With Which Pro Should I Go?

 

Elections are a sticky business. We can vote according to our party affiliation or we can research each and every candidate to discover what they are really about. Another way might be to pick a certain subject and compare each of the candidates. For example you may be “pro-life” and you may follow the Republican Party because they consistently say they are ‘pro-life”. But let’s dig a little deeper. You obviously know that your Republican candidate is “anti-abortion” and if elected will most likely be in favor of cutting funding to organizations like Planned Parenthood. In 2013 Planned Parenthood saw over 2.5 million patients, many who would not be able to have been seen because of financial hardships or lack of insurance. Yes anywhere from 3 to 15% of their services are abortions yet Federal funding is not permitted for those services. Your candidate’s Democratic opponent will most likely identify himself as “pro-choice”, meaning that he/she believes that, according to current law, a woman has the right to choose how she will handle her pregnancy. I have never heard a candidate declare that they are “pro-abortion”, although they are frequently described as such by their opponent.  Another factor that should have some bearing on the “pro-life” argument is healthcare. Since the inception of the Affordable Care Act the majority of Republicans have fought to derail this 2010 law even though it has reduced the number of uninsured Americans by 20.5 million. Will your Republican candidate cut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security? Most say they will to cover the recent tax cuts.  Many have recently changed their minds on preexisting conditions most likely seeing an effect on their poll numbers in the upcoming election. Makes you wonder what they will do if elected. Virtually all Democrats favor the Obamacare rule on preexisting conditions and actually would like to expand healthcare to everyone. So here’s your quandary, if you’re “pro-life” and want to protect the unborn, do you also want to protect the 75 year old with a preexisting condition?  How many people do you know that has diabetes, cancer or Alzheimer Disease? How many people do you know that have had an abortion? Would shutting down Planned Parenthood stop all abortions and would it lower unplanned pregnancies?  One MIT researcher has compared the lifesaving effects of Obamacare to curing breast cancer in the number of people saved from preventable disease since its implementation. It’s a tough decision with lasting implications, not just for you but for your children, grandchildren, parents and grandparents. And this one subject should by no means make or break a candidate, there’s so many other issue to look at.