Long before former prosecutor Kamala Harris made “freedom” the theme of her campaign, Democrat Pete Buttigieg would wax philosophical on the matter.

“’Freedom’ means a lot to conservatives,” Buttigieg liked to say, “but they have such a narrow sense of what it means.”

For Buttigieg, freedom was best understood as a positive, not merely a negative thing. “They think a lot about freedom from, freedom from government, freedom from regulation, and precious little about freedom to. Freedom to is absolutely something that has to be safeguarded by good government, just as it could be impaired by bad government,” he said.

Buttigieg’s discourse helps make sense of this “freedom” theme from a party that believes very strongly in the right of government to coerce and restrict individual and group action.

Democrats, after all, were the ones pushing mask mandates in 2022 and vaccine mandates for a vaccine that didn’t prevent the spread. Democrats were the ones banning church services. Harris’s last stated opinion on fracking, offshore drilling, and selling regular gas-powered cars is that she wants to outlaw them. Democrats push gun control and believe the state has the right to coerce nuns to provide birth control.

So when Harris campaigns on “freedom,” what does she mean?

Here’s the simple answer: She means the freedom to procure an abortion at any stage of pregnancy at which you can find a doctor to do the aborting. Democrats have always balked at using the word abortion, which is why they use euphemisms such as “choice” and “reproductive freedom” and “women’s healthcare.”

Here’s the less simple answer: Maybe we should see this the way Buttigieg does. “Reproductive freedom” isn’t merely the freedom from government interference in a transaction with an abortionist. It’s a positive freedom. Freedom to what, you ask?

Well, let’s let Buttigieg explain it through his remarks Monday night to an all-white gathering of Harris supporters:

“I’m so glad she’s made freedom the theme of her campaign because I think, in so many ways, that’s what’s at stake. And yes, women’s freedom is Exhibit A after Donald Trump demolished the right to choose [abortion]. But, of course, men are also more free in a country where we have a president who stands up for things like access to abortion care. Men are more free when the leader of the free world and the leader of this country supports access to birth control.”

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Buttigieg’s clear message here is that legal abortion and subsidized birth control increase men’s freedom to have consequence-free sex with women — a position often dubbed “bro-choice.”

It’s hardly a noble political cause, but it’s one Buttigieg feels important to emphasize.