YM Blog: Anti-Choice Advocates Won't Stop

Posted by Julianne Ong-Hing at 1:22 PM | Comment Now | Permalink

When I cast my ballot on November 4, it will be the first time I plan on bringing a camera with me to document my visit to the polls. But while we’ll all be excited to make our picks for president at the top of the ticket, we can’t forget the bottom of the ballot, where down-ticket races and ballot initiatives will impact our lives closer to home. Californians in particular will be voting on several youth-focused propositions which, if passed, carry serious implications for young people of color.

Proposition 4 is one of those initiatives that we can’t afford to overlook. The law seeks to change the California state constitution by mandating that a minor notify her parents 48 hours before being able to obtain an abortion.

In an appearance on Meet the Press, Gov. Arnold Schwartznegger endorsed the proposition. “I would not want to have someone in the school take my daughter to a clinic to get an abortion without telling me or my wife,” he said. “I think one or the other should know. If my daughter decides she doesn't want to let me know but she feels more comfortable with my wife, that's perfectly fine with me…But someone, one of us both, should know, and I believe in that 100 percent.” The bill sounds harmless when Arnie puts it that way.

But it’s not.

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