Monthly Archives: February, 2018

Posted: February 8th, 2018

Author: Isabella Litwack, MPH(c) Community Health Sciences, Maternal and Child Health

When I turned 18 years old, I did not vote in the 2012 election. This crucial birthday fell when I was in the middle of my senior year of high school. My true belief at the time was that voting was a useless waste of my time, and my singular vote could never possibly fix a system that was so terribly broken. As I write this as an almost 23-year-old, I know that this attitude came from a place of privilege. I was thinking from the standpoint of someone who grew up white, upper-middle class, educated, healthy, and soon going off to college with no loans taken out. Maybe I felt like I didn’t need to vote because I was living in a system that was actually somewhat working for me. It wasn’t until I was in the middle of my college career, when feminism and activism became a major part of my life, that I realized my previous views about politics and voting were misguided. Although I had begun to recognize my privilege, I also was learning exactly what being a woman in America, specifically in Indiana, meant. I began reading books about feminism, culture, and health, and a cord within me struck. Then, Trump became President and I realized how much of a difference all of those singular votes could have made, especially after realizing that about 100 million people did not vote at all (Ingraham, 2016). After the election, I knew I had to be an advocate for reproductive justice, the physical, mental, political, social, and economic well-being of women and girls, and I knew exactly where I was going to do it.

Planned Parenthood (PP) is probably my grandmother’s favorite organization in the world. My entire family supports PP proudly, and I could not wait to see how I could help (little did I know how much PP would get me politically involved). When I came to Chicago, I joined a Planned Parenthood group on campus, and became a Planned Parenthood Illinois Action (PPIA) volunteer. On January 24, I volunteered for their Roe v Wade anniversary fundraiser, where the theme was “Act. Vote. Win!”. The event featured political leaders, state representatives, aldermen, and people who hope to take a local office in the upcoming Illinois elections. One of PPIA’s main focus points of the year is to encourage people in Illinois to vote, specifically for someone who has PPIA’s stamp of approval. They showed a video of the women’s march, and other events that happened in 2017, and inspired the crowd to make their way to the poles in 2018. Trump’s election made me truly realize how important it is to vote, but this event solidified that belief even more. That election also showed me the importance of voting beyond presidential elections, such as congressional /and local elections as well. Policies that shape and determine women’s health vary vastly from state to state and it is critical that folks show up to the polls and vote for candidates that will protect women’s right and women’s health. If every young person believes what I used to believe, that their vote couldn’t possibly change anything, then we are losing a significant number of votes from people who could make an impact on any election. If people vote for what they believe in, they can be active participants in their communities, and see the changes that they feel are important to them.

References:
Ingraham, C. (2016). About 100 million people couldn’t be bothered to vote this year. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/11/12/about-100-million-people-couldnt-be-bothered-to-vote-this-year/?utm_term=.b734b3a9acfc