Letter to the Editor: County Commissioners need to refocus
Dear Editor:
Davidson County Commissioners are elected to serve ALL the people of Davidson County, not just the people they go to church with, socialize with or agree with. Their oath requires a commitment to serve ALL. To effectively govern, they must engage with the community and not make arbitrary decisions. Personal views, political views or religious views are not part of governing. Davidson County Commissioners blended their personal, religious and GOP views and passed the Heartbeat Referendum without input from the people of our county. This type of governing should be alarming to all people of Davidson County.
Commissioners take an oath of office to honor the Constitution. There is nothing in the constitution pertaining to God, Jesus or the Bible. Our country was founded on religious freedom and the separation of church and state. There are over 4,000 religions in the world. Diversity and inclusion for all must prevail in government, even in a rural area like Davidson County. Religion is a personal choice but not intended to be used in governing. To do so is unethical, biased and unacceptable. Using personal faith to govern certainly does not honor the oath of office a commissioner takes.
A debate of long duration can take place on abortion. All people have a right to practice the beliefs of their choice and freedom to do so is the very foundation of our country. Taking this right away from women establishes them as less than equal and there is nothing fair, right, or ethical about that. A heartbeat resolution takes away the right of a woman to control her own healthcare and body. Pro-choice allows all to make a decision relative to their own personal, religious and moral beliefs. Abortion is a scare tactic for eroding equality and erosion of freedoms is a very slippery slope.
The Heartbeat Resolution is a political sideshow having nothing to do with a child’s health and well-being. Science and various health care agencies across the world have clearly documented sperm and egg produce an embryo, after 8 weeks it is a fetus and remains such until birth. A heartbeat exists in 5 to 6 weeks but no lungs exist until week 37. At week 40, actual birth occurs. A heart can beat outside the body for up to 4 hours after death. That’s how the miraculous science of heart transplants take place. Think about that. The heart beats outside the body. It can beat in a petri dish. Lungs stay viable outside the body for 4 to 6 hours. Liver and kidneys can last longer. All are essential for human life. No body organ can determine life.
All religions have varying views. Since the commissioners often use the Bible as their reference point for morality let’s look at that. The bible says not to use God’s name in vain or commit adultery. It also references multiple wives, stoning and not mixing fibers of garments you wear. The Bible also mentions the “breath of life” which many people believe is the beginning of life. The point is, opinion varies. Some choose to practice Christianity but many others have different beliefs. In this county alone, I have friends who are Christian and their beliefs vary greatly. I also have Jewish Friends, Buddhist friends, Muslim and Wiccan friends. I know other people here that believe in Deism, and some that are atheist. All matter, all have opinions, beliefs and each and every one should be represented. No law should be written that one is right and all the others are wrong. Some faiths support abortion and others do not. Our country was established on the basis of separation of church and state and hasty resolutions should not be sent to Raleigh that make a statement about all people in our county. It is simply not accurate and our commissioners seem to have forgotten that. Listening to the commissioner meeting, they quickly read a resolution from another county without even changing the state legislature’s names on the petition. The county attorney had to point that out to them. Davidson County citizens deserve more than emotional copycat governing.
Now let’s get to the logistics of childbirth. A 13, or 14 year old can’t function in society as an adult, can’t drive, rent an apartment, buy a house or even get a job. The child can’t even buy some over the counter medications or attend some movies. How in the world is a CHILD expected to care for a baby she is forced to give birth to? Does a child even have the mental stability to do so? Often birth in a child has to take place by surgery because a child’s body simply isn’t sufficiently developed to give birth. The circumstances of birth matter as well. The reasons for an unwanted pregnancy can vary greatly – rape, incest, birth control failed, health of the mother, etc. All pregnancies are different and all are personal.
Adoption is the best option many people say! In NC right now we have nearly 11,000 kids needing to be adopted. Heck, if you go on the NC Department of Health and Human Services site you can literally shop the available children by age, race, and disability levels with a full bio and picture on many. Even providing the “shopping experience” isn’t working. They are still there in crisis, waiting to be adopted. So no, adoption is not a magic fix all for those that want a woman or child to be forced to give birth. Let women decide!! Look at the requirements to adopt. To qualify for adoption, there are home inspection, documentation of financial and mental health stability, background checks and age requirements. A teenage girl certainly cannot adopt but the Heartbeat Resolution would force her to give birth. This is emotional, illogical thinking, triggered by GOP political grandstanding.
