Abortion Should Not Determine the Way You Vote
From the inception of the United States as a democracy, citizens have considered various issues and platforms when deciding who to enlist their trust in for the presidential candidacy. Some of these issues include healthcare, gun laws, and economic policies. While these issues can be extremely controversial, none have been as polarizing in the US as abortion. As the country strives to become more unified in these troubling times, abortion remains as the one topic for which people cannot find a common ground.
The amount of people who indicate that they only vote for political candidates who share the same exact views regarding abortion is growing. In 2000, only 14% of the American population thought that abortion was a deal breaker for their political voting (Gallup, 2020). In the 2016 election, this number rose to 20% (Gallup, 2020). This type of policy voting starts at the smaller senate level and works its way up to the presidential election. In a study done, results showed that voters hold abortion at a high standard when deciding which senators to vote for (Highton, 2004).
This type of policy voting was possibly part of the reason that President Trump was elected into office in 2016. When running against Hillary Clinton, President Trump ran on the stance that he was pro-life and would ban abortions once elected. Hillary Clinton ran as the pro-choice candidate. In an interview conducted by Danielle Kurtzleben, Trump supporters explained their reasoning behind voting for him. One individual explicitly stated that while they do not agree with most of the things President Trump has done and said, they will always vote for him because he is the pro-life candidate (Kurtzleben, 2020).
Many people argue against abortion on the premise of religion. The white evangelical Christian community makes up around 18% of the US population (Newport, 2020). Research has shown that up to 80% of these white evangelical Christians voted for President Trump in 2016 (Newport, 2020). With religion charging this group’s argument, you would expect the same ideology to be held with all evangelical Christians. However, research has proven this theory wrong. Out of all the black protestants in America, 84% disapprove of President Trump and his actions (Newport, 2020). It seems that the black community prioritizes other issues than that of abortion. During a time that this country has seen continuous Black Lives Matter protests, and the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the world, should abortion be the only factor that affects the way you vote? Those who policy vote for abortion, are ignoring the needs of other citizens.
While I recognize and appreciate everyone’s freedom to vote as they chose for whatever reason, I do not believe that abortion should individually fuel the decision making. Many people argue that abortions have terrible effects on women. However, in a longitudinal study completed over three years, over 95% of women who underwent an abortion confirmed that it was the best choice for them (Rocca et al., 2015). They did not regret the procedure and thought their life was better off because of it. Results proved that the claim that women often regretted their abortions once the procedure was done was unfounded.
On a much broader level, banning federal funding and banning abortions has had terrible effects on countries in the past. Banning abortions has not been known to reduce the amount of unplanned pregnancies significantly in a country. Instead, women are forced to undergo unsafe abortions in which they risk their own lives. Globally, unsafe abortions cause up to 11% of maternal death (Human Rights Watch, 2020). In some Latin American countries in which abortion is banned, they are currently facing these effects. Children as young as 11 who have been raped, are being forced into early adulthood as they raise babies, they had no intention of having (Human Rights Watch, 2020). Women are facing jail time for having miscarriages that were completely unintentional (Human Rights Watch, 2020). This is the future that America will face if we move towards completely banning abortions.
We have come to a point in American history in which we can turn a blind eye and ignore the situation in front of us or choose to push towards change. As COVID-19 and racial inequality continue to grow, abortion should not be the only factor that goes into your decision making when deciding who you want to be the next President of the United States. Donald Trump has time and time again proven that he serves a select portion of the population and neglects the rest. If you were to vote for others instead of simply yourself this year and the issues you care about, would you find that your option changes? A vote for Donald Trump is not a vote for the American people, it is a vote for oppression, injustice and empty promises.