Election season is somewhat like a holiday for me, a long and visceral one, but a holiday nonetheless. I know not everyone feels this way between the hateful ads, the constant debates, and the loops on the news. Most people want it to be over and I can 100% understand that.
With all of the noise, it can be challenging to compartmentalize what is on the ballot and why it should be important. That is why I am here to assist you in giving you a quick overview of the issues on the ballot that affect moms, no matter what side of the fence you are on.
Paid Family Leave
The United States is one of just a small handful of countries that don’t provide federally mandated paid time off for new mothers. This is important because if you are planning on having children, or having more children you don’t want to stress about money. The US needs a system in place where mothers can take care of their children without worrying if they can keep the lights on. This is one of the top issues for both sides, therefore, determine which side speaks more to your family and their needs.
Maternal Health
As moms, we know that childbirth is challenging. It can be made even more challenging by limited access to healthcare and limited access to health insurance. This issue must be addressed. Each candidate has different approaches to this issue, however, vote with your conscience and vote for the candidate who finds it abhorrent that more women are dying giving birth.
Race Relations/Social Unrest
This summer in the middle of the pandemic, we were also dealing with social unrest due to race relations. Yes I know we were all thinking “is this happening in 2020.” The answer is yes and because of this, it has made us more tribal and more divided. I will say this, as a mother of a black son this issue has become more close to my heart than usual. Remember when George Floyd called out for his mom, we all felt that, keep the same feeling at the ballot box.
Safely Reopening follow the Pandemic
We all thought that this pandemic would be over by now and as cases spike, we don’t see an end in sight. However, this is not the time to feel hopeless. We have to think of what our life looks like once the smoke clears. Also, which candidate do you trust to safely reopen the country with us in mind? Who do we trust to ensure our senior citizens are safe and our children are safe in class? Who can recover our economy so that everyone can get back to work again? This will be a long and winding process we need someone trusted to get us through it.
At this point, we have early voted and people have chosen their candidate. My prayer is that we vote in our interest and in the ballot box we can quiet the noise. The goal is simple, we want to be valued, safe, and protected. These ideals are what democracy is all about, those ideals are on the ballot. Happy Voting.
