Abortion And Affirmative Actio Essay, Research Paper

When the United States was founded over two hundred years ago, our fore fathers proclaimed that this land would be an area where freedom would be available to anyone and everyone. It is this freedom that enticed many individuals to make the journey from their home country over to the United States. Freedom, is a right that every individual for example each, freedom of religion, and most of all freedom of choice. To take these privileges away form an individual would deprive them of the civil rights. As in the first presidential election to our most recent, civil rights has always been an issue that the American public takes very seriously. They need to be informed about what the candidate’s feelings are on these specific issues. In this election year, two candidates, George W. Bush and Al Gore will be pursuing the presidency as their respective campaign teams trek across the country. One of the main issues that the candidates will be emphasizing on individuals civil rights; in particular abortion and affirmative action. One of the two candidates, George W. Bush, has expressed an opinion on these issues in his quest for the presidency.

Few other issues have created such extreme division in the American public as abortion. The 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade opened the abortion floodgates, pressuring lawmakers to grapple with the constitutional rights of both women and the unborn. George W. Bush has made great strides in presenting his beliefs about abortion. Governor Bush stands firm saying that he opposes abortion, with the exceptions of rape, incest, or if a mothers life is endangered. Although his feeling about abortion is critical, he promises not to use it as a “litmus test” for Supreme Court Nominees. Several months ago Bush said, Roe vs. Wade would not be overturned until hearts are changed and so we should focus on ways to reduce abortion. He finishes bye saying that he would not insist on a “litmus test” for count nominee. Bush feels that the Supreme Court is wrong because it handles abortion cases; his contention is that it should be left up to the state to decide. He counts abortion among the dozens of difficult issues that should be decided by individual states rather than the federal government. Roe vs. Wade was wrong because it “usurped the power of the legislatures,” he added, ” I felt like it was a case where the court took the place of what legislatures should do in America.” He refused to say how he felt each state should carry out their abortion laws.

In his campaign, Bush feels that the Republican Party should keep a platform plank that calls for banning all abortions. The presidential nominee understand that the thing that’s important for our party is to nominate somebody who can lead the country, somebody who can lead us toward a better understanding of life, and someone who can find a common ground on issues such as abortion and parental notification.2 Parental notification is an area in which Bush wants to make great improvements. He is working to pass a bill to involve the parents in this major decision for their minor daughter. Letting the parents know if an abortion is going to take place is a good way to make them parents more involved in the decision. The presidential hopeful views adoption as an alternative to eliminate the abortion problem that has developed in our country. Another way that Bush feels that abortion can be avoided is through abstinence. Not being sexually active eliminates the possibility of unwanted pregnancy and in return will result in fewer abortions. Bush promotes abstinence very strongly in his campaign viewing it as the best way to solve the abortion problem in America.

Although abstinence seems to be the best answer to resolve the abortion problem, the fact of the matter is from time to time individuals are not careful. This might lead into an unwanted pregnancy and, as a result, an abortion. Although skeptical, Governor Bush has accepted the Food and Drug Administrations approval of the drug RU-486. The drug is a chemical compound that, taken in pill form, can induce abortion in women up to nine weeks pregnant. Bush feels that this new form of taking care of abortions will be overused, and will result in an increased amount of aborted babies.

Good people on both sides of this issue can work to reduce the number of abortions says Bush. ” Passing parental notification. Promoting adoption. Praising the quiet goodness of crisis pregnancy centers. Opposing public funding of abortion. Teaching abstinence to children. Ending partial-birth abortion. Building a culture of life, brick by brick. We are a society with enough compassion and wealth and love to care for children both before and after birth; to seek the promise and potential in every life.”

Similar to abortion, affirmative action is another topic that will be largely discussed in this presidential campaign. Affirmative action is an issue that has the American people divided in half. Should minorities have an equal chance at getting a job, or getting into a college as individuals of a privileged background? Bush feels that the best thing to do is to educate every child and to challenge the soft prejudice of low expectations. The governor of Texas also believes that our country can have affirmative action programs that enhance the people’s chances to access the middle class without quotas and without pitting race against race. George W. Bush understands what kind of rights different ethnic backgrounds want and need. Understanding the need to make under privileged groups more equal; Bush has set his opinions on the issue by saying he opposes quotas and racial preference. This basically means that he feels that letting minorities have equal rights is good, but they should not exceed those of the opposite side of the spectrum. He opposes quotas a racial preference, but said the private and public sector should be encouraged to reach out to minorities. Bush refused to state his position on a California law that eliminated affirmative action programs.

The governor has an alternative look in the direction of affirmative action. By calling this new policy affirmative access, Bush plans on winning over the population by setting new legislation to correspond with the new course of action. This “affirmative access” is not a method of quotas or double standards, because those divide the populous. Affirmative access means a fair shot for everyone. By making this “affirmative access” work, Bush signed legislation, requiring the top ten percent of graduates from high schools in Texas to be automatically accepted in any public university in Texas. “We were the first state to put a rule in place that the top 10% of each high school class could go to a state university. This is going to enhance the ability of state universities to attract minorities.”4 As a result, our universities are now more diverse. He has also pushed for school vouchers in Texas that would help many under privileged groups with the cost of school.

Bush has used diversity as a tool to win over the vote of many individuals. The minority vote is very high in this country, for example there are 4.5 million Latinos in Bush’s home state of Texas. He also understands that quotas are bad for America. He has brought into his administration, all types of people, no matter what their ethnicity. He appointed Mexican Americans to senior positions in his two campaigns for governor. He knows that different minorities will see this and acknowledge that he is giving everyone an opportunity to better him or herself.

Bush knows that racism is prevalent in the society in which we live. ” Yes, racism exists. I am not going to be making policy based on guilt. The fundamental question in certain neighborhoods is, how do we break a sense that the system is not meant for me? You need mentoring programs. Part of it has to do with there isn’t an entrepreneurial system being passed from generation to the next.”4

With the campaign in full swing, it is not yet known whom the American public will vote for. George W. Bush has presented a good foundation for how the country should deal with these difficult issues. It will be seen if Governor Bush can convince the voters that his beliefs will lead us in a positive direction.