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Monday, November 06, 2006

 
12:24 PM: 43 [#] [0]

i'm working my way through the voters' pamphlets and just now realized maybe the best way to reach a lot of people about voting against measure 43 would have been to pay $500 to publish a statement in it. so many of the "yes on 43" stories are personal and sad, but the "no on 43" ones are boring. i think it's in part because abortion is so stigmatized, so even people for whom abortion was the right decision are afraid to admit it, even without the additional emotions connected to parental notification. the testimonials are understandably compelling; the only one that made me angry was the doctor who claimed he needed parental permission for all medical procedures, which is not true in Oregon: minors from age 15 can consent to their own medical care and obtain confidentiality without the permission of a parent.

anyway, i wanted to write a much longer post about why you should vote against 43, but here it is monday and ballots are due tomorrow. so let me just say that i'm voting against 43 because i know what it means to live in a house of fear and abuse, and i believe this measure, deep down, is NOT about "protecting" teens, but about banning abortion. this law will "protect" parents & fetal lives at the expense of the lives & futures of teen mothers. each person, no matter how old they are, has the basic right to determine whether or when to give birth. it's especially important to defend this right for more isolated rural towns in oregon.

i feel like i cannot breathe until i know the results.