The Democratic Party has been reckoning with an identity crisis in the wake of Hillary Clinton’s devastating loss in November — and some progressives want to put abortion access back up for debate.

Weighing in on how the Democratic Party could win back white male voters, male writers have argued in the New York Times that the party must distance itself from the issue so that voters no longer see it as the “party of abortion.” In January, the only three Democrats in the house to vote for a piece of legislation restricting abortion access were men. Meanwhile, progressive populist hero Bernie Sanders has endorsed and is campaigning for an anti-choice, Democratic male candidate for mayor of Omaha, Heath Mello.

What is going on here?

To cisgender men, abortion may seem like a small issue in the scope of Sanders' broader focus on income inequality or Mello's plan to improve Omaha's economy. Abortion is sometimes cast as the social thorn in the side of issues that are supposedly more broad-reaching, such as economic justice, and it was barely mentioned during the entire presidential debate season — hence the hashtag #AskAboutAbortion, which reproductive rights activists used to encourage more discussion around the issue.

Because let’s be clear: Abortion is not a niche issue — it’s a fundamental right. For millions of women, trans men, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming people who have uteruses, reproductive freedom isn’t some optional add-on to our lives but what makes our lives possible. Without the ability to determine our own reproductive futures, women cannot be economically free; without economic freedom, there can be no gender equality. What's more, limiting access to birth control and abortion hurts not only women's earning potential but the entire economy.

Beyond that, legal abortion is really quite popular in the U.S., far more popular than anti-choice Congressional Republicans or the President, who once called for punishing women for having abortions if Roe v. Wade were overturned. Seven in ten Americans want to see Roe upheld. Support for legal abortion is the highest it’s been in decades: 57 percent of Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases.