Prop 4: Since We Couldn't (Fuck? HaHaHa) Those Raping Pillaging Liberals The Last Two Times

Let's take a girl, hmmm...and let's call her Sarah. Yeah, Sarah! That sounds so purty and nice!

Who is Sarah? Well, my friends! I am glad you ask. 

Sarah was a 15 year old girl who became pregnant. Without her parent’s consent or notice, Sarah visited a clinic and the abortionist performed an abortion on Sarah, unknowingly tearing the right side of her cervix. Unaware of this complication, Sarah suffered blood poisoning, fever, chills, abdominal pain and nausea for four days before finally being admitted to the hospital. When hospital personnel discovered the tear and post-abortion infection, they placed Sarah in the Intensive Care Unit, but the infection was too far advanced and Sarah died. Hospital physicians reported that had Sarah received prompt medical care, she would still be alive today.

Sarah’s parents did not know that she was pregnant. Sarah’s parents didn’t know that Sarah had an abortion. Her parents could have saved her….if they had known.

Proposition 4, or the Abortion Waiting Period and Parental Notification Initiative, also known to its supporters as Sarah's Law, is an initiated amendment that will appear on the November 4, 2008 ballot in California. This is basically the same legislation that the right wing has tried to slip on by, not once, but twice (Prop 73 and 85) which voters already rejected in 05 and 06. Well, they have chutzpah that's for fucking sure.

Now - Let me tell you who Sarah really is. Sarah's real name was Jammie Garcia Yanez-Villegas. Yeah, get that, she wasn't white. Wonder why they whitewashed her name? Could it be because the populace couldn't give a fuck if some brown girl dies? Or just if her unborn baby does? But get this, Jammie lived in Texas. And was married. Which makes her not a minor, which makes their  (Friends of Sarah, major funding provided by Jim Holman, Don Sebastiani, and others to reform parent's right to know and child protection laws) entire argument, that this proposition would have saved her life, COMPLETELY FUCKING IRRELEVANT. 

From where I stand if you lie once and you still stand by it, you are a liar. If you conceal the facts and distort them, then again, you are a liar. So, would you like to tell me how Jammie really died? Considering that her hospital record is pretty confidential, how do I know that she didn't die from the anaesthesia? It's really tragic that this girl died. But maybe we should ask why a 15 year old in the US was married? Whether or not she had access to any health care, or efficient health care at that? From other sources I have read, she perhaps died of a related infection. But this is what the issue comes down to - Whatever your opinions are on abortion, every living woman, girl, female, or youth, should have the right to proper health care. This is a human rights issue. 

As much fun as it may be to generalize the population through crap legislation, it's not effective. There are many girls who cannot go to their parents with this information. There are many girls who are victims of incest in the household. There are many girls who fall into horrible circumstances as they try to deal with these situations they did not have the knowledge ,the know how, or the pure dumb luck to circumvent. Prop 4 is not going to help any girl. Prop 4 isn't going to make family relationships better. It is not going to stop young boys or older men from having sex with minors. It is not going to protect anyone. It is going to criminalize the actions of the doctors, or more specifically, their inaction's. It criminalizes the girls. 

If we want to change things in this country, what we can do is talk about sex, about sexuality in an open honest forum. We can empower our young women and men, to have some depth to the decisions they are making. We can help girls to connect to their voice, their strength, so they can avoid, defend, and say no to what they don't want. But most importantly, when tragic things happen, we can give them the right to seek medical advise and counsel without their families notification. Because, sorry, that just ain't always the real world. 

This November, please - Vote NO on Prop 4. Vote NO to this Sarah lie, Vote NO on legislation that won't save shit. 

If you feel moved to getting more involved check it - This fall Planned Parenthood is going to need 1500 volunteers to help make those calls - to talk to supporters and to talk to the voters about this Prop. Tuesday and Sundays in East LA you can volunteer to phone bank, and on Wednesday  and Thursday you could rock out at the Santa Monica office if that's more your thing. Make some action, make some new friends, and eat some free food while your at it. 

For more info:

Planned Parenthood Los Angeles
1920 Marengo Street
Los Angeles, California 90033
P: 323-223-4462
F: 323-225-5844