Women's Rights not regarded as they should be
The Bush administration has been receiving some well-deserved criticism lately for a draft proposal that could change the definition of abortion to include many common forms of contraception including birth control pills, emergency contraception, IUDs, and others.
The purpose of the proposal is to protect the rights of doctors to refuse to prescribe birth control because of moral objection and to allow government funds to be withheld from healthcare providers who refuse to hire people with such views.
This recent development is just another example to me of how women's rights, especially women's reproductive rights, are not regarded with the respect and gravity they should.
John McCain is not only in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade and restricting rights to abortion, but he is also opposed to requiring health insurance companies to cover birth control and supports abstinence-only sex education. So not only does he want to keep women from obtaining abortions, he wants to increase the number of unwanted pregnancies by making birth control harder to obtain and barring young people from being educated about contraception.
Planned Parenthood has begun airing a new ad in swing states, which features a befuddled-looking John McCain responding to a reporter asking for his opinion about health insurance companies that provide coverage for Viagra and other male enhancement drugs but do not cover birth control.
McCain pauses for several seconds before offering a half-ass response about how he is not informed enough to answer. Is it so difficult to see such a clearly unjust double standard?
I am not simply writing this letter to complain about this blatant lack of respect for women's rights; rather, I am writing to encourage my fellow women to stand up for yourself, demand the respect you deserve and the rights you were promised.
Educate yourself on the issues that affect you, and cast an informed vote in November. Without our continued efforts to have our voices heard and our rights protected, we run the risk of once again becoming second-rate citizens.
Erin Johnson English senior ----
New ticket system unfair to spouses
As a student graduating in December, I was upset to find out that spouse tickets were no longer offered. However, I was highly irritated to find out that I do not get to enjoy my last season in the student section because freshmen complained.
Though I understand their point that it is frustrating to not be able to get tickets to your own school's games, we all had to go through it, and you are not special. I put my time in here, and so did my husband. I think he earns the right to come to the football games when he is paying my tuition and supporting me while I am in school and cannot work.
I would bet a good bit of you probably won't even make it in the game or through the first quarter because of your inexperience in tailgating (not to mention the fact that you are underage). I would like to know where my voice was in this matter.
Jaime' Berg elementary education senior
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