COMPROMISE IS THE ART OF THE DEAL, PART 2: ABORTION.

     When elections are on the horizon, there are a few issues that never fail to show up. They split us right down the middle, Democrat or Republican. Often, these issues are not the most important issues that we have to deal with, but we are so dug into our side, that we have the potential to make POOR CHOICES on who to elect to high office. Important issues like the economy, war, nuclear proliferation, the environment, education, infrastructure, etc. etc. are not being talked about as much as they should. So, what I want to do is to help find the middle ground on these partisan issues, promote the middle ground, and maybe we, as a society, can AVOID PUTTING TERRIBLE PEOPLE IN CHARGE. Next up, ABORTION.


A.     The pro choice stance, as I see it. Pro choice people believe that if a woman becomes pregnant, and she doesn't think she is ready to have a child/is not financially stable enough to have a child/if she doesn't have a stable home for a child/if the child was conceived in unfortunate circumstances etc. etc., then the woman should have a choice, of whether to go through with the pregnancy or not. There are of course, other more unfortunate instances when, late during a pregnancy, it may be discovered that the fetus may be disfigured in some way, that makes survival outside the womb unlikely. Then the woman may choose to end the pregnancy. Just to make clear, I am not a doctor, this is just how I see it. Also, of course there are other scenarios I havent listed here.

     The anti abortion stance, as I see it. Life starts at conception. All life is sacred, so, pregnancies should never be aborted. There are ofcourse some who would moderate their stance and say except in certain cases, such as rape, incest or if the life of the mother is in danger. 


B.      So, why should anyone consider changing their long held beliefs? Consider who is in the White House now, and how he got there. 

"Exit polls show white evangelical voters voted in high numbers for Donald Trump, 80-16 percent, according to exit poll results. That’s the most they have voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 2004, when they overwhelmingly chose President George W. Bush by a margin of 78-21 percent. Their support for Trump will likely be seen as part of the reason the GOP candidate performed unexpectedly well in Tuesday’s election, according to Five Thirty Eight." -https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/11/09/exit-polls-show-white-evangelicals-voted-overwhelmingly-for-donald-trump/?utm_term=.edac34753497

Trump’s embrace by these groups might signal the importance of abortion—an issue on which at least a fifth of Americans say they will not compromise when voting. .......Seven in 10 voters on Tuesday said the next president’s appointment of a new Supreme Court justice was an important factor—presumably because this judge could have a decisive vote in cases involving abortion and other social issues. Voters “were mobilized by what’s at stake & the clear contrast w/Hillary on life,”Family Research Council president Tony Perkins tweeted late Tuesday.  -https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/11/why-women-and-christians-backed-trump/507176/

Women and Trump

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/11/why-women-and-christians-backed-trump/507176/

     That last one was to just hammer the point home, that supporting the choice, does not mean that a candidate will have the "womans vote." However, a fifth of Americans will not compromise their stance on this issue. Some of these people are just as horrified at President Trumps bad behavior as the rest of us, but cannot vote for a pro choice candidate. Thats how seriously they believe that their anti-abortion stance is correct.   So, its time for political candidates with a respect for these voters views, or we could risk re-electing Donald Trump as President in 2020. A President Trump who risks Nuclear war with North Korea, who wants to repeal Obamacare even if that means stripping healthcare from millions of Americans, who wants to give a giant tax break to the wealthy even if it means America's deficit grows by leaps and bounds, who doesn't believe in climate change and his energy/environmental policies will cause more Hurricane Harvey's. Its time the pro choice Americans take the danger that President Trump poses to America seriously, and compromise with the anti abortion Americans.  Anti-abortion Americans, who you may not agree with, are doing what they think is right. Lets see what we can do to try and help them find a way to not vote for President Trump and the far right in this next election.

C. The Compromise.
Right now, there is a bill before the Senate, The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The name is a bit misleading, The bill, sponsored by Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), would ban abortions after 20 weeks nationwide, except in cases of rape, incest, or a threat to the life of the mother. http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/03/politics/house-vote-abortion-after-20-week-ban/index.html 
https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/10/3/16401826/abortion-ban-pain-capable-unborn-child-protection-act

1. I think another exception needs to be added. Abortion for of mercy for the disfigured fetus that could not survive outside the womb, or would lead a kind of life no one should have to suffer through. Heres a article on just this kind of story. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/8/31/16229654/abortion-insurance-hyde-amendment. The Hyde amendment should be adjusted as well. Whats the Hyde amendment? - 
     The Hyde Amendment bans the use of federal Medicaid funding to pay for abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or a threat to the mother’s life; 32 states have similar restrictions on state Medicaid funds. Meanwhile, 26 states restrict abortion coverage in private plans offered on the insurance exchanges, and 11 restrict abortion coverage in all private plans.

