On Saturday, Michelle Obama delivered one of the most powerful speeches of the 2024 campaign, a 40-minute polemic remarkable for its straightforward, stark, and forceful formulation of the life-and-death stakes of the presidential election for women - and the men who love, and are loved by them.
The former First Lady, speaking to a Kamala Harris rally in Kalamazoo, Michigan, deconstructed the nation's conflict over abortion rights, re-framing familiar political and legal arguments and talking points into a plain-spoken, in-depth and detailed disquisition on the real-life risks, fears and unpredictability inescapably connected to women's reproductive health and safety.
In a race largely shaped by a huge gender gap between Harris and Donald Trump, Obama's address not only was an eloquent and extended appeal to female voters to align their election choice with their most personal and private needs and vulnerabilities -- but also an impassioned call for men to think, empathize and care deeply about the women in their families and among their friends, before casting a ballot for the former Republican president:
"So are you, as men, prepared to look into the eyes of the women and children you love and tell them that you supported this assault on our safety? And to the women listening, we have every right to demand that the men in our lives do better by us," Obama said.
"We have to use our voices to make these choices clear to the men that we love," she added. "Our lives are worth more than their anger and disappointment. And we are more than just baby making vessels. And if you are a woman who lives in a household of men that don't listen to you or value your opinion, just remember that your vote is a private matter."
As a political matter, Obama's goal was two-fold: to consolidate and shore up Harris's already massive lead over Trump among women voters, while also chipping away at the mirror-image margin he holds among men, including a small but significant number of Black and other male voters of color whom poll-takers say are defecting to Trump after backing Joe Biden in 2020.
Vox recently assessed the gender gap state of play:
A massive gender gap has been evident in poll after poll of this election — a significant trend that underscores the pivotal role women could play this November.
Most recently, a late October Quinnipiac survey of Michigan found 57 percent of women in the state back Vice President Kamala Harris, while 40 percent of men did the same. Conversely, 56 percent of men backed former President Donald Trump, while 37 percent of women did. That’s repeatedly been the case in national polls, too...
“It’s the battle of the sexes, and it’s no game,” Quinnipiac pollster Tim Malloy said in a statement. “There is a glaring gap in Michigan and Wisconsin between the number of women supporting Harris and the number of men supporting Trump.” In Quinnipiac polls conducted in five of the seven key swing states throughout October, Harris had a significant lead among women, while Trump saw a comparable advantage among men in those same places. (Quinnipiac has not released October results for Nevada and Arizona.)
As a piece of practical political oratory, Michelle Obama's speech on behalf of Harris was a first-rate articulation of contrasts between the Democratic Vice President and Trump, on matters of policy and promises, temperament and values, personality and public motive.
It was most notable, however, for a 15-minute riff of commentary, analysis, and explication that set forth the ways in which the most intimate, complex, and intricate matters of women's lives and bodies may be influenced, changed or determined, depending on the outcome of the Harris-Trump election.
You can watch Obama's complete speech via YouTube below or by clicking through this link. Further down, we're also publishing extended excerpts from a transcript of the address.
JR
Image: Michelle Obama speaks in Kalamazoo (19thnews.org).
EXCERPTS FROM MICHELLE OBAMA ADDRESS, KALAMAZOO, MICH., 26OCT24.
"And 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.
And 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.
And 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 in puberty, not knowing what to expect, too many of us suffer with severe cramps and nausea for days on end every single month. And 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 we deal with it alone. We don't share our experiences with anyone, not with our partners or our friends or even our doctors. Look, a woman's body is complicated business, y'all.
Yes, it brings life and that's a beautiful thing. But even when we are not bearing children, there is so much that can go wrong at any moment.
Every woman here knows what I'm talking about. An unexpected lump, an abnormal pap smear or mammogram, an infection, a blockage, all of which could be early signs of a variety of life-threatening cancers.
And in those terrifying moments when something goes wrong, y'all, which will happen at some point to the vast majority of women in this country, let me tell you, it feels like the floor falls out from under us in those moments. All we have to rely on is our medical system In those dark moments, all we have to rely on is our faith in a higher power and the experience of doctors to get us the care we need in a timely manner.
And look, I don't expect any man to fully grasp how vulnerable this makes us feel to understand the complexities of our reproductive health experiences. In all honesty, most of us as women don't fully understand the breadth and depth of our own reproductive lives.
And that's because our experiences are often neglected by science. There's a huge disparity in research funding for women's health. And if you happen to look like me and report pain, you are more likely to be ignored even by your own doctors studies show.
So let me take a minute to help folks, especially the men in our lives, to get a better sense of what could happen if we keep dismantling parts of our reproductive care system piece by piece as Trump intends to do.
I want folks to understand the chilling effect, not just on critical abortion care, but on the entirety of women's health. All of it. There are good reasons why so many women and physicians are horrified by what's happened.
Since Donald Trump's justices overturned Roe v Wade, we are seeing women scrambling across state lines to get the care they need. Just this week, a major medical journal reported that after Roe, infant mortality in this country rose, in large part because women are being forced to carry fetuses that won't survive to term.
One woman spent 22 days in jail on murder charges after she miscarried in her own bathroom. We are seeing doctors unsure if they can treat ectopic pregnancies, doctors being told they can't treat a woman until she becomes so close to death that only a life of the mother exception will allow them to act.
