I admit it: I have never voted in an election. I’m ashamed to say so, but it’s the truth. It’s not that I’m an anti-American cynic or an anarchist bent on sabotaging our system of government. I’m merely a recent college graduate, attempting to transition from grungy student to polished professional. Right now my main priority is weaseling my way into the advertising industry while maintaining something close to the social life I had in college. Political involvement isn’t exactly at the top of my To Do list.
I’m not the only young person who encounters a political issue and thinks, “I’ll do it later.” We figure we’ll worry about government policies when we’re older, when we have families and finances to worry about. That’s how I felt, anyways, until Tell Them opened my eyes.
The day I was introduced to Tell Them, I was shocked by the facts: Three out of 10 young women will become pregnant at least once before the age of 20; births to young mothers cost South Carolina taxpayers $156 million annually; only 27 states mandate full insurance coverage of FDA-approved birth control. I had no idea things were so bad. Then I learned about a small minority voicing loud support on banning things like birth control and comprehensive sex education. That’s when I realized: I need to get involved now, because later will be too late.
Men don’t often worry about these policies. But we, women of all ages, care about birth control; we are concerned with protecting our younger counterparts from teen pregnancy; we cherish the freedom of family planning. So it’s up to us, the women of South Carolina, to change reproductive health policy.
Making our involvement even more crucial is the fact that women are embarrassingly underrepresented in our legislature. There are actually ZERO women in our Senate (ouch) and South Carolina is ranked 50th in the nation for women in office. To compensate for the gender imbalance in our government, we must be a strong female voice and bring these issues to the attentions of our male legislators. These men need to know the majority of South Carolinians support comprehensive reproductive health policies.
Many young women are like me. We pay little attention to the political landscape. We simply don’t realize how significantly government policies affect us–and how easily we can affect government policies. But the Virtual March has the potential to change things. (It’s already changed me–I’m going to vote this year.) I now realize the greater number of women we engage in the issues, the more female voices we’ll have influencing–and authoring–our policies.
It’s time to get some estrogen in the state house. March with me on March 23.
Tags: Columbia, Political Engagement, Reproductive Health, Sammy Rutlowski, Sexual Health, Unintended Pregnancy, Virtual March, Youth
