What an incredible night. Voters in South Dakota, Colorado, and California stopped three ballot measures that would have seriously threatened the ability of women and families to make private health care decisions. While these initiatives were fought vote-by-vote in each state, they were battles that were won for all of us.
The victories were decisive: in South Dakota, the split was 55 to 45 percent against a ban on nearly all abortions, and in Colorado, 73 to 27 percent said no to an amendment that would have not only prohibited abortions but could have been used to block stem cell research and curtail access to in vitro fertilization and certain forms of contraception, among other reproductive health services.
The fight in California was more of a nail biter. For the third time, voters in California were asked to consider a measure that would have severely restricted teenagers’ access to abortion care. In the end, 52 to 48 percent of voters understood that even if we would want our daughters to come to us if they were pregnant and decided to have an abortion, the most important thing is that they can get safe, quality medical care without delay.
These are a huge victories for all Americans, sending a strong message to our elected officials that our government should protect not interfere with personal decisions about our health and families. We may not all feel the same about abortion, but we can agree that these are private decisions. Everyone’s life and circumstances are different; we must respect people’s personal choices even if we wouldn’t make the same decision.
Today the mandate is clear: we need to stop the political wrangling over abortion and start focusing on building a world where everyone has the resources and opportunity to decide what makes for a good life, and to live that life. When it comes to our reproductive health and lives this means everyone has access to a continuum of services — from honest sex education to affordable birth control to prenatal care to child care assistance to the option of abortion. It is now in our hands to ensure that the freedoms and opportunities enjoyed by some become a reality for all.
November 5th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
This is not a victory, but a defeat for those who are denied the right to life. It’s a telling thing when the ACLU has no problem inserting a device into the skull of an innocent child and sucking the brains out, but shout “cruel and unsual” when scum like their Joseph Edward Duncan III brutally murders and rapes a child and is put to death
November 6th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
This is a fantastic action by the voters, the very people who have to make these decisions…to uphold the right to reproductive freedom. There is now an absolute mandate from the people to stop trying to outlaw and deny access to abortion in the state.
November 7th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Your blog makes me sad. I never would have thought I would see someone use the two words “abortion care” in a sentence together. There is nothing caring about abortion it destroys so many lives in its wake. In California we were voting to give parents the right to help their children to not make what could be the worst decision of their life and to give them other options. I would hate to think what might happen if more women took some time to think about what they are doing before they step through the doors of Planned Parenthood. Maybe, just maybe those doors would eventually close for good. It is our responsibility as a society to help the weakest and most venerable not to destroy them.
November 8th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
This is very heartening news. Despite decades of campaigning often funded by church organizations, Americans still value reproductive rights in sufficient numbers to fight off attempts to curtail them.
Also encouraging news is exit poll data from the Presidential election showing that, among voters for whom the composition of the Supreme Court is very important in their decision, the majority voted for Barack Obama who has clearly stated that he would not consider nominating a Supreme Court candidate who did not recognize a right of privacy in the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and rejected John McCain who described Roe v. Wade as “a flawed decision that must be overturned”
November 9th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Women are capable of rational choice over their own lives. Sometimes that translates into abortion. Most often it doesn’t. Taking away their right to choose is unconscionable.
As a “religious people” we have a long history of forcing our views onto others. “Maybe, just maybe those doors would eventually close for good.”
November 16th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Men can’t, and never will understand how young women feel about abortion. Abortion has pros and cons; good and bad points of veiw. But don’t people think that just because there are ways that are harmful of the removal of a baby, does that mean we have to use just those ways? The answer you should be thinking is “No.” We need scientists to begin research of better ways to use the option of abortion. If it has anything to do with a womans’ body, then it is up to her, not the Government. Insest and rape are unforgetful. If there are States that begin to pass abortion laws, would a woman like to live with a baby in her that reminds her of what has been done to her? By her father? or some stranger off the street? I’m religous, but I’m not going to stand and watch women be stripped of there rights of their body, their mind, their life.
November 17th, 2008 at 12:12 am
Where are my reproductive rights? This kids been around eating my food for ten years, he won’t ever amount to anything. I want to abort him. Is it too late? He definately has a negative impact on my health, it will be even worse when he hits 13.