No on Amendment 6 is the Right Move for Florida
Posted by Samantha
October 19, 2012
As a young woman of color residing in Florida I’m very interested in and affected by the anti- choice antics in Tallahassee. When I heard about Amendment 6, I just had to tell the world about the next attack on reproductive rights. This attempt directly affects me as a young black woman, I’m constantly facing stereotypes and attacks on my rights, and this I will not accept. I will not allow politicians to infringe upon my rights, and I will do everything in my power to keep politicians out of my doctor’s office!
Amendment measure 6 would change the Florida constitution to outlaw public funding for abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or directly affecting the life of the mother. In essence, this amendment would bring politicians out of Tallahassee and into your vagina. This amendment would stop those that pay for their own insurance and are covered from receiving this vital medical procedure. Also, the murky wording of the bill leaves a lot of room for interpretation. This amendment wouldn’t even cover a women that is pregnant with any debilitating disease like cancer, for instance, from being able to be treated even though cancer is directly affecting the life of this woman.
I think most people above all else would like to keep politics out of your homes and out of your doctor’s offices. This amendment would completely strip women in Florida of privacy. It’s also a clear attack on those in lower socioeconomic classes; those individuals that would be greatly hindered from receiving the treatment they need from their insurance if this amendment passed.
To gain an even better understanding of Amendment 6, I spoke to Lisa Murano, Deputy Campaign manager and Field Director of the No on 6 initiatives in Orlando. She emphasized that, “we need to be reminded that people (mostly older men) are attacking our rights and autonomy constantly from many angles. I have found myself working in the political realm to right the legislative attacks.”
I also inquired about why Murano entered this policy work in the first place and here is what she had to say, “I am involved in the women’s’ rights movement because as a young woman, I feel that we need to stop taking our rights for granted and work to protect ourselves. We have seen attacks on women’s rights for years, but in the past two years, those attacks have been ramped up to levels we have never seen before.”
This bill is just one of the many attacks on women’s rights and if we don’t put up a united front and stop this, rights that we believe are commonplace and essential may begin to be challenged. What are our opponents going to attack next? What is this world coming to where we can’t even keep politicians out of our vaginas?
As a young woman, this bill is directly targeting me, my friends, and other young women like me that are under their parents insurance and can’t afford procedures fully out of pocket. What supporters of Amendment 6 also don’t seem to recognize is that when you take away necessary resources, women and families can become desperate and may seek unconventional and unsafe ways to go about getting the care they need. If what’s best for women is really the main priority for those people that support amendment 6, how will this help women? You take away their resources, their privacy, and in essence put their backs against the wall?
This is not just a women’s issue, this is a family issue, and a direct attack on the families of Florida. If you believe that any medical decision should be left to a woman and her family and not politicians VOTE NO ON 6, because that’s what it really comes down to.
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