Opinion

MARTIN: Should abortion be voted on?

With 2020 being an election year, everyone is pushing their fellow Americans to use their voting rights.

The message can be found everywhere you go and on many platforms. With that being said, the eligible voters have the chance to vote for candidates that they believe are worthy. From my own personal experience, I went to vote on Election Day. Mostly every section I voted on was for a candidate. For some odd reason, one section I voted on was whether to amend the state’s constitution by adding language that expressly states the document offers no protections for a right to abortion or funding of abortion.

I believe this should not be voted on. The main reason why I believe it should not be voted on because it is not a decision that affects a group. Like what is the problem with abortion or funding abortion. How does it affect the entire state of Louisiana or Colorado for example? In actuality, the decision only affects a certain amount of people including, of course the mother, the father, and maybe family that helps. Other than that, I do not see how a decision on whether to abort or to not abort affects the surrounding people.

Another reason why I believe this should not be voted on is because it is basically a natural human right. As a person, how can I force someone to keep something they do not want. The pro-lifers will say, “Well, they should not have gotten pregnant” or “Life should not be taken.” There are problems with the argument that many pro-lifers try to push. In many instances, molestation and birth control hiccups cause unplanned pregnancies. 

 A national probability sample of 4008 adult American women took part in a 3-year longitudinal survey that assessed the prevalence and incidence of rape and related physical and mental health outcomes. The results were national rape-related pregnancy rate is 5.0% per rape among victims of reproductive age. Also, nine percent of the time the birth control pill will not be effective. So, with that being stated, those pro-lifers basically do not care about accidents of this nature. Those percentage of people are getting a child that is forced into their life that was not planned nor wanted. A child is a great blessing do not get me wrong, but why force it on someone if that was not their choice. It is unnatural and also unfair, especially when it was a mistake. 

To conclude, it all comes down to what you believe. If you believe in pro-choice, you agree with me. If you believe in pro-life or antiabortion, you are strongly against my take. For me it is pretty simple. A choice like this should not be voted on, especially by males. It is equivalent to stripping away a human right and to be honest it does not affect most of the people that are voting on it. If anything, being antiabortion is going to cause problems such as more forced families and more foster kids. 

– De’Vante Martin is a sophomore mass communication major from St. Joseph, La.