Who Needs Planned Parenthood!?

I try to understand where people are coming from when they are anti-abortion, and to some extent I see how it could be misused. However, there are many cases in which having an abortion is necessary.

So many scenarios represent the backgrounds of women who receive abortions. For example, what if it would physically harm the woman, what if the woman was raped, there are many what ifs that come to mind and yet it seems anyone who chooses to have an abortion is automatically deemed a horrible person by many conservatives. Taking issue with someone who repeatedly must take this route due to personal irresponsibility is something I could understand, however, that should not lead to punishment of those who truly require the service.

 Abortions are not the only service provided by Planned Parenthood, but it seems that Texas Republicans can only fulfill their anti-abortion agenda by cutting $61 million in funding from the organization. Apparently they forgot about the many needed, and more used, programs offered such as “contraception, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infection, and cancer screening and prevention.” In cutting this funding, they may get the results intended in terms of abortion rate but they will also be hurting the millions of people who rely on the other services provided.

 This isn’t final; the bill will still pass through the Senate and receive additional tweaking before being negotiated on by both the House and the Senate. What happens if this outrageous amount does pass through? What about the people who will have no source for the services outlined above and the children born into a life not fit for anyone? It seems as though the people involved in making these decisions have only their desires in mind and do not consider the harm some changes will cause.

Guns, guns, and more guns...

My hatred of guns led me to a post by Lura C., who touched on the same bill that I spoke of in my last entry.

I agree with your opinion, Lura, that the bill should not be passed, however, I'm one of those people that dislikes guns to begin with.

I'm not even sure where my dislike stems from, I just think they are needless, and people should not even need them to "protect" themselves. I know this is in my own little dream world where idiots who misuse weapons don't exist, and in the real world those people do exist; however, I still fail to see how more guns create a better environment.

You bring up some valid reasoning for why this should not go through, something that I didn't think of; the amount of alcohol consumed on campuses. What would happen if someone were to become intoxicated and decided to bring out their handy gun? Sure, it would be an accident, but perhaps that person would not have decided to bring their weapon if it were still against the law.

Someone brought up the fact that people apparently already bring guns on campuses, so what does it matter if they passed the bill. Just because people are already doing something, doesn't mean it's okay to go ahead and make it legal. People do illegal things all the time, and when caught, they face the consequences of their actions. Those who currently choose to carry weapons in places where it isn't permitted do so knowing that they could possibly be caught. If the legality were to change, you then have more people who previously did not want to risk the chance of breaking the law, along with those who already carried the weapon.

The thought of people carrying around lethal weapons on campuses makes me very uncomfortable. Hopefully the bill does not make it any further, but it doesn't look like that is the case.

"Guns don't kill people, people kill people"

Nothing enrages me more than the statement I chose as the title for this post. This statement, typically thrown out by proponents of guns, is one of the most ignorant things I have ever heard. Yes, people do, in fact, kill people; however, removing the option of having a gun, a lethal weapon, would remove the ability for people to harm others with said weapon.

Countries with strict laws concerning the ability to own fire arms have far less instances of homicide than countries where the ability to own a fire arm is much less restricted. This tells me that gun ownership is correlated with homicide rate. This also confirms my previous opinion about the title of this post; people are stupid.

Now, before anyone gets too upset, let me clarify my use of the word stupid. The following quote is a favorite of mine, and I believe it holds some truth, even when coming from a work of fiction.

"People are stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it's true, or because they are afraid it might be true. People’s heads are full of knowledge, facts, and beliefs, and most of it is false, yet they think it all true. People are stupid; they can only rarely tell the difference between a lie and the truth, and yet they are confident they can, and so are all the easier to fool."
Wizard's First Rule - Terry Goodkind 

People believe what they want to believe, even when lacking any form of truth. I feel that the title statement falls into this category.

What does this have to do with Texas State and Local Government? The bill, SB 354 , if passed will allow guns to be brought onto college campuses in Texas. This is supported by Gov. Rick Perry and was approved by a house bill.

My question is this; why on earth would anyone need to bring a weapon onto a college campus? I see absolutely no reason. All campuses have security teams and options to provide protection to students in the event that they do not feel safe. I see this as a case in which my quote above applies. Does anyone have a valid reason for this to happen? Or is it simply that they believe it needs to happen to protect their “Second Amendment Rights.” I would actually feel -less- safe if people were allowed to carry guns on campuses.

I hope that something drastic changes in the minds of those who think this is needed on college campuses.