Who decides?

Pro-life groups are steadily pushing their agenda into the political arena. Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life (a politically powerful pro-life group), was even involved in the recent swearing in of Judge Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. Yoest lobbied senators to vote against the confirmation of Sotomayor because of her answers to abortion-related questions. How much power do organizations like this have? To my surprise, they have been involved in every pro-life case heard by the Supreme Court since Roe v. Wade ("Testifies" 2009). On the aforementioned video, Yoest slams Judge Sotomayor’s judicial philosophy. My assessment, from her seven minute speech, is that she simply did not like Sotomayor’s answers on the regulation of abortion. Yoest pitted herself and her organization against Sotomayor because she does not support their agenda. The AUL does not believe abortion is a woman’s right; however, that is far from the truth, a woman is well within her rights to make decisions that involve her body, her health, and her reproductive life. You may think pro-lifers are the minority in the United States, however, a Gallup Poll shows 47% of people consider themselves pro-life, 46% pro-choice, and of the pro-choice group only 21% said abortion should be legal under any circumstances (Biskupic par. 10). So what does this really mean? Most citizens in the U.S. want some form of restriction on abortion. Since the majority of people are pro-life, it is certainly plausible that abortion could become illegal. But who decides when abortion is appropriate and when it’s not? It is the fundamental right of a woman to have control of her own body and carry out reproduction when she deems appropriate.

Works Cited

Biskupic, Joan. “Abortion Fight is Enduring Divide.” USA Today 24 July 2009, Final Edition: 5a. Lexis Nexis. Century College Library, White Bear Lake, MN. Web. 3 Sept. 2009.

“Dr. Charmaine Yoest Testifies Before the Senate Judiciary Committee.” AUL.com. 2009. Web. 4 Sept. 2009 .