Yes on One. No on One. We’ve all seen the commercials and the signs over the past month. I will go ahead and tell you how I voted so you’ll know where I’m going.
I voted Yes on Amendment One concerning abortion. I am in no means for abortion, but I am for stricter laws on abortion. We saw the results of the race come in Tuesday, and Yes on One took an early but close lead and passed in the state of Tennessee.
I watched all the coverage of the vote totals Tuesday night and searched the “yeson1tn” hashtag on Twitter. It was exciting to watch as the votes were close for Yes on One and thrilling when it passed.
Tennessee should be known for many things such as country music, being the home of Elvis Presley, the Smoky Mountains and the culture, but it shouldn’t be known as the state of unregulated abortion. Tennessee is a destination state for abortions in the southeast, and I don’t like it.
Right now, there aren’t any strict laws on abortion clinics in Tennessee, and women from all eight neighboring states are coming here to have abortions because of the strict laws in their own states. It’s a terrible situation. Tennessee ranks third in the country in out-of-state abortions. Yes on One will allow the legislature to pass abortion regulations to make the procedure safer.
Some argue that regulations won’t make it safer, but only allow legislature to be in a woman’s business concerning her own body. I disagree. It’s not taking away a woman’s supposed right to an abortion, but making sure it will be a safe procedure for the women choosing to abort.
Abortion clinics currently are not licensed by the state, so they are not inspected. Would you really want such a personal procedure as an abortion performed somewhere that isn’t inspected? People are disturbed when a restaurant fails a health inspection, but those who voted No on Amendment One don’t think it’s a problem for them not to be inspected. Even a nail salon in Tennessee is inspected.
That’s just sad to me.
I think it is terrible that women have no protection from the state and no guarantee that the place they are entering for their abortion is safe, clean, staffed by qualified people and prepared to handle an emergency.
Also, with the amendment passing, Amendment One supporters hope to reinstate the 48-hour waiting period. This means women seeking an abortion will have to wait 48 hours before going through with the abortion.
I am completely in favor of the waiting period. This way there will be no quick decisions concerning abortion, and women will have to consider if they really want to go through with it.
In my opinion, Amendment One passing this election year was the biggest accomplishment of the entire election.
