commentary: every few years, some pundit crawls out of the woodwork to suggest Democrats throw women's rights under the bus. Like clockwork, some middle aged “liberal” white man will suggest that to win the larger political war, we should compromise on bodily autonomy. It's exhausting. And it needs to be addressed.

Last week, New York Times columnist Ezra Klein performed this ritual once again, suggesting that Democrats should start putting forth anti-abortion candidates in order to win elections and stop the shift toward authoritarianism.

I don't even know where to start here, so I guess I'll start with the most obvious point:

Over 60% of Americans believe abortion should be legal in some or all circumstances. Catering to the anti-abortion crowd literally undermines the will of the American people on both sides of the aisle and normalizes a position that is NOT NORMAL in the U.S.

This isn’t a fringe issue where Democrats need to “meet in the middle.” The majority has already spoken. Loudly. Repeatedly. In ballot measures from Kansas to Kentuckyto Montana to Ohio. When given the chance to vote directly on abortion rights, Americans consistently choose freedom.

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You Know Who Restricts Abortion Rights?

The answer is: authoritarians. Klein’s premise is that we need to compromise on abortion to stop authoritarianism. But restricting abortion rights is literally authoritarian. It’s a trademark of fascist regimes to control segments of the population that don’t bend to their narrow worldview.

Look at the evidence:

• Poland: Under right-wing authoritarian rule, abortion was banned in nearly all circumstances in 2020
• El Salvador: Women have been imprisoned for miscarriages under a total abortion ban enforced by authoritarian leadership
• Russia: Putin’s regime has increasingly restricted abortion access while pushing natalist policies to control women’s bodies
• Nazi Germany: One of Hitler’s first acts was banning abortion for “Aryan” women while forcing it on those deemed “undesirable”

Catering to anti-abortion political candidates doesn’t fight authoritarianism. It advances it.

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The Privilege of This Take Is Unmatched

How a middle-aged white man can publicly say this without reprimand from his fellow Democrats doesn’t surprise me, but it deeply concerns me. Klein is suggesting we basically just give in to the anti-abortion platform to win elections. In other words, just admit that we lost on the abortion issue and move on.

I’m sorry, but no fucking way.

He’s asking people with uteruses to sacrifice our bodily autonomy as a political strategy. He’s asking us to accept that our fundamental human rights are negotiable. He’s asking us to treat our healthcare decisions as bargaining chips.

This is the kind of “pragmatism” that only sounds reasonable when you’ll never personally face the consequences.

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We Don’t Negotiate With Extremists

We will never bend to Trump. We will never bend on government interference in healthcare. We will never bend on abortion rights.

The post-Roe landscape has shown us exactly what’s at stake: women bleeding out in parking lots, doctors afraid to provide lifesaving care, children forced to carry their rapists’ pregnancies, families fleeing their home states for basic healthcare.

This is all happening right now, in America, in 2025.

And Ezra Klein thinks the solution is to... give the people doing this more power within the Democratic Party?

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Here’s What Actually Wins Elections

Standing for something. Abortion rights won in red states. Abortion rights brought voters to the polls. Abortion rights are popular across party lines.

The Democratic Party doesn’t need to water down its stance on reproductive freedom. Frankly, it needs to fight harder for it. Dems needs to make it clear that bodily autonomy is non-negotiable and stop treating women’s rights as expendable.

We’re not a special interest group. We’re more than half the population.

And we’re not going anywhere.

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Pari and Eve are public health professionals who have dedicated their 15-year careers to fighting for global reproductive rights. Their Instagram and TikTok accounts facilitate evidence-based learning on a range of sexual and reproductive health topics, highlighting the intersectionality of health with human rights and social justice. Some of their previous social media clients include: Reproductive Freedom For All, Plan C, Jen Psaki, and ACLU. In their professional careers, Pari and Eve have worked for the United Nations, U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Planned Parenthood, Population Reference Bureau, CARE and more. They have served consulting clients such as the DC Abortion Fund and Emory University. For more on Pari and Eve, visit their website at www.pariandeve.com.