Perhaps the biggest reason our country is going in the wrong direction today is of the abortion issue. Many people vote for Republicans because of their strong desire to see abortion become illegal in this country. The 99% is clearly voting against their own best interests when they vote for Republicans today.
People no longer vote Republican because of national debt: the deficit is now bigger than ever. They can’t say they vote Republican because of family values when they didn’t resist their president breaking up families at the border. They don’t vote for Republicans for fear of their beloved guns being taken away; no attempt was made to do anything like that during Obama’s eight years, even in light of the number of school shootings. It’s not a vote for safety: between neglecting climate change, blocking efforts to stop election interference, and stopping new common-sense gun laws, we are actually less safe. There are many people who live in unjustified fear of anyone who looks or acts differently than they do, believing Republicans will keep them safer – and us whiter – as a country. Finally, people don’t vote Republican because they care about our democracy; they stand by and say nothing while the White House tries to wield all the power for itself. But one thing stands above everything else with a huge group of voters: the deep desire to end abortions once and for all.
It is more than just a cause to fight; for many, ending abortion is an obsession. Some people are so blinded by their desire to end all abortions that they think it’s still wrong to abort a baby if the life of the mother is at risk, or the pregnancy was a result of rape, or if the fetus has a deformity. Others feel that abortion should not be an option for those who became pregnant by mistake – and instead of trying to limit these mistakes by educating our youth better about sex and respecting females, or making it easier to get birth control, many actually fight against these preventive measures. Birth control should be anonymous and free.
Some feel it is their moral duty to help these innocent unborn potential human beings, and I can respect that. However, their compassion seems to end there. If only they had one-tenth of that compassion for those already here. They care more about birth than actual life. Many children are born into dysfunctional families and poor areas where a good education is near impossible, good nutrition is too expensive, and preventive healthcare is out of reach. Safety nets are being removed, minimum wages are not rising in many states even though the cost of living is, and plans are in place to cut social security and Medicare. What good is it to save unwanted babies when we are helpless now to give them a fair chance at life?
Telling a woman, or a girl, that they must carry to term a baby if they do not want is another slam to the women of this world. We all know that if men were the ones actually having the babies, this would not even be an issue. Women have been under the feet of men since the beginning of time, and obvious unfair treatment of women still runs rampant in our very own country. Pro-lifers are okay with the fact that many women will seriously hurt themselves or even die trying to abort the baby on their own. They seem oblivious to the fact that many will leave the state or country to have an abortion anyway. But what they are the most oblivious to is the fact that their attempts to vote in people that are right-to-life are destroying this country and the world.
Politicians know they can do just about anything they want to do and still get lots of votes if they are against abortion – or pretend to be. They know that their policies are not actually what is best for the general public, but best for the businesses that fund them. Whether or not these Republican politicians actually care about abortion or not, taking a pro-life stance gives them the needed votes to win elections. There are many examples where those trying to deny women access to abortions have, in fact, paid for or encouraged girlfriends or mistresses to have one themselves. I would bet that just like those who vehemently oppose gay rights and change their tune when their own child comes out of the closet, they would not like to see their daughter have to carry and give birth to her rapist’s baby. Giving rights to unborn babies is taking away the rights of living, breathing human beings.
The majority of Americans, especially women, want to keep abortion safe and legal. That alone should mean something. Those who oppose it are the minority but are very passionate about their beliefs. While I understand the compassion they feel towards what they consider to be human beings, it is interesting that those who feel this way are predominately religious. They strongly feel that they are doing right by God; yet, they concede that these aborted fetuses will go to heaven. If there really is
The ideal solution would be to somehow make abortion a non-issue. If this problem were to magically disappear, we would probably see serious improvements in our country. Many of these people that have been voting Republican for years would suddenly not have a reason to vote in the people that don’t actually care at all about them at all. They would see that their beliefs and values probably fall more in line with Democrats’. Then, perhaps we’d get real change in this country. Healthcare for everyone, better treatment for the working people, higher taxes on the rich. There would finally be some real progress about limiting mass shootings, another unfathomable topic that almost nothing has been done to address. We’d also likely see a supreme court that wasn’t stacked with justices who constantly side with big business; they get away with that because they are known to be pro-life and that sufficiently justifies all their horrendous decisions for enough people.
So is there a solution or a compromise? Do we ask the women of this country to give up any of their rights? Could we actually tell women that their bodies now belong to the state; that they are no longer in control of their own lives? Women have always been, and still are, treated unfairly all over the world – including right here. They have been so under-appreciated and disrespected that it is absolutely shameful that so many people, including many women in this very country, don’t seem to have a problem with telling them that their bodies do not belong to them. Women have done their fair share of the workload in life, and giving birth is no picnic. Millions, if not billions of women have been raped by men; they have been sold into sex slavery against their wishes – which still happens today. Women have been denied opportunities and fair pay, for the only crime of being a woman. But women are equals. Total equals. This is not realized by many people – including some women themselves, often thanks to religious nonsense. So the answer is no, we cannot ask women to succumb to the wishes of men that have no business anyway telling them what to do with their bodies.
If the majority of women in this country want to ban abortions, then it is absolutely worth considering. But we will never get to that point: the vast majority of women want to keep it safe and legal. Yes, there are some women that do want to ban abortion. The abortion issue is used as a wedge between the people. There is room for compromise, but compromise is not good for Republican leaders. They would have less leverage with which to win elections if abortion were not the issue it is today. It will be purposely kept a divisive issue – so those in power can keep it, and those with wealth can accumulate even more. I care about the hundreds of millions of people that are here already in this country and the billions of people in this world. Is the issue of abortion really capable of playing a major part in the destruction of humankind? Absolutely. Should we make an all-out effort to figure out a solution or a compromise? Without a doubt. Let’s work together to reduce unwanted pregnancies. Let’s work together to keep women autonomous and safe. And let’s work together to save our democracy. Are you with me?