By snoadmin
Student groups from Cal State Long Beach such as the Feminist Organization Reclaiming Consciousness and Equality (FORCE) and the Women’s Studies Student Association (WSSA) have united with the Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) to work toward protecting choice and equality through the “Get Out Her Vote” campaign.
Proposition 4 was drafted to amend the California State Constitution by banning abortions for minors unless parents are notified in writing by the doctor. Allie McDonald, campus organizer for FMF said that it is a dangerous amendment that could take compromise a young woman’s right to privacy.
“Proposition 4 would take away a young woman’s right to access safe and legal abortion,” McDonald said. “It would require her to notify her parents for permission and then wait 48 hours to get the abortion.”
McDonald said the new amendment would force a young woman, who could be a victim of rape, incest or family violence to officially report a crime and report her family to the police.
“Most young women do inform their parents or a responsible adult about their decision to have an abortion,” McDonald said. “This campaign is threatening young women’s lives, putting their lives in risks as some young women in other states have risked their lives with illegal back-alley abortions in desperate measures when they cannot tell their parents.”
“The proposition is trying to force families to communicate and a law cannot make families communicate,” McDonald added.
“The law is important as there are a lot of young women under 18 who live in houses where they may be abused and they should be able to do whatever they want with their bodies,” Silbestre said.
“We (FMF) believe that the right to marry the person you love is a fundamental civil right and that should not be taken away, so we are going to fight for it,” McDonald said.
“Proposition 8 is important to oppose because if you support it, then your supporting a sense of inequality in our community, and how can we ever hope to attain actual equality if we promote the idea that only heterosexual people are allowed to marry.”
This is not the first time Proposition 4 has been brought up in an election. In 2005 and 2006, Californians voted both times against the proposition.
Interesting article! Very good 🙂