Men4Choice Briefing

OVERVIEW

• Who is Men4Choice?
• How are we mobilizing men for reproductive freedom?
• Our work – focusing on two organizing tactics we use
• Data from Yale research project
• What’s next for us? How can we work together?

Men4Choice: What And Why

Men4Choice

As the attacks on reproductive rights escalate, the question we were asked was:

Where are the male allies?

Men4Choice

The Challenge

There are 60 million+ pro-choice men in America. Most sit passively on the sidelines.

How do we convert this massive, unorganized community of passive supporters into active partners in the movement?

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How do we equip allies to organize their peers to not just fight for abortion rights and access, but also address broader cultural issues?

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Men4Choice

Men4Choice

Our Vision

We envision and are working towards a future where male allies are actively deconstructing misogyny by transforming the way they think about, speak about, and engage in the fight for reproductive freedom.

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Our Mission

Our mission is to unconditionally support the women and impacted individuals leading this movement by activating, educating, and mobilizing male allies into the fight to protect and expand reproductive freedom.

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Our Theory Of Change

Rather than debate and try to persuade anti-choice men, Men4Choice focuses exclusively on activating passively pro-choice male allies and mobilizing them into action.

We have enough men!

We just need to get them organized!

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By equipping these allies with the knowledge they need and training them to organize their peers, we empower them to challenge the toxic culture which drives these oppressive laws and bring new activists into this fight.

Men4Choice

Men4Choice

Why Don’t More Men Engage?

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• Don’t understand the harm/impact of these attacks

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• Treat this as a “women’s issue” that doesn’t impact them

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• Don’t see an entry point into the movement – not their place to speak up

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• Don’t have a “game plan” for how to engage

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How We Do This Work

ACTIVATE

EDUCATE

MOBILIZE

NEW MALE ALLIES TO EXPAND THE MOVEMENT AND �BUILD POWER TO CHANGE POLICY/CULTURE

Men4Choice

ACTIVATE

EDUCATE

MOBILIZE

Men4Choice

Our Work

• Organizing Program: Men4Choice Youth Fellowship

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• Culture/Narrative Change: Innovative Comms, Digital Campaigns, Social Media Content

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• Funneling new activists into fights on the ground – legislative, GOTV, protests, etc.

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Our work sits at the intersection of culture change and policy change.

THE INTERVENTIONS

Men4Choice

Building Capacity with the

Men4Choice Youth Fellowship

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A 10-week, rigorous, online fellowship program to educate and train young male-identifying allies how to activate, educate, and mobilize their peers

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• Issue education
• Organizing training
• Political Communications training
• Practical application -> Organizing Community Conversations

Men4Choice

What is a Community Conversation?

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• An hour-long, small group discussion
• Focus on abortion rights, access, allyship
• Organized by fellows, supported by our team
• This is the practical application of the skills + learnings in Fellowship
• Peer-to-peer organizing, creating a pipeline of engaged men

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Men4Choice

GROWING OUR IMPACT

Men4Choice

2023 Highlights

We trained 72 new organizers as part of our Youth Fellowship program, more than doubling our numbers since last year.

These fellows organized 215+ educational events to activate their male peers and get them to join Men4Choice.

Across all of our programs, 1,000+ young men stepped up to be more active in this fight in 2023.

Men4Choice

2023 Highlights

We began partnering with the Second Gentleman of the United States, hosting events with him in North Carolina and Florida to mobilize more allies into this fight.

Co-Executive Director, Oren Jacobson, was featured alongside Chelsea Clinton at the Women’s Forum For The Economy & Society: Global Meeting in Paris.

Men4Choice

2023 Highlights

We began partnering with the Second Gentleman of the United States, hosting events with him in North Carolina and Florida to mobilize more allies into this fight.

Co-Executive Director, Oren Jacobson, was featured alongside Chelsea Clinton at the Women’s Forum For The Economy & Society: Global Meeting in Paris.

