Wednesday, August 6, 2008

 

Scared isn’t the right word


This is an article my friend Lynnette posted on her blog and I wanted to repost it. As you all know or may not know it is of my own very strong opinion that women have the right to choose and it's a right that I base my votes on.

It is also my opinion that abstinance only sex education is one of the most feeble minded, gullible ideas ever. Teenagers are going to have sex. They have been having sex since the beginning of time. Don't tell them they cannot or should not have sex because "it's the wrong thing to do". Tell them that the choice is up to them, then give them information and educational materials on how to prevent pregnancy and STD's! It's so simple! America is so primative and prude about something that simply human nature!!

Okay, I'll get off my soap box. Read the article, tell me what you think, even if you don't agree. And remember, opinions are like assholes...


Thoughts? Opinions? Share!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!

Why McCain should worry women

By Robyn E. Blumner, Times Columnist
Published

Sen. John McCain wants people to know that he is a true conservative. The right flank of his party, particularly blowhards like Rush Limbaugh, want to paint McCain as a closet pinko because he only has an 82 percent rating with the American Conservative Union. But McCain insists that his conservative credentials speak for themselves.

Believe him. They do.

What scares me most about McCain, beyond our 100-year presence in Iraq, his itchy trigger finger relative to other foes, and his enthusiasm for tax cuts for the rich, is his fiercely conservative record on women's reproductive freedom. Here, there is no moderate McCain or reach-across-the-aisle McCain. On issues related to abortion and even birth control and sex education, McCain is as ideological as any Operation Rescue activist crawling around in front of an abortion clinic.

You want to know what's coming with a McCain presidency? How about the overturning of Roe vs. Wade. I'm not kidding. The latest case to reach the U.S. Supreme Court ..ion made it clear that the two newest justices, John Roberts and Samuel Alito, will vote for substantial incursions into abortion rights, if not their outright elimination. It turns out that Roe isn't a "super-duper" precedent after all. It's now hanging by the thread of 87-year-old Justice John Paul Stevens' continued vitality.

The next president will be the decider on whether women's emancipation from the slavery of the womb will continue in this country. We are on the cusp of losing the right to control our bodies and determine our family size. McCain promises as much.

Due to McCain's reputation as a maverick, many voters seem to attach more moderate abortion views to him. In Florida's primary, for example, 45 percent of those Republicans who said abortion should be legal voted for McCain. Whereas the prochoice Rudy Giuliani won over only 19 percent of the prochoice Republican vote.

But McCain's voting record is solidly antichoice. He said directly in South Carolina that Roe "should be overturned" and strongly reiterates that position on his campaign Web site. He told the American Conservative Union that one of the three most important goals that he wants to achieve as president is to promote "a nation of traditional values that protects the rights of the unborn."

In accordance with these views, McCain promises to "nominate strict constructionist judges," which is code for "will overturn Roe if given half a chance."

McCain also supports the global gag rule - probably the most backward foreign policy initiative since the importation of slaves. This is the policy that bars foreign family planning organizations from receiving U.S. funds if the group in any way advises clients ..ion as an option or advocates for legal abortion - even when using their own funds. We know that population control and family planning is the only way for Third World nations to advance, yet the United States and its antiabortion zealots have put a foot on the neck of the most effective groups.

An intelligent person might think that someone as rabidly antiabortion as McCain would be backing approaches to prevent unwanted pregnancies, thereby, ipso facto, fewer abortions. Well, think again.

McCain is an antagonist of sensible family planning and effective sex education. In 2005, he voted "no" on a $100-million allocation for preventive health care services targeted at reducing unintended pregnancies, particularly teen pregnancies. In 2006, he voted against funding for comprehensive, medically accurate sex education for teens.

McCain is much more comfortable with President Bush's wasteful and utterly ineffective abstinence-only approach.

The New York Times Web site reported the following exchange with a reporter in Iowa in March 2007:

Q: "What about grants for sex education in the United States? Should they include instructions about using contraceptives? Or should it be Bush's policy, which is just abstinence?"

McCain: (Long pause) "Ahhh. I think I support the president's policy."

Q: "So no contraception, no counseling on contraception. Just abstinence. Do you think contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?"

McCain: (Long pause) "You've stumped me."

Do you really have to say such idiotic things to win the Republican nomination? It is an incontrovertible fact that the use of a condom will help interfere with HIV transmission. But I guess McCain sees it as a fact too liberal to acknowledge. Jeesh.

