On November 4, the very definition of the American family is on the line. Electing one candidate will jeopardize the modern and future American family; electing the other secures progress and hope for a better tomorrow.
Consider the recent influx of school shootings, the fact that the United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate of any industrialized nation, the inability for same sex partners to have equal rights in 47 states. Consider the state of our schools. Consider the fact that a woman who would be an old man's heartbeat away from the presidency does not believe in global warming, nor evolution, and has such a distorted view of history that she is convinced man walked alongside dinosaur several thousand years ago.
I'm getting married in May, and I want to raise a family the same way my family raised me: the granddaughter of a Mexican immigrant and three Scottish Americans with an open mind and an open heart. The daughter of a musician and a special education teacher. Taught about contraception as soon as I was taught about sex, in 5th grade in a mandatory health class at my all girl's school. Introduced to my parents gay friends and told that just because their partner was the same sex didn't make them any different from my own parents. Volunteered in my church soup kitchen, at an AIDS clinic, and got my first job at Old Navy at the age of 16 because my parents wanted me to start earning my own money early so I'd be responsible for life.
I don't want to have or raise children in a McCain administration. For one, I have endometriosis, which can cause problematic pregnancies. I know McCain would rather see me die than abort a baby if my life were in danger. But for the baby, being born into a McCain presidency is where the danger truly begins.
If you have children or are planning to have children in the near future, rest assured that John McCain will not make it more difficult for people to acquire assault rifles (like the AK-47), which are faster and deadlier even than handguns and have been used in several . From his own webpage (yes, I went, and it's awful):
"John McCain opposes restrictions on so-called "assault rifles" and voted consistently against such bans. Most recently he opposed an amendment to extend a ban on 19 specific firearms, and others with similar characteristics."
On sexual education, one needs only see the attack ads McCain ran against an age-appropriate sex ed bill that Obama supported to know there's trouble ahead for troubled teens in a McCain administration.
The New York Times Web site reported the following exchange with a reporter in Iowa in March 2007:
Q: "What about grants for sex education in the United States? Should they include instructions about using contraceptives? Or should it be Bush's policy, which is just abstinence?"
McCain: (Long pause) "Ahhh. I think I support the president's policy."
Q: "So no contraception, no counseling on contraception. Just abstinence. Do you think contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?"
McCain: (Long pause) "You've stumped me."
-St. Petersburg Times
So it should come as no surprise that McCain doesn't care to prevent unwanted pregnancy or STDs abroad:
McCain also supports the global gag rule - probably the most backward foreign policy initiative since the importation of slaves. This is the policy that bars foreign family planning organizations from receiving U.S. funds if the group in any way advises clients on abortion as an option or advocates for legal abortion - even when using their own funds. We know that population control and family planning is the only way for Third World nations to advance, yet the United States and its antiabortion zealots have put a foot on the neck of the most effective groups.
An intelligent person might think that someone as rabidly antiabortion as McCain would be backing approaches to prevent unwanted pregnancies, thereby, ipso facto, fewer abortions. Well, think again.
McCain is an antagonist of sensible family planning and effective sex education. In 2005, he voted "no" on a $100-million allocation for preventive health care services targeted at reducing unintended pregnancies, particularly teen pregnancies. In 2006, he voted against funding for comprehensive, medically accurate sex education for teens.
-St. Petersburg Times
If your child is gay, they will never have equal rights. John McCain voted in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act, and supports "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." It would be up to the states to decide if civil unions could take place between same sex couples, and you know what that means for homosexual people in states in the Bible belt.
And your child is in real danger when they reach 18. If we continue the wild-eyed foreign policies of George Bush, which a McCain administration will undoubtedly do, we will be forced to reinstate the draft in order to keep shipping our soldiers to the Middle East. And as far as reinstating the draft, that is an idea with which John McCain does not disagree.
An Obama adminstration is safer for the American family.
In addition to age appropriate sex ed and enabling women in dangerous pregnancies to terminate without penalty, Barack Obama sees protecting women from STDs like HIV/AIDS as critical (from his own website):
Empowering Women to Prevent HIV/AIDS:
In the United States, the percentage of women diagnosed with AIDS has quadrupled over the last twenty years. Today, women account for more than one quarter of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses. Women of color are especially hard hit: In 2004, HIV infection was the leading cause of death for African-American women between the ages of 25 and 34. Around the world, 7,000 women are infected with HIV every day. Barack Obama has been a leader in the global fight against AIDS. He introduced the Microbicide Development Act, which will accelerate the development of products that empower women in the battle against AIDS. Microbicides are a class of products currently under development that women apply topically to prevent transmission of HIV and other infections.
Additionally, Barack Obama believes in common sense gun laws.
Barack Obama's stance on the Second Amendment: "There is an individual right to bear arms, but it is subject to common-sense regulation, just like most of our rights are subject to common-sense regulation."
While for religious reasons, Barack Obama does not personally support gay marriage (a disappointing fact for many Democrats), he would, per CNN, "repeal the Defense of Marriage Act," and he voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment. Additionally, Obama "says the Employment Non-Discrimination Act should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity" and "advocated legislation that sought to expand federal hate crimes law to include sexual orientation and gender identity."
The choice is clear. For your future, your children's future, and the future of the American family, John McCain is all wrong, all the time.