pro-life

I recently received an email from someone I know. It was a thinly-veiled pro-life video encouraging me to "vote my conscience". Great, thanks, I will!

In the video, there is a picture of-you guessed it-a fetus, with the words, "Some issues are more important."

I do not ask this question as an attack, but because I seriously want to know: Why is an unborn baby more important than a living child? Because, if I voted for McCain and Palin, the policies they promote will hurt living children. For example, McCain promises a $5000 tax rebate for every family so they can buy insurance. The average premium for a family, according to this website is over $12,000. That's not doing much for families who make too much to qualify for state funded health care, but who cannot afford insurance (and who can at that cost?) and don't get it at work.

Other Republican policies leave children behind. Let's take a look at No Child Left Behind. A great idea, but the federal government has failed to fund this, leaving states to fund it themselves (they have to!) and therefore cutting costs in other ways (like shortening the week to four days!!!!) that drastically affect the education system in our country. Better educating kids can help them to climb out of poverty, but that takes funding, and right now Republican policy is more concerned with funding "rebuilding" in Iraq, a country that has a very large surplus, according to Barack Obama and this article.

So, when I think about voting my conscience, I know I want to cast a vote that will help our country now, and for the future. I strongly believe that the future of our country lies in providing an opportunity for our youth to be well-educated and healthy. And that is why my conscience tells me to vote for Obama/Biden.