Life

 The Declaration of Independence states that as a nation we value three things above all else. Those are the individual's right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I always find it interesting that the first mentioned is life. Maybe it is just coincidence. Maybe it just had a better flow to it. To me, life seems to be the most important of the three. It all starts with life. Once life is taken from an individual, the rest are impossible (obviously). 

Most everyone knows about Roe v Wade. It is probably the most well known Supreme Court decision ever. Some, if not most probably think this was when abortion started. The opposite is true. It is not new to mankind and was legal in about forty percent of America before 1973. What Roe v Wade did was end the prohibition of abortion in the rest of the nation. Since then there have been rulings that have decided how states could regulate abortions. 

It is time to end abortion. How do we end it? We need an amendment to the Constituion. Why? As it stands now, abortion is Constitutional. The Constituion does provide that the government stays out of an individual's life unless there is some kind of cause. It does not differentiate between a mother and the fetus. In fact, based on the 14th Amendment the fetus has no Constitutional rights. That would make Roe v Wade the correct ruling under our current Constitution. 

What is life? Many say that pro-lifers base their view of life on religion. I would agree with them. I, however do not. My view of life is based on science. The following are the criteria for life.

    Growth

    Stimulus Response

    Metabolism

    Homeostasis 

    Reproduction

    Mutation

    Autonomous Motion

A fetus either has all of these qualities or the potential to develop them all. If one says that they do not deserve the same rights to life as a person that has been born because they are not fully developed then I ask what about a five year old child? They do not posses the criteria of reproduction yet. Is it ok to eliminate their life? What about the person who is too old to reproduce? Should the decision to end their life be another's to make? What about a person who has chosen to stop their body from reproducing?  Is it ok to kill them? Are any of these people less human? Any reasonable person would say no.

I also believe that every individual has a soul. That is based on the philosophers that I have read. The only place religion plays in it is that killing without cause is a sin.

Why then do we believe the fetus does not have the right to life? Because they are still inside the mother? Many say they are apart of the mother's body and it is the mother's decision to choose what to do with that life. I say that the fetus is a seperate human life. While the child is dependent on the mother to stay alive this doesn't diminish their individuality. Does the mother control the fetus' movements? When the fetus is hungry? When the fetus sleeps? 

Many bring up the subject of children conceived as a result of rape or incest. I can't say that I have any answers on this subject. I can only ask questions. If I believe that all life begins at conception and all life deserves to keep life until there is due process taking that life, how can I say it is ok to end one but not another? If a man rapes a woman then is ok to punish a child? Do we punish for the sins of the father? What about the psychological effects on the mother? Would it be ok to abort the child that was conceived during consensual sex, if the father killed someone during the pregnancy and the mother does not want to be reminded of him via his child? Does having an abortion help the woman psychologically? Does she suddenly forget the rape? I have never had to face the tramua of sexual assualt. I don't even pretend to know what someone who has had to endure such a terrible act feels like. I have no clue what I would say to my daughters if one went through it. I think I would just ask them these same questions. 

For my pro-choice friends, I do not believe you are evil. I do believe abortion is an evil act. I do not wish for you to go to Hell. We have a difference of opinion on the subject. You are trying to protect the liberty of the woman. That is a noble cause. Having two daughters, I never want someone taking away their God-given rights. I also want all life to be protected. Innocent life needs the most protection of all. We must amend the constitution to protect life from the beginning and that is conception. 

A Job for All Americans

In the 2008 Democratic primary, Clinton supporters began to question if then Senator Obama was born in Kenya. This would mean he would not be eligible to become president of the United States. Since then many on the right have taken up the cause. Even after documents have been produced showing the president was born in Hawaii, many still question if these were fake. To me, it's a stupid topic to dwell on for his opponents. First of all, there is documentation. Maybe you believe they could have had someone in the Hawaii government make up a birth certificate. Why has nobody come out and said they have proof that it was faked? It is nothing more than a conspiracy theory. I once heard heard Rush Limbaugh say that he does not argue with conspiracy theorist because the conspiracy never stops. Second of all, Obama did not choose where he was born. If somehow the birthers were correct, would being born in another country make him less American? 

Then there are immigrants who come to this country and work hard, become  citizens, in doing so they become way more knowledgable of our country than those who were born here and they never have a chance to become president. Not that I really have a chance either but a different topic for a different time. 

Here is my solution. Amend the constitution to allow for any person who has been an American citizen for at least thirty-five years to be eligible to become president. Keep the fourteen year residency requirement. 

This would end people bickering over crazy theories about where someone was or was not born because they could not use that as a reason to try and disqualify someone from being president. It would also give those who would do a great job as president, a chance to become president no matter where they were born in this world. What is more American than that?

The Renewal Amendments: Electoral College

Something crazy happened on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of 2000. Al "Global Warming is at Fault for Everything" Gore received more votes for president than his opponent George W. "If You're Not with Me then You're My Enemy" Bush but lost the election. How did this happen? Well, Al couldn't win the correct states. That and G.W.'s attorneys argued better in court. I voted for G.W. So, I was happy with the results. It was my first presidential election that could vote and I was batting 1.000. 

After that election, people figured out that the election of the president is not as it seems. Well at least those who are not into politics. When I was in high school government class, we learned in order to win a candidate only needs to win the 11 most populated states by just one vote. I think it's still eleven, give or take a state. 

How does the electoral college work? Currently, the winner must recieve 270 electoral votes to win. Each state is assigned a number of electors based on how many representatives in the House of Representatives plus two for the number of senators for each state. D.C. which is not a state and does not have any voting representation in congress, has three electors. The electors though are not the actual reps or senators. When you go in and waste your vote on a Republican or Democrat (my third party rant for today), you are actually voting for the electors who agree to vote for the guy that recieved your vote. There are those out there that believe we should amend the Constituion to eliminate the electoral college. Others want to keep it. They are both wrong.

Our government is designed to distribute power. We are not a democracy. We are not a republic. We are not a monarch. We are not an oligarchy. We are all of those combined. So to those who want a direct vote for a president, I'd say that we already have democratic elements in our government. For those who want to keep the college the same, I'd say that it seems stupid that one person could become president because they could get one more vote in just a little more than 1/5 of the states.

 What is the solution? I look to Maine and Nebraska. While all other states and D.C. are winner take all states, these two will split their electors. They use the congressional districts and then give the two "senator" electors to the winner of the state. 

This is a good system to keep the presidential election as an indirect vote. It also gives the individual more power. There is also the option of giving the electors based on proportional representation. This means if one candidate gets 51% in a state that has three electors, they would get 2 votes and the "loser" would get 1 elector vote. The one problem with an amendment that takes away the power of states to make election rules is that hurts federalism. 

To lessen the blow to federalism, the amendment needs to allow for the states to decide how to allow its citizens to choose the electors as long as it is not a winner take all state.

The framers quickly devised the electoral plan. This has left it to us to fix the system. It is not difficult but it won't be easy.