I go along with the League of Women's Voters and Barbara Boxer on the upcoming election this coming Tuesday, November 8th.
Mom's Voting Recommendations:
VOTE NO on Proposition 73!
This, of course is a sticky issue.
And for the record,
NO ONE IS PRO ABORTION!
I believe that all life is sacred.
Yet, this is why I feel it is very important for all women to retain the right to choose. This includes minors. My reasons for urging you to vote No on Proposition 73 is four fold.
ONE:
I personally have met and talked with MANY women who were sexually abused and raped by their own fathers or step-fathers. Some of these women attempted to tell their mother, but found that instead of their mother protecting them, the mother allowed this behavior to continue. Either because the mother did not believe her child, or felt powerless to do anything about it. Some women were even punished for daring to speaking of this awful crime.
For a girl or woman to be forced to carry and give birth to the child of her abuser is horrible. Society still does not always welcome the birth of a new baby and take care of the mother giving birth out of wedlock. In fact it is often the very people who work toward eliminating the right to choose who also complain about mothers having children out of wedlock and do not wish to pay taxes to provide the mothers and their children with the necessities of life.
TWO:
People still had abortions before they became legal and safe. Most women who had to resort to this action had to find a back alley abortionist and either died or had their health ruined by botched abortions.
When I was a teenager, my own mother told me that she was in favor of legalizing abortion. She felt this way because she lost a good friend due to a botched abortion. This friend was already the mother of four. And choose an abortion because of an impossible situation. You may think that she should have chosen to give birth to a fifth child, but we do not know what she was going through.
I believe that this choice should be left up to the mother and her God. But, I want women to be able to retain control of their own bodies. It would be nice if all children felt free to discuss anything with their parents, but even in the best of homes children don't always do that.
THREE: If a woman chooses to have an abortion for reasons of health, she should be free to save her own life and health. This is an awful choice for a woman to have to make. However ,every doctor must feel free to fully inform his patient and every woman should be able choose. We must retain the right to control our own body.
FOUR: What proponents don't tell you is this law FORCES DOCTORS TO REPORT these procedures TO THE GOVERNMENT. Why does government need to know? They've also slipped into their initiative language adding; "unborn child; a child conceived but not born" to our Constitution.
This step actually changes the definition of the legislative language. THIS IS THE REAL REASON THAT THiS INITATIVE WAS PUT ON THE BALLOT!!! This is the first step in outlawing all such proceedures, and would take away the right to choose. PAY ATTENTION HERE!
Enough said....
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This is what Barbara Boxer has to say about the propositions if you didn't link to her letter at the top of this post.
Proposition 73 is just the latest attempt by right-wing conservatives to take away a woman's right to choose. This dangerous measure would jeopardize the health of our teenagers, when we should instead be focusing our efforts on preventing teen pregnancy. Prop. 73 unwisely tries to legislate family communication and unrealistically expects teenagers to navigate through a cumbersome and confusing judicial process.
As the San Francisco Chronicle said in their editorial opposing Prop. 73, "The way to reduce abortion is not a law that requires frightened young women to either face a judge or the wrath of their parents. It's about increasing communication -- about sex, about choices, about consequences -- that prevents an accidental pregnancy in the first place." Vote NO on 73.
VOTE NO on Proposition 74
Proposition 74 is an effort to divert attention from the real problems facing California's public schools by turning teachers into scapegoats. The initiative does nothing to improve California's public schools -- and could actually harm them by making it harder to recruit good teachers.
Schools in California can already dismiss teachers found to be deficient during their first two years of service without a hearing. In fact, every local school has a system in place to deal with struggling teachers. At a time when we should be encouraging people to choose a career in teaching, Prop. 74 will hurt those recruitment efforts by not affording due process to those in the teaching profession who do so much for California's children. Vote NO on 74.
VOTE NO on Proposition 75
Prop. 75 targets teachers, nurses, firefighters and police officers with new political restrictions designed to weaken their ability to advocate for better schools, patient care, and public safety. That's why campaign watchdogs like the League of Women Voters of California oppose Prop. 75. Corporations already outspend unions on politics 24-1, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Yet the governor's corporate campaign contributors put Prop. 75 on the ballot to increase their grip on our government, and make it easier for the governor to pass his harmful agenda. Vote NO on 75.
VOTE NO on Proposition 76
Proposition 76 is an attempted power grab by Governor Schwarzenegger that gives him the power to bypass the legislature and make cuts to the budget without any oversight or public approval. Prop. 76 does not protect education funding -- and it would in fact reduce the long-term Prop. 98 school spending guarantee by $4 billion per year. Under Prop. 76, local governments could also lose hundreds of millions of dollars for police, firefighters, health care and social service programs. Vote NO on 76.
VOTE NO on Proposition 77
Proposition 77 is a flawed redistricting initiative that cuts out the public, has no accountability provision, and is unfair to those most underrepresented.
This is another clear power grab by the Governor and his allies who reach all the way to the most conservative Republicans in Washington, DC. Vote NO on 77.
VOTE NO on Proposition 78 and VOTE YES on Proposition 79
Everybody knows we need to do more to make prescription drugs more affordable. So let's do it right.
Proposition 79 will provide real prescription drug discounts to seniors and lower income Californians who need them the most. Prop. 79 will also establish a pharmacy assistance program to help businesses, small employer purchasing pools, and labor organization health and welfare funds -- among others -- receive the same pharmacy discounts and rebates from drug makers. Finally, drug companies would be held accountable by a state advisory board that would review the pricing and access of prescription drugs under the program.
Prop. 79 will make a difference. Proposition 78, on the other hand, calls for a voluntary system and at the end of the day will mean little or nothing for the people of California. So vote NO on 78 and YES on 79.
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YES on 80
This is a common-sense consumer initiative that will help prevent energy blackouts and massive fraud by unregulated private energy producers like Enron. It will override the failed energy deregulation policies, put utilities back in the business of serving the public, and encourage development of more renewable energy sources. The ultimate result will be more affordable energy for ALL Californians.
I urge you to join me in voting NO on 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, and 78 -- and YES on 79 and 80. Most important, please remember to vote in this important Special Election to be held on Tuesday, November 8th!
Posted by Judi at November 7, 2005 12:58 AM | TrackBack