Planned Parenthood: After losing funding in 2015, what does 2016 have in store for PP? By: Dixie Robinson

Birth control, wellness checkups, feminine health, STD testing, and in a very small percentage of Planned Parenthood locations, abortions, are all services that Planned Parenthood provides for people. Although Planned Parenthood has always been a controversial establishment, 2015 was the worst year for them. The House of Representatives passed a bill on September 18, 2015 that prohibits Planned Parenthood from receiving funding unless they confirm that they and their affiliates will not perform abortions for the period of one year, according to Congress.gov. This bill passed with a 241-187 vote. Many Americans celebrated the passing of this bill because they don’t believe in abortions except in rare instances. Other Americans were infuriated at the lack of education when it comes to Planned Parenthood and their services because the number of abortions performed on location are minimal and it’s the other positive services that Planned Parenthood provides that are being taken away as a consequence. Since 2016 is an election year, Planned Parenthood has been doing major campaigning  in the hope that candidates will be elected that will overturn the bill and allow funding to be reinstated. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have been forced to decide who the next Supreme Court judge will be and much of their decision is based on the issue of Planned Parenthood funding. To say this election is important, is an understatement.

According to the Huffington Post, Planned Parenthood plans to spend $30 million on campaigning people to vote for Hillary Clinton instead of Trump. They endorsed Hillary Clinton because of her commitment to female rights and the funding of Planned Parenthood while Donald Trump is pro-life and intends to have anti-abortion supreme court justices. Planned Parenthood wants as much help as they can get, but the main demographic they are targeting is women, swing voters because they usually care about reproductive rights and can go either way this election. The states that Planned Parenthood is focusing on for campaigning is Nevada, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Hampshire, Florida, and Colorado. “…Planned Parenthood’s policy agenda for 2016…will focus on equalizing access to reproductive health care, cementing the right to safe and legal abortion and making sure young people have access to quality sex education.” 

View my video here:  http://touchcast.com/laugh_it_off/16b4d14fd9

Concealed Carry on Campus: Do you feel safe at your university? By: Dixie Robinson

Growing up, everyone heard about the Columbine shooting. Although no one thought that would happen to their kids, parents starting being scared to send their children to school. That was before most of us were born so the idea of a school shooting was fleeting. In 2007, another devastating shooting happened at Virginia Tech. Most of us were pre-teens, but we were old enough to understand what happened. I remember thinking, “Wow, I’m never going to Virginia Tech for college,” as if they were now a target for school shootings. Little did I know, the mass shooting problem in America would continue to grow and affect us all. Although police brutality is nothing new, the media and social outcry has been growing tremendously within the past few years. Even more recently this year we had the mass shooting at Pulse night club in Orlando, Florida and the killing of five Dallas police officers to name a few. All of these instances of gun violence are forcing Americans to take a look at gun policy, and the split has never been greater. Not only are politicians trying to figure out gun laws within their states, but most states are also trying to figure out what to do about carrying on college campuses. Should they allow concealed carry on campus and if they do will that make more mass shootings occur, or if they ban concealed carry on campus, will it infringe on individual rights?

Legislation on gun laws in relation to college campuses really began growing in 2013. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, “In 2013, at least 19 states introduced legislation to allow concealed carry on campus in some regard and in the 2014 legislative session, at least 14 states introduced similar legislation.” Arkansas and Kansas were two of the front runners with Arkansas trying to allow faculty members to conceal carry on campus, and Kansas just trying to allow general concealed carrying. Arkansas passed their bill with the only contingency being that if a governing board expressively makes a rule against faculty carrying, then they have to abide. Kansas also passed their bill but with the contingency that if a building has taken enough security measures to keep students safe, then they can prohibit students from conceal carrying on campus. Tennessee, Georgia, and Texas are states that have also began legislation on this issue, with Texas actually passing a bill allowing concealed carry on campus starting in August of 2016. At the same time, in 2014, five states have tried to ban carrying on campus, but none were successful.

To make things easier, most states fall into three categories per the NCSL. The states that completely ban concealed carrying on college campuses include, “California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina and Wyoming.” The states that allow individual colleges to make the decision on concealed carry include, “Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.” Lastly, the states that have provisions allowing concealed carry on campus include, “Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.”

Being that Avila University is in Missouri, we don’t really have to worry about concealed carry on campus at this moment. Many people probably hope that we end up allowing concealed carry for students and faculty, and that could very well happen as times progress. It’s hard to know which decision is better because there are strong arguments on both sides. The most important thing is keeping yourself safe and adjust to the changes as they come.

View my video here: http://touchcast.com/laugh_it_off/ccc