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Voters in our state are faced with the freedom of choice when they vote in November. But the outcome of that voting choice could remove the freedom of choice from the women of our state. Will we as voters give that same right to choose to Michigan’s women—and their families?  That is the challenge, the challenge to choose between those who are hell-bent on limiting the freedom of choice about reproductive freedom and those who seek a secured right to this freedom.  Reproductive freedom is being attacked in our State by those who seek to make personal choices for others concerning sexual freedoms.

This freedom was assaulted when the U.S. Supreme Court revoked the constitutional right for abortion, thus taking that freedom from individuals and handing it to elected officials in Lansing or judges who are willing to remove reproductive freedom. The anti-abortion faction of society seeks to eliminate all abortions, for any reason.

As a Democrat, I strongly oppose this attack and affirm the right for individuals to make their own reproductive decisions, decisions that strongly affect their lives.  In most ways, those who oppose abortion do so by making everyone play by their rules, disregarding the right to have abortion protected. 

“According to evolutionary social science,” stated Jaimie Krems and Martie Haselton, professors of psychology at Arizona State University and the University of California-Los Angeles, respectively. “Restricted sexual strategies [including abortion] benefit [anti-abortionists] by imposing their strategic preferences on society by curtailing other people’s sexual freedoms.” Here is the crux of the anti-abortion movement – to impose their anti-abortion views on others.  In other words, anti-abortion enthusiasts want to remove the freedom from women to make their own reproductive healthcare decisions. It is about control and making everyone play by their rules.

We should oppose this ploy to ban ALL abortions. Vote Democratic in November to affirm reproductive freedom for all women.  Specifically, vote YES on Proposal 3 on the Michigan ballot in November. This proposal would create a new “reproduction freedom” rights into our state’s Constitution.  Voting YES would write this freedom into the Michigan Constitution, eliminating an abortion ban of 1931 and any other possible regulations that would deny our citizens the freedom to choose.

Don Ludman

Dowagiac