RE: Murdering, with no punishment?

A fellow classmate, Taylor Gilman, wrote an interesting article "Murdering, with no punishment" about her point of view on the controversial topic of abortion. Below is my response to her article:

This is an incredibly touchy subject where emotions flair and both sides feel very passionate about their beliefs. I'm not really for or against abortion and don't plan on trying to be the expert but here is what I think.

It's difficult to say that a woman should have every right to do whatever she wants with her body because if there is a baby in her body it is no longer just her body but the baby's as well. If the child was already born and the mother killed him that would be murder. However when does the baby reach the point of "Human Life" ? There are a lot of studies and facts that argue different stages of the pregnancy.

As for adoption there are so many kids living in foster homes and waiting for a "forever family" for someone to love them and care for them. Why bring more unwanted (I know that sounds horrible but it is a unfortunate reality) kids to this world? What if the woman was a victim of rape? Who are we to judge her or to force her to go through that?

If a scientist could, without a doubt, prove to you that in the first trimester there is no human activity and that the fetus is no different than a peanut, sperm inside a man's body, or the egg inside a woman's body? Do you still consider it murder? If that were the case every woman that goes through a monthly cycle would be committing murder.

I feel that sometimes this subject tends to be more an issue of faith and others wanting to impose their faith on the rest of the world. Our ancestors came to America to be free of religious persecution yet everyone in America wants to force their beliefs on others. I'm not saying abortion is wrong or right, but I don't think all teenage girls that experiment with sex are thinking, "who cares if I get pregnant, I'll just go get an abortion." Furthermore, a commentator on your article (I understand this isn't your opinion but it emphasizes what I'm trying to explain) that agrees with your point of view stated that if you allowed your daughter to have an abortion, "congratulations, you just killed Jesus!" What if they don't believe in Jesus or God for that matter? Does that take away their citizenship? It shouldn't!

We should be spending more time and resources on preventing unwanted pregnancies. Recently, President Obama was blasted for having put funding in his stimulus plan for contraceptives, but yet if more people had these available and we spent more time educating our young maybe we would have less unwanted pregnancies.

Why the fight about Health Care?

I'm not sure what I missed, but I thought Health Care Reform was one of the most supported agendas during the presidential election. I never realized the opposition for Health Care Reform was so insulted that it had reached the level of Threats! I understand the fear of socialism or the government having control of our health care and making it a low grade health care. However, from everything I have read so far, this is about providing coverage to the uninsured. If you already have health care coverage you will not be affected. If you don't have health coverage you can now have one less worry.

While some government regulation on the Health Care industry may not be such a bad idea especially when you read about injustices, such as the ones described by Paul Begala, done to the American people today. This reform is not about government regulation. It is about providing those who don't or can't afford coverage with coverage.

One of the biggest arguments is cost. This is going to cost lots of tax payer dollars etc... I don't see how that is any different than our current situation. According to the National Coalition on Health Care, "the United States spends nearly $100 billion per year to provide uninsured residents with health services, often for preventable diseases or diseases that physicians could treat more efficiently with earlier diagnosis." Other people argue that these costs are not accurate, or that they are related to the large number of undocumented workers, however "The large majority of the uninsured (80 percent) are native or naturalized citizens (NCHC)."

I feel that everyone needs to calm down and take a look at the whole picture and not start yelling and shouting at the capital as if your civil rights have been violated. If you currently have insurance you can expect the same service and same treatment you always had. If you get laid off you don't have to worry about ridiculous Cobra premiums that cost about 3/4 of what you would receive in unemployment benefits. We are one the largest and most powerful countries in the world. Yet, we sit on the bottom of the list when it comes to Health Care. We spend billions of dollars to make other countries Democracies, or fight what we believe are the injustices of other countries, but we can't spend money to make sure that all Americans are insured?

RE: President in Chief or Sitcom Host

A fellow classmate, Rspector, wrote an interesting blog, President in cheif, or sitcom host?, discussing his views on the recent arrest of Harvard Professor Gates and President Obama's involvement in the issue. Below is my opinion of this article.

I'd like to start by saying that I respect your opinions however, I feel that you may not have all the facts. If your read the Police Report identifaction had been provided however, Gates was arrested for disorderly conduct in his own home. Neither of us were there so we are making our judgments based on what story we are reading. It is important that we read both sides and not just Officer Crowley's or Professor Gates's side. My personal take is that Mr. Gates's overreacted however, I feel that Officer Crowley also felt upset and arrested Mr. Gates's unfairly. I don't really know that race was the issue. If there would have a been a OLDER white man trying to force open the door would the neighbor have called the police? If an older white man had provided his ID and said, "Now get the hell out of my house!" Would they have arrested him? I respect members of law enforcement and appreciate what they do for the community, but if I have proven I am the owner of my house and there is no problem then they need to leave. It doesn't matter what I say or what I call them; It's my house, and I can say what I please in my house.

As far as the President getting involved, this might seem like a small insignificant issue to you, but to me it is a very important issue. Racism exists in America and is something that needs to be addressed. How can making Iraq a democracy be more important than dealing with issues of Racism in our own country? I do agree that it seems President Obama jumped the gun without seeing both sides of the story and that is disappointing, but he is human and makes mistakes. How many mistakes have our past presidents made? The important thing is that he attempted to fix his mistake by taking time out of his day to address the issue personally and hopefully help America learn to deal with these issues the same way. Wouldn't it be great if all issues of racism or perceived racism could be figured out and resolved over a beer?