Men4Choice

2023 Highlights

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Our fellows are taking action and showing up on the ground – at rallies, protests, for petition-gathering, canvassing – from Washington, D.C. all the way to our target states of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina

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Through our Advocacy arm, more than 40 men joined us at a “Tailgate Party” to gather petition signatures with Congresswoman Frederica Wilson for Florida’s abortion rights constitutional amendment at a University of Miami football game, making it one of the largest single day actions involving pro-choice men. Our fellows helped connect 1000+ signatures!

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Men4Choice

RESEARCH PROJECT

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

YALE UNIVERSITY

Men4Choice

About the Field Study

To study the effectiveness of our training and organizing model by measuring shifts in attitudes/beliefs on abortion rights and access and willingness to take action on this issue

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• When did we survey participants?
• Before their participation in a Community Conversation
• After their participation in a Community Conversation
• After their participation in the Youth Fellowship

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• Sample size:
• 220+ respondents in Summer & Fall, 2023
• For today, showing a true “apples-to-apples” comparison
• N = 64 for Community Conversations (Pre-CC and Post-CC)
• N = 32 for Fellows (Post-Fellowship)
• The two groups are distinct from each other

Men4Choice

Which of the following best describes your stance on abortion policies:

• Abortion should be fully banned
• Abortion should be banned, except in extreme circumstances (e.g., rape, incest, or pregnant person’s life is at risk)
• Abortion should be legal for any reason early in a pregnancy (i.e., in first 12 weeks) and only legal if the mother's life is at risk later in a pregnancy (i.e., after the first 12 weeks)
• Abortion should be legal in most cases, with some limitations
• Abortion should be legal in all cases
• None of the above

Men4Choice

Which of the following best describes your stance on abortion policies:

Abortion should be �legal in all cases

100%

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80%

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60%

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40%

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20%

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0%

25% Increase

From Pre-CC to �Post–CC

65% Increase From �Pre-CC to Post-Fellowship

Men4Choice

Which of the following most accurately describes your perspective about abortion in general:

• I think life begins at conception and abortion is immoral
• I think abortions aren’t something to be celebrated, but they’re sometimes necessary
• I trust people to make the best health care decision for themselves and their family; no one should be forced to carry a pregnancy against their will

Men4Choice

Which of the following most accurately describes your perspective about abortion in general:

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I trust people to make the best health care decision for themselves and their family; no one should be forced to carry a pregnancy against their will

100%

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75%

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50%

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25%

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0%

Men4Choice

There is a disconnect between values and policy

Abortion should be �legal in all cases

100%

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80%

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60%

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40%

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20%

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0%

Men4Choice

I trust people to make the best health care decision for themselves and their family; no one should be forced to carry a pregnancy against their will

100%

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75%

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50%

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25%

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0%

On a scale from 1-100 please say how much you agree with the following statements:

• I will be directly impacted if abortion is banned in my state
• I feel informed about the issues surrounding reproductive rights and access
• I feel prepared to take action for reproductive rights and access
• I believe I am a stakeholder in the fight for reproductive freedom with something to lose
• I feel committed to engaging in the fight for abortion rights
• I believe it is important for pro-choice men to speak up in support of abortion rights

Men4Choice

On a scale from 1-100 please say how much you agree with the following statements:

Average Score

I will be directly impacted if abortion is banned in my state

I feel informed about the issues surrounding reproductive rights �and access

100

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80

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60

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40

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20

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0

I feel prepared to take action for reproductive rights and access

45% Increase

From Pre-CC to

Post-CC

20% Increase �From Pre-CC to �Post-CC

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24% Increase �From Pre-CC to �Post-CC

58% Increase �From Pre-CC to Post-Fellowship

27% Increase �From Pre-CC to�Post-Fellowship

33% Increase �From Pre-CC to Post-Fellowship

Men4Choice

On a scale from 1-100 please say how much you agree with the following statements:

