As we all know by now, this past week Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill that will make performing an abortion illegal after a fetal heartbeat is detected. In 2019, Alabama passed its own abortion bill making it the most restrictive in the nation with Ohio and Mississippi following suit.
An ultrasound can detect a fetal heartbeat in as early as 6-7 weeks. This is before most women even know that they are pregnant. This raises multiple uncomfortable, jarring, but necessary questions. Why are men able to make laws regarding a woman's body? Do we except pre-teen rape victims to endure a nine-month pregnancy followed by childbirth? If enforcing stricter gun laws won't stop people from buying guns, what is telling us that stricter abortion laws will stop people from having abortions?
Instead, I would like to propose 25 alternative issues to tackle for the people of our country before we open up this can of controversial worms.
1. Homelessness
Homelessness in the US is a deepening crisis in America. In places that are doing better than ever before economically, the rates of homeless families are at an all time high.
2. Foster Care
Nearly three-quarters of US states have reported an increase in the number of children entering foster care since the year 2014. However, with this increase, there is a steep decline in families applying to be foster parents, mental health care for the kids, trauma counseling for drug abuse by a parent, and additional community resources.
3. Gun Reform
I do not want to take away your guns, caring American citizen who has a legitimate conceal to carry in order to protect yourself and others. I want to take away their guns—the mentally unstable psychopaths who think it's okay to harm others because the voices in their head told them so.
4. Plastic Waste
"Because plastic wasn't invented until the late 19th century, and production really only took off around 1950, we have a mere 9.2 billion tons of the stuff to deal with. Of that, more than 6.9 billion tons have become waste. And of that waste, a staggering 6.3 billion tons never made it to a recycling bin."
5. Student Debt
Student loan debt in 2019 is the highest ever. It is a $1.5 trillion dollar crisis.
6. Stray Animals
There are roughly 70 million stray animals living in the US today.
7. Potholes
It's just NOT THAT HARD. My car is too old to handle all of that.
8. Mental Healthcare
The American healthcare system spends roughly 5.6% of the national healthcare budget on mental health treatment.
9. Plant More Trees
Combatting climate change, cleaning the air, providing oxygen? Good enough for...literally everyone.
10. Save the bees
A third of all of our food depends on their pollination.
Regardless of our own opinions on the matter, I think it is more than fair to say that each individual should be allowed to make decisions about their own body.
