Challenges to 4th Ammendment Rights

Senior Government and Economics Project, Acalanes High School

[mlesjack20ahsgov-blog]

Civic Action Assessment of Issue

As a member of my community, I have certain roles that I should fill. The bare minimum would be to abide by the rules whether it be curfews or traffic laws. I could additionally help out my community by volunteering and donating to try and give back.

In this class, I have learned that getting physically involved in civic responsibility feels far more satisfying than just donating money to some organization and hoping that it goes where I want it to. By giving back physically you can ensure that your work is going where you want it to, although more challenging, is far more rewarding.

It is not my civic obligation to address abortion issues because it is like any other issue, optional to deal with. Abortion is legal where I live and I am fully satisfied with the support from the government for expecting or unexpecting mothers.

On Monday November Fourth, I worked at the Contra Costa Food Bank for roughly an hour and a half. We bagged kiwis and some pears. It was repetitive work, my least favorite kind, but it felt good to do knowing that some time in the next few weeks, those bags of kiwi would be going out to communities who need it. I would definitely go back to the Food Bank and volunteer because it was a very good, healthy experience.

[mlesjack20ahsgov-blog]

Executive Action Assessment of Issue

President Trump, up until now has been completely against any sort of abortion. Although democratic states allow for the choice of the people within a certain timeframe of the pregnancy, Trump would rather not let that choice be an option. Recently, he has stated that he is accepting of abortion in cases of rape and incest. I partially agree with his position, because rape or incest could be a very traumatic event and an abortion would help mothers cope with the stress and anxiety that would come with giving birth to your rapists or family member’s child. 

Within the executive cabinet, the health and human services would best represent the issue of abortion rights.Although their website does not have a mission statement, their general message is that they are there to provide you with information on healthcare. Alex Azar was sworn in under Trump administration in 2018, as the 24th secretary of the health and human services department. Judging from his background of running a pharmaceutical corporation, I would say he is just appointed to hold the position. Within the Cabinet’s programs and services, the “HIPAA and Your Rights” tab would best represent my issue. It discusses the rights of the American people and your right to privacy about your health. I would say that this department has an insufficient head but could still be effective in doing their job without Alex Azar. Trump would love to cut down on funding to this branch due to his previous statements on Obamacare.

A recent event occurred with planned parenthood. They were awarded 2.2 million dollars for defamation. Written by Sabrina Tavernise, it discusses a video captured in 2015, where an anti abortion activist posted a video of planned parenthood selling fetal tissue to the public. The intended audience is the general public because everyone should know about this case. There was no bias by the author. This article is significant because it shows the effort that people are willing to put in to keep their traditional ways of anti-abortion. I agree that they should be compensated for the damages taken by this video, and I am also surprised that this has not shown up more prominently in mainstream news.

[mlesjack20ahsgov-blog]

State and Legislative Action

Our State lawmakers Kahan and Glazer take pro-choice stances on abortion. Glazer has voted on several occasions to permit abortion rights, as well as gotten a 100 percent approval rating from the board of abortion rights. Kahan has also proven herself to be pro-choice by taking public stances on abortion rights, and shows approval for pro-choice as well as mandated funding for contraceptives and assisted pay for abortion. I agree with their positions because they are not prohibiting abortion rights, but rather giving people the choice to abort or not. Each reason for aborting a child is different, and should not be prohibited by law because oftentimes the parents cannot provide the support that their child needs or deserves. Although I cannot find any bills that Kahan has specifically sponsored, Glazer voted yes for paid maternity leave, yes on universities providing funding for abortions and contraceptives, prohibition of firing employees for aborting a child, and many more.

One bill that pertains to my topic is SB24 which was introduced on October 11th of this year. The last major action of this bill requires universities to provide contraceptives and abortions for students as long as they meet the required income bracket. I think this bill has the right idea, but I think this could be easily abused if these kinds of things go onto student records. Mishaps requiring abortion from the school could set the wrong image for future employers.

Desaulnier, Harris and Feinstein all support the choice to abort and have frequently voted or even supported acts related to it, although Feinstein has not sponsored any bills related to abortion rights. DeSaulnier and Harris co-sponsored S.217 & H.R.448. This bill provides the access to affordable contraceptives, therefore I fully support it as an option for mothers. 

There is one bill that pertains to my issue and it is bill number is S.311. It describes the legislation requiring fetuses that went through failed abortion to have its healthcare provided for and it would allow for failed abortions to become people in the future.  I would vote nay because if the fetus has gone through an attempted abortion, there has to be some sort of damage to its body and it would be morally wrong to save a life just to make it suffer for the rest of its life. It originated in the Senate and the Senate disapproved the entire bill.

[mlesjack20ahsgov-blog]

Political Interest Groups, and PAC Assessment

Political Interest Groups or PACs are very interesting organizations that effectively collect money from the public to donate to political candidates in order to promote their issue and hope that the promoted political candidate will push for their particular issue. 

