Here in California we have a number of very important propositions on the November ballot, and I want to encourage everyone to inform yourselves and then vote on these propositions. Here are a few we're particularly interested in.
PROPOSITION 2: STANDARDS FOR CONFINING FARM ANIMALS
As longtime animal rights activists and ethical vegetarians, it should surprise no one that SmartAssProducts.com is fully supporting Proposition 2. Honestly, how can anyone oppose the humane treatment of farm animals? Voting YES on prop 2 will give animals raised for food (disgusting...I know...) some entitlement to humane treatment. It's not nearly as comprehensive or demanding as we would like to see, but at least it's a start.
OUR RECOMMENDED VOTE: YES ON 2
PROPOSITION 4: WAITING PERIOD AND PARENTAL NOTIFICATION BEFORE TERMINATION OF MINOR’S PREGNANCY
In a perfect world, all children would have wonderful, loving, supportive relationships with their parents, and they could tell their parents anything and know that it would be okay.
Well, this isn't a perfect world!--and I can say that from personal experience. When I was a teenager, there was NO WAY I could have approached my parents with anything as personal and dramatic as a pregnancy. In my household, anything related to sex was dirty, horrible, awful, disgusting...and nice girls definitely didn't do it. I guess I wasn't nice...I did it. But didn't get pregnant.
It scares me to this day--decades...and decades...later--to think about what would've happened if I'd had a pregnancy back then. For one thing, I definitely, unequivocally would've been thrown out, disowned, and ostracized permanently. NO question about any of that.
By contrast, my own daughter, who is now a happily married adult who had my first grandchild earlier this year, could come to me with ANYTHING and really, truly know that it would be okay. I fostered a sense of absolute trust in her; she could, and did, share many things with me when she was younger that--in my wildest dreams--I could never have discussed with my mother.
So I've really seen both sides of this. And because I've seen both sides, I know how wonderful it is to have the kind of open, loving, supportive relationship that allows a child/teenager to tell her parents anything, but I also know what it's like to feel that your life would be in danger if you were faced with something like a pregnancy and had to tell your parents.
It's with that knowledge that I strongly support defeating Proposition 4. This proposition would require parental notification before an unemancipated minor could terminate a pregnancy.
Believe me, if I had been faced with a pregnancy as a minor and had to inform my parents, I would've chosen suicide. There's simply no way I could've lived with the fallout; suicide would've been the easier choice.
In my opinion, it's a matter of burying your head in the sand if you refuse to accept/acknowledge that some minors simply do not have the kind of relationship with their parents that would allow them to safely deal with the consequences of telling them about a pregnancy. Even if you're sure that this is a rare exception to the rule, just put yourself in that rare exception's shoes for a moment...and then vote no on prop 4.
OUR RECOMMENDED VOTE: NO ON 4
PROPOSITION 8: ELIMINATES RIGHT OF SAME–SEX COUPLES TO MARRY
This proposition would mandate that marriage can only occur between a man and a woman, thereby eliminating the rights of same-sex couples to be legally married.
Despite the rhetoric from right-wingers and evangelists, no one chooses to be gay. (Don't believe it? Well, tell me, when did you CHOOSE to be straight?) With that knowledge, who the hell are we to dictate that gays can't get married? They're gay...that doesn't mean they're lesser human beings than us straight folks.
And please spare me the "slippery slope" arguments! No, letting men marry men or women marry women will NOT result in legalizing polygamy, adults marrying 5-year-old children, brothers and sisters marrying each other, etc. (Honestly, this is such a stupid argument...I can't believe anyone makes it.)
In the interest of equality, please help defeat Proposition 8.
OUR RECOMMENDED VOTE: NO ON 8
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