The cactus, for all intents and purposes, is my soap-box. It isn’t a way for me to push my morals and values of you, our reader, but it is a means for me to do that during the times I feel necessary.

This is one of those times.

I went to mail a letter today, and there were two stickers on the mailbox outside my apartment that said: Vote Pro-Life.

One was facing the right way; the other was upside down; both were crooked.

If you’re going to support a cause, take the extra time to make sure the stickers are straight and can be read without handstands.

It doesn’t matter, really, because I pulled both the stickers off, ripped them into pieces and dropped them in the gutter.

I’m pro-choice.

On April 19, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to ban a controversial abortion procedure. It doesn’t disallow abortion, just limits the way that a doctor can perform it.

Eve Gartner, the Senior Staff Attorney at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said “This ruling flies in the face of 30 years of Supreme Court precedent and the best interest of women’s health and safety. … This ruling tells women that politicians, not doctors, will make their health care decisions for them.”

I couldn’t agree more.

It’s like when, last February, South Dakota approved a law to make abortions illegal, and the doctor who performs an illegal abortion can face up to five years in prison.

If a girl decides the best thing for her is to have an abortion, she’s the one who has to live with the consequences of that decision, not republican Gov. Mike Rounds who said in February 2006: “I’ve indicated I’m pro-life and I do believe abortion is wrong, and that we should do everything we can to save lives. … If this bill accomplishes that, then I am inclined to sign the bill into law.”

You know what Mike Rounds? You’ll never have to make that decision. You’re a man. And, though we both know the same amount about carrying a child, we can’t even being to think about the emotions that woman goes through because neither of us have ever carried a child. The only male republican governor who I think would be save to make that decision is Arnold.

Maybe my voice is louder in California.

The worst part about this is that even if a female [[be it a girl or a woman]] is a victim of rape or incest, an abortion in South Dakota will still be illegal as of July 1, 2006. The rapist will have the same rights as the mother, said yahoo news. The rapist is the biological father, and he is entitled to rights that way.

I now hand my soap-box over to Krista Heeren-Graber, Executive Director of the South Dakota Network Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault.

“The idea the rapist could be in the child’s life … makes the woman very, very fearful,” Heeren-Graber said last February. “Sometimes they need to have choice.”

When it’s time for you to vote, think about it.

Don’t vote the way church or state or the unborn fetus in your stomach would want you to vote. Don’t choose a stance based on a sticker. Educate yourself and make a decision. I think politicians sometimes forget to do that.

Until next week…

LISA SOKOLOWSKI
Editor-in-Chief
cactusiv(at)gmail.com

This entry was posted on Monday, April 30th, 2007 at 12:02 am and is filed under Editor's Corner. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.