Statistics clearly prove since Planned Parenthood came into existence abortion levels have declined. Why? Because they also educate, provide birth control, medical attention and counseling. Adolescent births declined more than any other category. Guess what, Christians had a lot of abortions too. In fact, they have more than non-Christians. Why? Because it’s a personal choice not a matter for public debate.
Now let’s discuss culpability. Going back to sex 101, it takes sperm from a MAN and an egg from a woman to produce a pregnancy. The GOP fails to acknowledge any male responsibility. If it was a platform of caring about a child there would be a huge uproar to immediately determine the father through DNA testing to provide financial support. Have you noticed the decline in harsh sentencing for rapist lately? Brock Turner convicted of 3 counts of sexual assault in 2015 received a 6 month sentence for the sexual assault of an unconscious woman behind a dumpster. The judge didn’t want to “ruin his life”. Recently a judge in New Jersey showed leniency toward a 16 year old rapist because he “came from a good family, thrived academically and served as an Eagle Scout”. Why do we want to punish a woman for being pregnant but not a rapist? If either of these females had become impregnated because of the rapes they would have been sentenced to giving birth to child of the rapist. That is simply illogical, cruel and misogynistic behavior. Why is there no discussion of male responsibility? A mandatory vasectomy for males makes as much sense as a forced pregnancy for a female. Women are not chattel.
It is obvious, women’s rights are under attack. It has only been in my mother’s lifetime that a woman could vote. It was even later in many states, especially for a black woman. Women could not establish credit and purchase homes or even get a credit card until the 1970’s. Sexual harassment was a mammoth problem for women until the 70’s and 80’s. Being a woman had a lot of challenges. Women still don’t receive equal pay for doing the same work as a man. Equity is not something to play with and women in the USA are not going to step back 50 years into a time of oppression.
All women who do not believe in abortion should never have one and not experience any shame, ridicule or harassment for their beliefs. They should be supported by society and allowed to follow their convictions to proceed as they wish. However, so should women who CHOOSE a different path. It’s personal. The Davidson County Commissioners need to get out of their pulpit and look back at their oath of office. They serve all people, not just those that view the world like they do.
Our County Commissioners say they passed the Heartbeat Resolution because they care about the life of a child. County Commissioners would do well to look at important things regarding children already in existence in this county. The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners indicates only 50% of students in Davidson County enroll in post-secondary education. Do you hear them talking about how to improve that? So do we have a resolution to change it? Our population is composed of 22% of those under 18 and disconnected youth (those not in school or working) compose 7% of our population. I would love to hear some ideas from our commissioners on helping these young people. Perhaps they need to think of WHY opioid use starts in this county. Over 23% of the children in our county live in poverty. Food insecurity is a problem for 15%. These are things the commissioners could work on with young people already in our county.
Have you heard any Commissioners pushing Erin’s Law in our area? This law is a huge tool in the fight against human trafficking and sexual abuse. It would require all public schools to implement a prevention-oriented child sexual abuse program. Even though 37 states have passed it, NC is lagging behind. Davidson County (thankfully) has a state of the art Children’s Advocacy Center to help abused children. Over 25%of girls and 17% of boys are sexually molested. Would it not make sense to teach children how to recognize predators at a young age? Commissioners could spend more time on prevention of child abuse instead of bringing unwanted children into the world.
Diversity and Inclusion training seems to be a low priority to the commissioners. I once asked them about their willingness to engage in education and training to be better versed on handling contentious situations but was told they didn’t need any more training. I was also told we did not have any problem with racism in this county. Many counties such as Buncombe, New Hanover, Chatham and Cumberland along with several others have implemented a diversity and inclusion person or department. Now THAT is something I wish Davidson County would copycat.
Meanwhile, County Commissioners are to represent ALL people of Davidson County. Pro-choice allows all to follow their personal convictions and protects the constitutional rights of women. A Heartbeat Resolution sent to Raleigh in 5 minutes is deplorable governing and certainly does NOT represent all of Davidson County. We deserve better governing.
Here is our petition:
By Wanda Cox
