In the Dallas Morning News there was an editorial called, “Abortion bill is unwarranted state intrusion on woman’s right to choose”. This article is about a new Texas bill by Senator Dan Patrick of Houston, concerning abortions. Senator Patrick is trying to require women to get a sonogram within two hours of the planned abortion, during which the doctor would have audio of the unborn baby’s heartbeat and would educate the woman on the fetus’ anatomy. In this particular article the author is clearly against this bill, using words like “impose”, “punishing women” and “state-imposed guilt”. The author did a great job of persuading the reader to think this bill is a vicious and heartless idea. The author also gives some facts about other State’s abortion laws and makes it seem like Texas is just going overboard. To the average reader who is on the fence about pro-life/pro-choice issues this article will convince you to think this bill is a bad idea which as a result steers you to the pro-choice side of the argument. For the people who are passionate about their pro-life stance this articles is very frustrating.
I personally would love to see this bill pass. I think it would educate women contemplating abortion. Education is the key to making good decisions. In the United States, about 6 million women become pregnant each year and nearly 1.2 million women have an abortion. This bill would allow woman to hear the heartbeat of her unborn child and educate her on the developmental stage of the unborn baby before she decides to terminate the pregnancy. All of these measures empower women with the information on the fetus before she makes her final decision.
Roe v. Wade is the historic Supreme Court decision making abortion legal in the United States. The Roe v. Wade decision held that a woman, with her doctor, could choose abortion based on the right to privacy. Because abortion is legal in the United States it is only fair that each State has the right to make laws to regulate the amount of abortions performed. If the Nation can declare abortion legal then it is up to each State to mandate the education of women before they make this hard decision.
In an article on the ABC website called, Former Justice Pushing for More Civics, Less “American Idol” by Sarah Netter (March 4, 2009), former Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O'Connor expressed her concerns with the education of American children on civics. Civics is the study of rights and duties of citizenship. In other words, it is the study of government with attention to the role of citizens. This article is important to read because it makes you think about how much you actually know about US government. In order to continue to have a great Nation we must stay educated so that we can make the right votes. Thomas Jefferson once said, "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." So let’s stop being ignorant America! Ask yourself, who did you vote for during the last Presidential election and why did you vote for that candidate? It is not uncommon for people to say that they voted for a specific person because they had a ‘good name’, or because that person dressed cool, or because they read an article and the editor was supporting that candidate. Let’s vote for candidates because we believe they share our same beliefs and will advocate those beliefs for us.
Former Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O'Connor has developed a website for children to help them learn civics called iCivics. After reading this article it made me think about my own children and how much they really know. Over dinner one night I asked my children a few questions and unfortunately my family fell into the low statistics. I have added Mrs. O’Connor’s website to the list of acceptable web-site that my children play on our home computer and I have made it a goal to talk about our government to my children over dinner more often. Rick Shenkmen wrote a book called, Just How Stupid Are We? In this book it talks about the statistics of America’s knowledge on civics. Here are some statistics, only 2 out of 5 voters can name the 3 branches of the federal government (Executive, Judicial and Legislative). Only 30% of people know that Roe v. Wade was the Supreme Court decision that ruled abortion legal. Only 20% of Americans know that there are 100 senators.
click here to watch Jan Leno asking Americans about the Supreme Court. Very Funny!
iCivic is a great kid-friendly website, but so is this "old school" video by School House Rock, I'm just a bill.
