Hot off the press! PPIC has its new election poll out! Overall, we have good news to help us breathe easier. Still, we can NOT become complacent!
Why?
President:
Obama (D) 56%
McCain (R) 33%
Prop 8 (marriage ban)
Yes 44%
No 52%
Prop 4 (mandated parental notification of teen abortion)
Yes 46%
No 44%
Prop 11 (redistricting reform)
Yes 41%
No 34%
The bad news: The race on Prop 8 has clearly narrowed, as the marriage ban is only losing by single digits (as opposed to the 14% loss in the last PPIC poll). Meanwhile, Prop 4 remains VERY tight.
The good news: Obama’s WAY UP and Democrats are revved up to vote, so hopefully the Democratic enthusiasm trickles downballot to the initiatives. Also, PPIC puts into dispute Survey USA’s recent polls showing Prop 8 narrowly winning. And fortunately, the “Yes” numbers for both Props 4 & 8 are below “the 50% barrier” that’s most often necessary for initiatives to cross in October polls to pass in November. Meanwhile the undecideds are still high enough on Prop 11, so the fate of that initiative is really in doubt now.
Conclusion: PLEASE, PLEASE DON’T LET UP! While PPIC’s new poll gives us some reassurance & more breathing room, we still can NOT afford to be complacent! While Prop 8 is down, the margin is still fairly close. Oh yes, and Prop 4 is still slightly up (though nicely below 50%).
There’s a whole lot that we must do here in California to stop the right-wing assault on women’s reproductive rights, protect teen safety, protect marriage equality, and ensure equal rights for all… So let’s get to work! 🙂
My name is Paula and I’m an intern for Ms. magazine. I just came across your post about California Proposition 4 and wanted to let you know about a new celebrity-filled “No on Prop 4” video just released from the Feminist Majority Foundation, the publisher of Ms. Feel free to post it onto your website!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUVi1l-6M84
Paula Silinger
Ms. magazine
psilinger@msmagazine.com
Vote yes on 4.
30 other states have put parental notification laws in place- if this were going to increase unsafe abortion, you would have heard about it by now.
Stats from planned parenthoods charts show that teen pregnancy is reduced in states with this law (both those who give birth and those who abort) and that rates of teen STDs go down in these states (you can infer teens are either using condoms better or are having less sex)
They have seen no increases in teens abused as a result of parental notification.
THEY WORK.
And there are protections available for teens who fear retaliation from parents- if they think they will be kicked out, abused or even have food withheld, there is a process that within 3 days they can have the abortion without notifying a parent. There is also the ability to opt to tell someone other than a parent, down to an 18 yr old cousin.
Even safe and legal abortion has risks and complications. Girls whose parents know about their abortion are more likely to get follow up care, and emergency assistance in the event of complications.
The evidence is there- go find it and you’ll see, you should vote yes on Prop 4. Don’t buy into the scare tactics, there is no precedence for them as proven by the states that DO have parental notification laws.
The 13 states with the lowest rates of teen pregnancy and STDS have parental notification laws. That is no coincidence.
i have a boyfriend who i love very much & i feel that we dont need approval from our parents its our choice to have sex and even though there are girls dumb enough not to use protection we should still be able to choose how we handle the concequences on our own, parents dont think about what we want yeah we made mistakes but we should be able to do what we want with our problems i mean we were women enough to lay down with someone were women enough to handle it on our own. me and my boyfriend have sex when we want we use protection every time but we both decided if it came down to it we would not keep it. now when we both get in our twenties then thats different. we both have alot going on right know we dont need a baby. i should be our choice not my moms or his.
Abortion should not be allowed! The fetus/baby in ur belly has a life too and it has the right to life, liberty, and the persuit of happiness. Girls say its their choice but NO, the choice was to have sex. Now you blew it and so u should have to keep the child.