Tag: Governor Jerry Brown

  • My Life, My Death, My Choice

    My Life, My Death, My Choice

    When I was five, my grandpa was in the hospital with diabetes and many other illnesses.

    His last few months were torture. I remember my mother saying that if he could speak, he would want the plug pulled to end his agony.

    I believe my mother hurt more watching him go through that pain than she did the day he was  gone. This is why the Death with Dignity Act in California was made, so that people and their families will not have to suffer like mine did. The act was passed on Monday, October 6, 2015.

    It is a controversial bill that allows self-euthanasia for terminally ill patients with six months to live.

    Patients can only do this if they are sure they want to end their lives. It requires patients to take the medication themselves; under the law, other people cannot administer the medicine.

    The patient must sign papers and have two doctors sign off on the decision with two witnesses present, one of whom must be not be related to the patient.

    I am not against this act, but I would honestly never use this act on myself, no matter the circumstances.

    Most who oppose this are religious and see assisted suicide as an intervention in God’s plan.

    The ones who side with me are typically nonreligious, and support the right to die. At the end of the day, it is the patient’s choice to live through the pain or end it.

  • Alabama Falls Behind California in Voting Rights

    California

    On Saturday, October 10, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law The Motor Voter Act, a bill that automatically registers to vote any person on the day he receives or renews his driver’s license.

    The Motor Voter Act, sponsored by Secretary of State Alex Padilla, will hopefully reverse the record-low voter turnout from last November, which was a shocking forty-two percent.

    Before this act, only fifty-two percent of eligible voters ages 18 to 24 were registered to vote, an embarrassing statistic in a country where people died for the right to vote only fifty years ago.

    California is still behind Oregon, who now registers every person to vote on his/her eighteenth birthday.

    Padilla says about his measure, “Citizens should not be required to opt into their fundamental right to vote. We do not have to opt into other rights such as free speech or due process.”

    Alabama

    Alabama, on the other hand, is slipping back into the 1950s, a time when many were often barred from the polls by unjust, discriminatory laws.

    Alabama has closed 31 driver’s license offices, almost all in areas with large minority and poor populations.

    In Alabama, one is required to provide a federal- or state-issued ID when voting, and a driver’s license is the most common form used by voters.

    Residents will experience difficulty obtaining and renewing driver’s licenses, meaning these people will be unable to provide a valid ID when voting.

    Presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said about the law, “50 years after Rosa Parks sat and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. marched and John Lewis bled, it is hard to believe we are back having this same debate about whether or not every American gets a chance to vote and exercise his rights.”