To the Editor:
A couple of years ago, a young woman, Samantha Gray, came to Creston to speak about advocacy for human beings. Two examples from history were talked about to show the struggle needed to gain advocacy, which, by logic, should have been the right of those concerned from the beginning.
The women’s suffrage movement to gain the right to vote gained steam in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, until women over 21 finally had the right to vote in the Western Hemisphere. It took women advocating for themselves to get it done.
The 13th Amendment of 1865 abolished slavery in the United States, but in reality, discrimination persisted in the law until demonstrations by people (mostly blacks) won the day. In 1964, president Lyndon Johnson signed the bill of right and further bills in 1965 to put an end to discrimination, at least in law.
Every person of any age gives advocacy to themselves to the right of existence by the simple reality that everyone else can see that they exist. There is one group of human beings in the world, however, that cannot advocate for themselves — only one. This is because they are hidden away in the womb for a while. Most of the time, they don’t need to worry about it. But not always. So, as Samantha says, in times of danger, who will advocate for them? Ask yourselves — is it us or not? And like the old saying, if not us, then who?
Pat Doyle
Creston