One national interest group related to my topic of abortion rights is called the NFPRHA, or the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association. They support abortion rights and ease of access to contraceptives and abortion. Five things that they support mainly cover is the ease of access and comfort associated with abortion rights. This could be discounts or even completely complimentary birth control, complete confidentiality with your physician or abortion specialist, public events to spread awareness for abortion rights, affordable care acts, and title ten which is a family planning program, providing federal funding for ‘family planning’. The NFPRHA is fighting through legal action to support and defend family planning providers and maintain or progress access to cheap and affordable contraceptives and abortions. They are located all over the United States, and have upcoming meetings in Dallas Texas, as well as Washington DC. There are no obvious volunteering opportunities, but you can get tasks assigned to you if you donate enough money. Basically, you have to pay them for a job. It is incredibly interesting that the NFPRHA states they are not for profit but consistently push for funding all over their website. 

One state interest group relating to abortion rights is called the PPAC or the Planned Parenthood Affiliates of America. They represent eight separately incorporated planned parenthood in california. These planned parenthood organizations are fighting for a safe climate where individuals have universal access to sexual and reproductive health service without judgement. There is nothing in particular that gives a picture of what this interest group believes in besides the fact that they are Planned parenthood of Orange County, San Bernardino, Mar Monte, Pacific Southwest, Central coast, Los Angeles, Northern California, and finally Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley. Their website is essentially a donation location to their Community Action Fund PAC, and has very few links for information besides their march dates and funding luncheons. One action that this group endorses is the “Step Up” campaign that recruits school board members to represent their districts and promote Planned Parenthood in their respective districts. There are 180 positions open in just San Bernardino county. These positions allegedly have “profound effects on young people” and not only influence the students, but also the staff members and other members of the community. The closest group is in Costa Mesa, which has a luncheon on february 27th of next year. The lowest cost ticket is 75 dollars for the “young professional” ticket, but general admission tickets are 125 to 10,000 dollars. (!) As far as the website states, there are no volunteer opportunities for PPAC, and the website has very little information besides making it blatantly apparent that they want interested participants to donate a lot of money to them.

The NFPRHA seems to be far more organized on their website, most likely because they are a much bigger organization than the PPAC. Their target audience seems to be mainly progressives and younger people who tend to be more “frisky”. Both of them say that they are not for profit but charge ridiculous amounts for minimum donations. 

A recent PAC that relates to this topic is the Susan B Anthony list. This PAC promotes pro life and anti abortion, which is a stark contrast to the previous two organizations. So far, there are 221,794 dollars raised, 188,609 spent and they now have 58,942 dollars left. 100 percent of their budget is spent on republicans because republican political officials tend to stand for pro life. Their donors consist of average people with varying jobs, typically with physical labor occupations in southern states. This reflects the interests of the PAC because they show that their supporters will most likely be republicans.   

I find PACs to be incredibly interesting, and oftentimes corrupt because it is basically a group of people getting together and taking tons of money from people who follow their particular interest, and they throw it at politicians in hopes that they will listen to what they stand for.

[mlesjack20ahsgov-blog]

Political Party Action

Besides the two main political parties, there are another three parties, Libertarian, Green, and Peace and Freedom. On the issue of abortion rights, these five parties have very different opinions. 

Republicans are not strongly opposed to abortion, but discourage it as it “endangers the health and well-being of women.” One of the ways that they discourage it is through repealing government funding for abortions or plan B pills. Though Obamacare enforced free health insurance provided contraceptives, the Republican party plans to reverse that. 

Democrats are supportive of the choice of abortion. They believe that, “safe abortion must be part of comprehensive maternal and women’s health care and included as part of America’s global health programming.”

Libertarians do not support or support abortion rights as they claim it is, “a sensitive issue and that people can hold good-faith views on all sides.” This is the most moderate view of all because they support the freedom of choice but do not do anything to promote abortion rights.

The Green party takes a far left stance, and spends the most time out of all the parties discussing abortion rights. They strongly support abortion and contraceptive rights, “Women's right to control their bodies is non-negotiable. It is essential that the option of a safe, legal abortion remains available. The "morning-after" pill must be affordable and easily accessible without a prescription, together with a government-sponsored public relations campaign to educate women about this form of contraception. Clinics must be accessible and must offer advice on contraception and the means for contraception; consultation about abortion and the performance of abortions, and; abortion regardless of age or marital status.”

Last but not least, the Peace and Freedom party has a rather unsurprising stance, with the least emphasis on abortion out of all the parties. Their entire stance is just two bullet points, “Free abortion on demand/ No forced abortions or sterilizations.” Very peaceful and free.