Nearly 99 percent of abortions occur before 21 weeks, but when they are needed later in pregnancy, it’s often in very complex circumstances. https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/issues/abortion/20-week-bans
For more on those "complex circumstances" use the address above for planned parenthood. There are some stories there that really illustrate why late term abortions should be legal.

2. If we as a society want to reduce abortions, we need to strengthen our prevention effort. You are not going to stop people from having sex. If the idea that some of these people are going to later have an abortion is abhorrent to you, then we, as a society, need to help prevent pregnancies. Abstinence only DOES NOT WORK. Thats why insurance companies should have to provide support for birth control. Free condoms should be provided in high schools/colleges/health departments. Sex education in high schools should be a class that is difficult, and you have to get a B in to pass.

3. This isnt an all inclusive list. The main thing we should do as Americans, is respect each other, and our opinions. If we have to agree to disagree, so be it. We should work on the goal of making abortion safe, legal and rarely needed by reducing the amount of unwanted pregnancies with birth control/education. When abortion is needed, we shouldnt shame the women who go through with it. 


I want to say thanks to the websites where I obtained by information. Thank you to Planned parenthood, the Washington Post, CNN, the atlantic and VOX.


   

COMPROMISE IS THE ART OF THE DEAL, PART 1: GUNS

     When elections are on the horizon, there are a few issues that never fail to show up. They split us right down the middle, Democrat or Republican. Often, these issues are not the most important issues that we have to deal with, but we are so dug into our side, that we make no headway, and are distracted from more important items. Important issues like the economy, war, nuclear proliferation, the environment, education, infrastructure, etc. etc. are not being talked about as much as they should. So, what I want to do today is to help find the middle ground on these partisan issues, promote the middle ground, and maybe we, as a society, can move on to the big ticket items, at least for a bit. First up, GUNS.

     A, lets establish the problem.

1. "a study based on data from 2012 to 2014 suggests that, on average, 5,790 children in the United States receive medical treatment in an emergency room each year for a gun-related injury. About 21% of those injuries are unintentional, .......

From 2012 to 2014, on average, 1,297 children died annually from a gun-related injury in the US, according to the study, published in the journal Pediatrics on Monday." - http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/19/health/child-gun-violence-study/index.html

2. "When Americans think about deaths from guns, we tend to focus on homicides. But the problem of gun suicide is inescapable: More than 60 percent of people in this country who die from guns die by suicide."- https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/09/upshot/gun-deaths-are-mostly-suicides.html

3. Privately owned firearms are stolen in America with alarming frequency: between 300,000 and 600,000 every year, according to a new survey of gun ownership by researchers at Harvard and Northeastern universities. - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/21/gun-theft-us-firearm-survey

4. Mass killings in the United States are most often carried out with guns, usually handguns, most of them obtained legally. 948 victims. Each gun was used to kill an average of three people, not counting shooters. The 948 people came from nearly every imaginable race, religion and socioeconomic background, and 145 were children or teenagers. -https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/mass-shootings-in-america/

B, establish the conflict between left and right. 

THE REPUBLICAN VIEW

The Second Amendment:Our Right to Keep and Bear Arms  (Top)

"We uphold the right of individuals to keep and bear arms, a natural inalienable right that predates the Constitution and is secured by the Second Amendment. Lawful gun ownership enables Americans to exercise their God-given right of self-defense for the safety of their homes, their loved ones, and their communities.

We salute the Republican Congress for defending the right to keep and bear arms by preventing the President from installing a new liberal majority on the Supreme Court. The confirmation to the Court of additional anti-gun justices would eviscerate the Second Amendment’s fundamental protections. Already, local officials in the nation’s capital and elsewhere are defying the Court’s decisions upholding an individual right to bear arms as affirmed by the Supreme Court in Heller and McDonald. We support firearm reciprocity legislation to recognize the right of law-abiding Americans to carry firearms to protect themselves and their families in all 50 states. We support constitutional carry statutes and salute the states that have passed them. We oppose ill-conceived laws that would restrict magazine capacity or ban the sale of the most popular and common modern rifle. We also oppose any effort to deprive individuals of their right to keep and bear arms without due process of law.

We condemn frivolous lawsuits against gun manufacturers and the current Administration’s illegal harassment of firearm dealers. We oppose federal licensing or registration of law-abiding gun owners, registration of ammunition, and restoration of the ill-fated Clinton gun ban."- https://www.gop.com/platform/we-the-people/

THE DEMOCRATIC VIEW

Preventing Gun Violence

With 33,000 Americans dying every year, Democrats believe that we must finally take sensible action to address gun violence. While responsible gun ownership is part of the fabric of many communities, too many families in America have suffered from gun violence. We can respect the rights of responsible gun owners while keeping our communities safe. To build on the success of the lifesaving Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, we will expand and strengthen background checks and close dangerous loopholes in our current laws; repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) to revoke the dangerous legal immunity protections gun makers and sellers now enjoy; and keep weapons of war—such as assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines (LCAM's)—off our streets. We will fight back against attempts to make it harder for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to revoke federal licenses from law breaking gun dealers, and ensure guns do not fall into the hands of terrorists, intimate partner abusers, other violent criminals, and those with severe mental health issues. There is insufficient research on effective gun prevention policies, which is why the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must have the resources it needs to study gun violence as a public health issue.