Now that the senator from Arizona has locked up the Republican nomination, he may be spending less time asserting his conservative bona fides and more time focusing on his occasional bipartisanship. This appeal will help to blur his record. Yet any voter who worries about government dictating to women what they can do with their bodies needs to understand the danger that McCain poses. Roe can't survive another president like Bush, and McCain is promising to be just like him.

Comments:
If I may speak bluntly - and I believe I may, seeing that you invited differing opinion commentary lol- I am one of those "anti-abortion crazies." I have my reasons, but if I get into defending my beliefs, this would be a longer comment and to be honest with you, I feel no need to hear justification from anyone else who believes differently and feel no need to justify myself. =D

I personally believe that people lose sight of the truth by getting caught up in the events leading up to the elections. Politicians are politicians straight up. They can promise anything in the world to everyone. It doesn't matter how sincere they may seem, how right-winged or left-winged they are. Promising a new world or any kind of change doesn't mean they can deliver once they reach their post because the legislature isn't that simplistic.

The President is no more than a "patsy," a face and signature of the decision makers. No matter who he is. Bush, Clinton, Reagan, McCain, Obama, it's all the same. Mr. President doesn't MAKE the decisions all by his lonesome, he signs off on decisions made by "majority rules." They can veto all they want, but the fact remains that whomever the public sends as it's speakers, it's law makers, will continue to put their demands at the fingertips of El Presidente.

I am a staunch voter. I read up on all candidates. I don't vote popular. I don't vote on who promises what to who. I don't vote Democratic. I don't vote Republican.

I vote educated. I vote belief system. I vote informed. I vote armed with knowledge of the history and the dedication and the work and the sweat behind each name on that ballot. When I step in that cubicle and I read the names printed, the proposals that are amended or created, I automatically see all of the information I have dug up whether good or bad. I pull everything I have researched and I use it for my personalized belief-system vote.

If people want to see a change or make a change, it doesn't matter who's in THE SEAT. What matters is who's in Congress. Senate. House. So if people want to see change, the election they should be worried about is the election of the officials from their States that are being sent to DC.

And now I'm off my Soap Box. I hope I didn't offend anyone! I didn't mean to get so wordy but...oh well!

=D
 
Oh yeah, sorry about forgetting to include this part:

I do agree with you on the abstinence thing. Teens should be informed and allowed to make decisions with full knowledge and prepared for consequences whether they face those or not.

(Although I'd kick my daughter's ass if she was having sex at the age of 12 and 13--seriously, that was the age of the youngest girls in my prenatal classes. YIKES!)
 
Thanks Joy for your opinions! I always like to hear what everyone thinks, especially if it's different that I think. It offers me perspective and understanding.

I agree with you about voting with an education and with great knowledge of candidates. I do this as well. I am also not "Republican" or "Democrat". I hate labels!!

Good post, you should post your comment on your blog!
 
Take it from someone who has taught grant funded sex-education in after school programs, absitnence only education is worthless and not taken seriously by any student of it. I taught grant funded after school sex ed; not in school or government funded because of the current administration's policies of abstinence only education. I was teaching sex education to 11-15 year olds - many of whom were sexually active (yes, at the age of 11). The way things are now are totally twisted.

As far as McCain goes, well I don't support him at all. At the same time, Im honestly not 100% behind Obama either. I totally agree with Joy. Voters should be educated when making their decisions. And politcians will ALWAYS say anything to get the votes they want. They will also consistently say one thing and do another. Its just the way it goes and it totally sucks. I hate election time because I hate having to listen to people bash eachother over their beliefs. Everyone has a right to their own views and having political jargon shoved down one's throat gets old fast - especially when its consistantly exaggerated, one sided, and often full of fabrications.

Thats my 2 cents. :p
 
I have to say, that I am pro-life, and would be more than over joyed to see Roe vs Wade overturned. Did you know that the lady, "Roe", gave birth to the daughter she was in court trying to gain the right to abort and now leads pro-life marches? I can't remember her name at the moment, but Bill was talking about it a couple of years ago when he heard about it and thought I'd like to hear that. Anyways, I don't think that the right to be irresponsible and kill an unborn person gives "freedom from the womb".

I certainly agree that contraceptive knowledge should be taught to young adults to avoid unwanted pregnancies-that in itself will cut down on abortions-I think it is retarded to not teach kids what to do, esp if you are against abortion-using contraceptives correctly is the best way to avoid someone reaching the point of choosing an abortion.
 
Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]





<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

Subscribe to Posts [Atom]