Opinion | Michelle Obama to Americas Men: What Side of History Do You Want To Be On?

The following is excerpted from Mrs.Obama’s speech on Saturday at a Kamala Harris rally in Kalamazoo, Mich.I want you to think about which presidential candidate could possibly care more about our reproductive health.I just want to take a moment with this particular question, because there is so much that gets lost in the conversation about women’s reproductive rights.

I want the men in the arena to bear with me on this.Because there’s more at stake than just protecting a woman’s choice to give birth.Sadly, we as women and girls have not been socialized to talk openly about our reproductive health.

We’ve been taught instead to feel shame and to hide how our bodies work.Some young girls enter puberty not knowing what to expect.

Too many of us suffer with severe cramps and nausea for several days every single month.Then on the other end of the reproductive timeline, too many women my age have no idea what’s going on with our bodies as we battle through menopause and debilitating hot flashes and depression.See, fellas, most of us women, we suck up our pain and deal with it alone.We don’t share our experiences with anyone, not with our partners, our friends or even our doctors.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

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