So just imagine the profound effects for all of us. If Donald Trump wins this election in states that are already putting abortion bans into effect, his FDA could further outlaw patchwork systems of tele-health appointments and mail order pills, thereby eliminating the last remaining protections for women in those states.
He could take actions that effectively ban abortion nationwide, which would put all of us in danger. No matter what state we live in, we will see more doctors hesitating or shying away from providing life saving treatments because they are worried about being arrested.
More medical students are reconsidering even pursuing women's health at all. More OB/GYN clinics, without enough doctors to meet demand, closing their doors, leaving unTold numbers of women in communities throughout this country without a place to go for basic gynecological care, which in turn will leave millions of us at risk of undiagnosed medical issues like cervical and uterine cancers.
This is real.
So do you think Donald Trump is thinking about the consequences for the millions of women who will be living in medical deserts? Does anyone think he has the emotional maturity and foresight to come up with a plan to protect us?
Y'all, we are teetering on the edge. Even before these state bans, America was already lagging behind every other wealthy nation on measures like maternal mortality and paid leave. So we could be right back to the days before Roe, which many young people here don't even remember the days when abortion wasn't as safe as it is today. -- the days when the number of mothers of color dying in childbirth was 30 to 40 percent higher than when it was under Roe.
So to the men who love us, lemme just try to paint a picture of what it will feel like if America, if the wealthiest nation on earth keeps revoking basic care from its women, and how it will affect every single woman in your life.
Your girlfriend could be the one in legal jeopardy if she needs a pill from out of state or overseas, or if she has to travel across state lines because the local clinic closed up. Your wife or mother could be the ones at higher risk of dying from undiagnosed cervical cancer because they have no access to regular gynecological care. Your daughter could be the one to terrified to call the doctor if she's bleeding during an unexpected pregnancy. Your niece could be the one miscarrying in her bathtub after the hospital turned her away.
And this will not just affect women -- it will affect you and your sons.
The devastating consequences of teen pregnancy won't just be born by young girls, but also by the young men who are the fathers. They too will have their dreams of going to college, their entire future, totally upended by an unwanted pregnancy.
If you and your partner are expecting a child, you'll be right by her side at the checkups, terrified if her blood pressure is too high or if there's an issue with the placenta, or if the ultrasound shows that the embryo was implanted in the wrong place and the doctors aren't sure that they can intervene to keep the woman you love safe.
If your wife is shivering and bleeding on the operating room table during a routine delivery gone bad, her pressure dropping as she loses more and more blood or some unforeseen infection spreads and her doctors aren't sure if they can act, you'll be the one praying that it's not too late.
You'll be the one pleading for somebody, anybody to do something. And then there is the tragic, but very real, possibility that in the worst case scenario, you just might be the one holding flowers at the funeral. You might be the one left to raise your children alone.
See, these are just some of the ways women die during childbirth. And I don't want to be a downer y'all, but in many cases, there is no warning and things go bad very quickly. And when it happens, every second of hesitation or delay can lead to devastating outcomes.
So I am asking y'all from the core of my being to take our lives seriously. Please do not not put our lives in the hands of politicians, mostly men who have no clue, or do not care about what we as women are going through, who don't fully grasp the broad-reaching health implications that their misguided policies will have on our health outcomes.
The only people who have standing to make these decisions are women with the advice of their doctors. We are the ones with the knowledge and experience to know what we need.
So please, please, do not hand our fates over to the likes of Trump, who knows nothing about us, who has shown deep contempt for us, because a vote for him is a vote against us, against our health, against our worth.
And let me tell you all, to think that the men that we love, could be either unaware or indifferent to our plight, is simply heartbreaking. It is a sad statement about our value as women in this world. It is both a setback in our quest for equity and a huge blow to our country, standing as a world leader on issues of women's health and gender equality.
So fellas, before you cast your votes, ask yourselves, what side of history do you want to be on?
Now, I recognize that there are a lot of angry, disillusioned people out there, upset with a slow pace of change. And I get it. It is reasonable to be frustrated. We all know we have a lot more work to do in this country, but to anyone out there thinking about sitting out this election, or voting for Donald Trump, or a third party candidate in protest because you're fed up, let me warn you, your rage does not exist in a vacuum.
If we don't get this election right, your wife, your daughter, your mother, we as women, will become collateral damage to your rage
So are you as men prepared to look into the eyes of the women and children you love and tell them that you supported this assault on our safety?
And to the women listening, we have every right to demand that the men in our lives do better by us. We have to use our voices to make these choices clear to the men that we love. Our lives are worth more than their anger and disappointment. And we are more than just baby-making vessels.
And if you are a woman who lives in a household of men that don't listen to you, or value your opinion, just remember that your vote is a private matter.
Regardless of the political views of your partner, you get to choose. You get to use your judgment and cast your vote for yourself and the women in your life.
Remember, women standing up for what is best for us can make the difference in this election. So let us use our voices in these final days, to make it plain to the men in our lives that we need to stand, not with Trump, but with us.
We need them to vote for the only candidate in this race who will protect our lives. We need them to vote for Kamala Harris. She'll fight to restore our reproductive freedoms and defend our health. Kamala will fight for our access to lifesaving emergency care and maternal care in every state. Kamala will veto any abortion ban or bill that restricts access to contraception or IVF. Kamala will expand access to birth control and abortion pills.
And she will do all of this, not because she's a woman, but because she's a decent human being.
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