Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Women (all of you) should consider voting Obama


Why women should vote for Obama

Now, before you right me off as some right wing liberal, let me just say I’m approaching this from the simple angle that I’m a woman.  If you don’t like Obama’s foreign policy, current economic stance, ‘Obamancare’ I can completely respect that.  I honestly don’t know enough about that to comment about it, so I won’t. But there is something I do know. That if we vote for Romney/Ryan our rights a female whole will see set backs, and right now our issues are being peddled as non-issues in comparison to everything else, and women THEY ARE JUST AS IMPORTANT.

1)      Choice
Roe vs. Wade, if you don’t know, gave women the right to choose to terminate a pregnancy.  But Roe vs. Wade means more than that to us ladies. We, as a whole, have been oppressed over years and have been told how our bodies should be or shouldn’t be. Roe vs. Wade was about us having control over our bodies, just like birth control gave us autonomy over our sexuality. Do you really want a bunch of crusty old dudes saying what you can and can’t do with your vagina?
Ok, so you don’t believe in abortion, hey, neither do I, if we’re talking as a means of birth control. There are multiple ways to avoid pregnancy (abstinence, BC, etc).  Many pro-choicers will tell you they themselves wouldn’t get one, but they want women/girls who find themselves in desperate situations to have access to terminate a pregnancy without going a la back alley, which can be incredibly dangerous and deadly.  Pro-Life needs to be pro ALL life, even the mother’s life . A woman’s life needs to be just as valued. 
Look at Paul Ryan

C’mon ladies (considering voting this guy), really? Rape as a  “method of conception.” This guy is along with Romney is looking at making abortion illegal or incredibly difficult to obtain one.  1 in 4 women is sexually harassed or assaulted in their lifetime (the numbers are probably far higher). Those assaults have lead to pregnancy.  If this can put in in perspective line yourself up with 3 other of your girlfriends, and pick out which one will probably be (or has been) sexually abused, assaulted, or harassed and tell me if you’d tell them their rape was just a ‘method of conception.’
I realize that some abortions will come from two consenting adults getting pregnant, however ultimately our own personal preference can’t interfere with someone elses. Just like you wouldn’t want someone else telling you what to do, lets do the same for our sisters out there who are in some difficult situations. Lets NOT vote for someone who will take away access (or make it very difficult) to a medical procedure that can be incredibly dangerous without proper medical training. Abortions have been going on for years, and they will continue going on even if they are outlawed or made increasingly difficult to get hold of, so why put a woman’s life in danger?
Just because the abortion ban doesn’t apply to you personally doesn’t mean that it doesn’t apply to another woman who could find herself in some very difficult situations or be forced to make a difficult decision.  
2)      Birthcontrol and preventative care
Romney has talked about cutting funding to Planned Parenthood, which, contrary to some beliefs offers more than abortions. Planned Parenthood helped me get free birth control and pap smears when I was 17. Sure I was on my parents insurance, but I didn’t want them finding out. I got checked for STD’s regularly with Planned Parenthood, and look at me now 31, not pregnant, STD free, and pretty upstanding citizen. Planned Parenthood provides not only access to teens who need support, because lets be real, teens are going to keep having sex whether we like it or not, but also to mothers and women who don’t have access to insurance.
I refer my client’s mothers who planned parenthood when I find out they haven’t seen a gynecologist in years. Do we want someone who will cut funding that helps women out as much as planned parenthood? Don’t buy into the hype that all they do is provide abortions, they also provide medical support to women of low socioeconomic status who so desperately need these services.
3)      Equal Pay for equal work
The Republican SENATE BLOCKED the move to close loopholes in the Equal Pay Act. They blocked it, do you want President who represents a party that would be all “hey women, we don’t want to pay you the same as men? “ Like, that’s NOT COOL.  When asked, Romney simply stated that ‘they’d get back to us on that.’

I know there are some great Republicans out there, and I fear that those of you that are reasonable are being poorly represented by this extreme right that is very vocal.  But women, lets stand up for each other  (and for women who are so often oppressed and denied access to what they need) and for our basic rights to equal pay, access to free birth control, preventative care, and freedom of choice. We are not 2nd class citizens to be denied these things.  If you don’t like Obama, don’t like him, but like his support of Women. Vote for a candidate that supports you as an equal citizen, not one that needs her body and her check to be policed. There will be dire consequences for women (not just you) everywhere if Romney and the Republicans win. 

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