In the article "Voters pass wage hikes, legal pot; divide on Abortion," by Greg Toppo and Laura Mandaro, they describe the election intiatives that took place. (Link to Article)
During the Senate elections this week, voters on the ballot initiatives in 41 states were for the recreational use of marijuana and higher minimum wages. In Florida, voters rejected a constitutional amendment that would have allowed doctors to prescibe marijuana to those with chronic diseases for relief. But Oregon passed an initiative that legalized the recreational use of marijuana, allowing citizens to possess 8 ounces of the drug and cultivate 4 plants. In Colorado and North Dakota, voters rejected adding unborn babies to the list of criminal actions, fearing that it would lead a ban to legal abortion. In Tennessee, however, there have been more restrictions added that will regulate and restrict abortion.
These results are somewhat concerning to me. The increased use of marijuana is something I personally disagree with. I feel that with more marijuana usage, pressure on other illicit drugs may possibly be lightened up, and our country will seriously falter. The abortion issue in many states is also concerning. As I take a Pro-Life stance, I feel that those states who are protecting the right to abortion do not realize what they are doing. I am pleased with the amendment Tennessee passed, because they are headed in the right direction.
The most concerning of the above are the pro-choice stances taken on abortion. It truly is sickening to see our country allow the distortion of freedom to take place so much so that a woman's freedom now allows her to take the life of a growing human. I feel like Colorado and North Dakota should not fear a ban to legal abortion, but rather, they should fear the legalization of injustice to a human that is declared to have no rights.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both Will and Giles that these recent election results are concerning. States should not be fearful of a ban to abortion and should follow Tennessee in their restrictions. Hopefully the draw to legalized marijuana will decrease so more states will not vote in favor of legalization in 2016.
ReplyDeleteUnpopular opinion here. I personally do not think abortions are ok, and I think if someone does not want their baby, the best thing they can do is carry that baby to term and give it up for adoption. Abortions should be an absolute last resort and preferably used only if the mother's life is in serious danger. However, I cannot say at all what it's like to be pregnant with a baby I can't care for, and I don't believe that a bunch of old men sitting around in Washington have any right to say what a woman can and can't do with her body, because they can never know what it's really like to be a woman in this situation. With that said, my overall stance on abortion is that the government doesn't have any right to ban it and other people have no right to be shaming women who do get abortions, but women should really look for other options before resorting to killing their baby. The only way I think to really stop the rate of abortions from rising is to give girls proper sex education and access to inexpensive contraceptives. I know any Catholics reading this will be crying foul on the suggestion that we need to promote contraception, but lets look at this realistically. This is not a Catholic country, and people will continue to have sex before marriage whether you guys like it or not. Promoting abstinence will not work forever, and an argument could be made that it's not even working now. If we want to stop girls from getting abortions, we need to stop them from getting pregnant in the first place by educating them. I think the government could help with this by setting standards for sex education that need to be followed by all schools because honestly the quality of sex education in many schools is appalling. I think in this situation it's time to give up trying to ban abortion altogether (because, let's face it, it's not going to happen), and instead pick the "lesser of two evils" and get some birth control and condoms out there for people to use. Proper education is what will ultimately solve this problem.
ReplyDeleteIs it really true that voters on the ballot initiatives in 41 states were for the legalization of marijuana? That seams crazy. I agree with London that abortion will most likely not be banned anytime soon in the country. However, could we work for some middle ground as a start? Abortion should not be used as just a form of contraception, so maybe a law could be passed requiring a woman to provide evidence of a need for an abortion other than not wanting a child.
ReplyDelete