These parties all show relatively similar stances on abortion rights, ranking from Republicans, to Libertarians and Peace and Freedom, to Democrats, and finally to the Green party. I agree most with the Green Party because sometimes people need some encouragement to do the things that they need to do for themselves, but feel conflicted in doing so. By aborting a child, this can be very hard, and the Green Party makes it easier to decide what you want to do. This was not surprising. I do not know if I would vote for a Green Party candidate, especially based only on abortion rights. A lot of the Green Party candidates are rarely in the media.

[mlesjack20ahsgov-blog]

Constitutional Issues

The latest constitutional issue regarding abortion was in 1972, the Roe v. Wade case. Jane Roe (anonymous name cover-up) was going against Henry Wade, the district attorney of Dallas Texas. In this case, she argued that Texas abortion laws affected her first, fourth, fifth, ninth and fourteenth amendment rights. The judges wanted to decide, Does the Constitution recognize a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy by abortion? This case was incredibly conflicting because if they vote against abortion rights, the court is violating women’s fourteenth amendment rights. If the court votes for it, they are violating their interests in protecting potential human life. They decided that within the first three months of pregnancy, officials cannot stop the mother from aborting. Within four to six months, the state may intervene and decide what should be done, typically leaning towards denial unless the fetus is affecting the mother’s health.  At seven to nine months, the case will always be denied unless affecting the mother’s health. This establishes a benchmark for future abortion cases to come because the constitution was never created with abortion rights in mind, and in reality, it all comes down to whether people feel like abortion is inhumane or for the greater good of the child and family. I agree with this ruling because it means that women get the right to choose if they would like to get an abortion or not, while still maintaining some of the humanitarian aspects. 

A new supreme court case regarding abortion rights may be on its way. In an article titled “The Supreme Court Taking Up Louisiana’s Abortion Case ‘Flies in the Face of Precedent” written by Sophia Novack of the Texas Observer, they discuss the issues related to abortion rights and summarized the controversies related to it. Since the early 1800s, abortion has been a sensitive topic. More recently, in the early 1970s after women’s rights movements, abortion has been more widely accepted as the mother’s choice rather than inanely inhumane. This article leans more towards a progressive stance due to the fact that it is progressively biased, and from a woman’s perspective. This is significant because it means that abortion rights could be reviewed again in the supreme court, advancing the rights of women even further. I agree with this article, it is amazing that Texas has been slowly removing abortion clinics, in fact, in the last few years, nearly 60 percent of the abortion clinics have been wiped out by Texan government.

[mlesjack20ahsgov-blog]

Media Assessment of Issue

The media is all over abortion rights, but which view can be considered to be right? It’s hard to define “right” because of people’s different perceptions of morals, but whether you are pro or anti-abortion, there is always an argument for you. 

In this article by the Western Journal, a well known conservative news source with over one millions views daily, Joe Seyton takes a pro-life stance and criticizes the lack of abortion laws in Arkansas. He states that “The bill also bans selective abortions based on race, gender or Down syndrome” which is somewhat skewed from the original bill which never included race. It was also odd to see that gender was included in an abortion ban. I do not agree with this stance because I believe all women should make their call on whether it is morally responsible to abort or not.

The next article titled “Abortion is Morally Good” by the New York Intelligencer discusses the benefits of abortion. This very liberal approach to abortion’s TL: DR states that “a fetus is a possibility and not a person”. I 100 percent agree with this view, as I believe human life is perceived as the obtainment of consciousness and should be practiced so.

Finally, an article by CNN titled “These States are Strengthening Abortion Laws even as Other Dismantle Them” written by Tami Luhby takes a completely unbiased view on abortion. For the topic of abortion, this trades emotional appeal for straight facts. This impartial piece discusses the variety of stances that each state takes, suggesting that there is a correlation between the states political stance and their stance on abortion. The significance of this article is that it allows readers to educate themselves on the alternative views of other states. I agree with this article because it is simply facts. 

These three articles take very different stances because some of them have their own biases, whether it be feminism or Christianity. I identify with “Abortion is morally Good” because it’s main concept is that it should be up to the carrier of the child to decide whether it is morally right to either keep the child and put it through whatever circumstances you provide, or abort the child and save it from the stresses of tight budgets, abusive parents, etc. 

[mlesjack20ahsgov-blog]

Conceptualizing the Issue and Assessing Types of Action

What civic action issue did you choose and why?

I chose challenges to the 4th amendment regarding abortions rights because it is an interesting and controversial topic that needs more input.

Why is it an issue?

Some believe that it is the rights of the mother to chose whether they abort the child or not, and some believe that it is a form of murder because someone is removing a possible life from their bodies.

What action do you think needs to be taken to address this issue?

People who are anti-abortion need to educate themselves on the consequences of raising a child in a family who was not prepared or ill-suited to raise a child, as well as the issue of overpopulation and the results of children from foster care or orphanages.

Some people that are pertinent to the topic of abortion are @frfrankpavone and @LauraLlassen14 due to their pro-life stances, as well as @SBAList, @JaneCarro, and @prochoiceforal1 due to their pro-choice stances.