Average Score

I believe I am a stakeholder

in the fight for reproductive freedom with something to lose

I feel committed to engaging in the fight for abortion rights

100

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80

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60

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40

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20

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0

I believe it is important for pro-choice men to speak up in support of abortion rights

36% Increase

From Pre-CC to

Post-CC

18% Increase �From Pre-CC to �Post-CC

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3% Increase �From Pre-CC to �Post-CC

45% Increase �From Pre-CC to Post-Fellowship

27% Increase �From Pre-CC to�Post-Fellowship

11% Increase �From Pre-CC to Post-Fellowship

Men4Choice

You might be asking …

If you’re seeing such big shifts in just an hour, why not just do more of those instead of investing so much time/energy into a 10-week Fellowship?

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• The deep training we give the fellows is needed to create the hundreds of these Community Conversations we run each year
• As you’re about to see, there’s a meaningful difference between the shifts in attitude and commitment to take action between the two interventions

Men4Choice

Next, how likely would you be

to engage in the following?

• Join a protest about protecting reproductive rights sponsored by a reproductive rights group
• Accompany a friend or family member to an abortion appointment
• Donate to a group or candidate that supports reproductive rights and access
• Volunteer with an organization fighting to protect and expand reproductive rights and access

Men4Choice

Next, how extremely likely would you be to engage in the following?

Join a protest about protecting reproductive rights sponsored by a reproductive rights group

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Accompany a friend or family member to an abortion appointment

100%

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80%

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60%

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40%

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20%

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0%

Extremely likely

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47% Increase From �Pre-CC to Post-CC

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120% Increase From �Pre-CC to Post-Fellowship

27% Increase From �Pre-CC to Post-CC

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42% Increase From �Pre- CC to Post-Fellowship

Men4Choice

Next, how extremely likely would you be to engage in the following?

Donate to a group or candidate that supports reproductive rights and access

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Volunteer with an organization fighting to protect and expand reproductive rights and access

100%

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80%

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60%

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40%

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20%

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0%

Extremely likely

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10% Increase From �Pre-CC to Post-CC

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78% Increase From �Pre-CC to Post-Fellowship

35% Increase From �Pre-CC to Post-CC

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200% Increase From �Pre- CC to Post-Fellowship

Men4Choice

What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today? Please rank the following issues.

Average Ranking

Men4Choice

Key Takeaways

Significant shifts in

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• Support for abortion to be legal in all cases
• Men seeing themselves as stakeholders in this fight
• Preparedness to engage in the fight proactively
• Commitment to taking action
• Strong correlation between “stakeholder” and “volunteer”

Men4Choice

How do we actually get men to step up?

• Make the harm “real”: Story-telling - E.g.-- Anya/Derick Cook
• Shift the frame + create ownership + give permission
• Ground abortion in universal values → Freedom, power, control, care
• Stakeholder framing → Your body may not be under attack, but your freedom is
• Permission to speak up → The antis are loud + my peers are starting to speak up
• An on-ramp + a “playbook”
• On-ramp/entry point: peer-to-peer organizing
• Playbook: what to say, how to show up/engage
• Creating community → Cultural change → generate action at scale
• Men4Choice → sense of community → guys like us
• Shifting culture from the inside-out

Men4Choice

FELLOW TESTIMONIALS

“ Acting has always helped me learn better, and actively organizing and leading conversations are great skills I will always carry.

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“I do feel that I broadened my knowledge, and got better hands-on organizing skills. I feel better equipped to organize my own network, as that was something that I had struggled with going into the fellowship.”

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“My favorite workshop was the one where we talked about political messaging and framing. Really helped me reshape how I approached conversations about not only repro rights, but many other issues.”

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“After the fellowship the issue of abortion is much more concrete for me ... I'm better able to see the fabric connecting this issue to … other social issues like sexism and misogyny. Favorite workshops were the psychology workshop and the masculinity workshop.