C. Lets establish some potential solutions, while respecting both sides.

So, you can see the conflict. Now, here is a middle ground plan, that I have to help reduce the problem of gun related deaths/accidents (the Democratic aim) while respecting gun ownership and the rights of individuals (the Republican aim). 

1. Reduce the sales taxes on guns that have built in trigger locks, or come with a trigger lock separately. The point here is to protect your children from gaining access to guns in your home. The non-built in trigger locks can be removed, so they wont always protect your guns from being stolen, but, they will help with prevention of accidental shootings. All things being equal, if there are two guns of the same quality, but one is cheaper due to the sales tax being reduced, most people will go with the cheaper gun. This does come with a cost to state revenue, but well worth it. It would be up to the individual to utilize the trigger lock. I think this measure would save some lives.

2. Educate children about guns. If you have little ones in your house, the NRA has a video you might want to look into. I just watched, and will have my little girl watch it soon. Here it is, Eddie Eagle - https://eddieeagle.nra.org/. I also think that there could be firearm education day in schools, particularly middle school and High school from a state trooper that comes in for a day to talk to the students about proper firearm safety. Such as, you never point a firearm at anything you don't intend to shoot, you always must be aware of where your firearm is pointing. Also, Leave the safety on, and your finger off of the trigger until you are ready to shoot. That sort of thing. Having a state trooper teach a class will lend authority to the class. That would cost money, but well worth it.  - https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2017/05/02/firearm-education-could-save-kids-lives/?utm_term=.295e85715a62

3. Mental illness and guns should not mix, but at times, they do unfortunately. If we want to prevent gun homicides and suicides that are related to mental illness, then we must protect/bolster our health care system already in place. Medicare/Medicaid/Obamacare cannot afford any cuts, and should be improved. Less healthcare = a less mentally healthy population. 

D. Conclusion.

If you think there are many middle ground solutions to gun violence/accidents, email your congressman/Senator/your representatives in the state legislature, tell them to make some common sense decisions to save lives, regarding gun safety. Feel free to use some of the ideas listed here, or just tell them to do something, anything, to help solve the gun safety problem we have in our communities, our state, our country.

P.S. 

I sent an email to my representatives in the West Virginia State Legislature: 

To the honorable Delegate Ambler,

      In 2015, 141 children in America were killed by unintentional gun discharges according to the USA today link below. This number is far too high, and I think West Virginia can do more to protect our children, while respecting the 2nd amendment.  1. We could offer state sales tax breaks for guns equipped with a trigger lock built into the gun. All things being equal, I would buy the cheaper gun. This would cost revenue, but if the trigger lock were used by the owner, it may prevent some accidental discharges. It might even save some lives. 2. I think gun safety education could be taught in schools. There is a link to the NRAs website that has a child education video that tells kids what to do if they should find a gun. Its about 8 minutes long. Maybe, this, or some other education could be taught to children to not play with guns. 

Recently, an 11 year old boy brought a loaded gun to Winfield Middle school. See the link below for more details. The lack of gun safety in our state/country is a problem, and I would like to see something done about it. I dont care what, just something, an attempt. Thank you for your time.

-Roger Vannoy

I received an interesting response from Delegate Ambler, here it is:

Mr. Vannoy,

Thank you  for sharing your concern on gun safety. I share your concern that children, and adults, are not given instructions about gun safety in and around the home. I support the 2nd amendment even though I have some reservations with recent law changes in our state. I support the attempts of various groups, such as the NRA,to make people aware of gun safety. However, without proper instruction we allow anyone to buy a firearm at age 21 and thus to have them in their households where it might be difficult to teach their children gun safety when they have had no safety taught to them. Our Department of Natural Resources is making every attempt to have hunter safety courses to be taught in our area schools and are having several degrees of success. I think the DNR is attempting to get the State Superintend of Schools to mandate hunter education to be taught in our schools yearly. As you are aware gun safety is a major component of this program. This might be one way to get the proper gun safety started. I will chat with others on this issue and we will see where this leads. Have a great day!

George Boogie Ambler

I applaud Delegate Ambler's idea on mandated hunter education in schools. I hope he can help make that happen. This solution will not solve all the gun accidents that we have today, but I believe that the number would fall, and thats the idea. To keep striving to make life better for West Virginians and all Americans. The effort is what counts.