Doug Emhoff will hold event urging men to defend abortion rights

Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff will convene a panel in Atlanta on Tuesday focused on the role men can play in advocating for greater access to abortion rights, according to sources familiar with the plans.

The event, timed to mark the five-year anniversary of Georgia Governor Brian Kemp’s signing of Georgia’s six-week ban on most abortions, is expected to feature healthcare professionals, reproductive rights activists, local leaders and students.

Emhoff plans to stress the importance of men supporting abortion rights and using their voices to push to expand women’s ability to get the procedure, the sources said. The audience is expected to be mostly men and will include some Morehouse College students.

The panel will be held in collaboration with Men4Choice, a group that organizes and trains men to fight for access to abortion and mobilizes them to encourage other men to support their cause, the sources said. Men4Choice has also arranged Second Gentleman engagements across the country, including in Florida, Arizona, and North Carolina.

On Tuesday, Emhoff, who has accompanied Vice President Kamala Harris during some of the more than 80 events she has held on reproductive freedom since Roe v. Wade was overruled, it will aim to send a message to men that they must help fight back against the State. restrictions on abortion and support candidates who will expand abortion access, the sources said.

Speakers at the event, held in the afternoon at The Gathering Spot in Atlanta, include Carol McDonald, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Southeast; Davante Jennings, state organizer for Unite Reproductive and Gender Equity; and Shawana Moore, women’s health nurse practitioner.

The event will also feature Cecil Price III, a Morehouse University student and member of Men4Choice who is working to organize other men to become more active in the abortion rights movement.

During the day, Khadeen Ellis, television presenter and actress, will also speak about her experiences of pregnancy and motherhood and the specific challenges black women face during childbirth.

Sources said that before the event, Emhoff will also meet with Black small business owners and visit a local business, where he will seek to draw attention to a new trip the vice president recently embarked on aimed at highlighting the need to create opportunities economic.

Abortion has become a major issue this election year, with both President Joe Biden and Harris frequently attacking former President Donald Trump and Republicans on the issue. Harris, who has emerged as one of the administration’s most prominent voices on abortion, has held abortion-related events in at least 20 states, including a speech she gave in Jacksonville, Florida, on Wednesday, just as the new ban six weeks in that state most abortions took effect.