Last summer the supreme court overturned Roe v. Wade after 50 years. This landmark court case protected a woman’s right to an abortion. Since this court case has been overturned, Conservative states like Ohio have passed six-week abortion bans.
Most polling indicates that these bans are extremely unpopular. The Scribe polled Westerville South students not only on the issue of abortion, but a range of other political hot-button issues.
With the November election coming up, The Scribe looks at what politicians are deciding with current legislation to what students’ viewpoints are on these same topics. The poll asked students to also identify themselves with a political party, with 51% identifying themselves as Democratic, 36% Independent and 13% Republican.
When it comes to the issue of abortion, 83% of respondents identified themselves as pro-choice. On Nov. 7, 2023, Ohio voters will vote on Issue 1. If Issue 1 passes, it will void Ohio’s ban on six-week abortions and return the precedent of Roe v. Wade in Ohio. Issue 1 also protects contraception from being restricted.
On the campaign trail, both sides are actively campaigning for their stance on Issue 1. Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) in an interview with 10TV news said, “That right, that freedom should be with me, and my doctor and my family.”
On the No side, Ohio Right To Life president Mike Gonidakis in the same interview with 10TV news said, “The pro-life and the pro-chorice community need to come together and find a moderate solution because Issue 1 goes too far.”
Senior Nibiha Ilkaqor said, “The issue of abortion is important to me because decisions circulating on abortion will affect not only the women I know, but for generations to come as well.”
Current polling data suggests that 58% of Ohioans approve of Issue 1.
The Biden administration recently announced that it will waive 26 federal environmental regulations to construct a part of the border wall in Texas. This is after Biden pledged in 2020 on the campaign trail that he would stop construction of the wall and would not expand it.
The Scribe poll found that 86% of students do not support the construction of the border wall. In an article with the Associated Press, Alejandro Mayorkas, the DHS secretary stated, “There is presently an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States in order to prevent unlawful entries into the United States in the project areas.”
This is a radical shift from where the administration was at the beginning of President Biden’s term. Sophomore Abigail James-Weima said that immigration is the most important issue for her. “A lot of my family members are immigrants and the issues surrounding that could impact them if they try to leave or come to the United States,” James-Weima said.
In 2019, then President Trump and the Republican congress passed partial funding for the wall. Money allocated to the wall must be spent on the wall within a certain amount of time, forcing the current administration’s hand.
Another major political issue that Westerville South students identified was education. According to the poll, 25% of students said education was the issue impacting them the most. On the Nov. 7 election, school board candidates are on the ballot.
In districts across the country, book bans have increased. States like Florida have reviewed their curriculum to remove topics that they determine are not appropriate for the classroom. A group that is known for their book bans and traditionalism “Moms for Liberty” has endorsed hundreds of candidates across the county, running on the slogan “#educationbacktothebasics”.
Emliy Hoelscher, a senior, is concerned by these book bans and changes to school curriculums across the country. “I don’t want other parents choosing what I can and can’t learn in the classroom, that decision is between my family and me,” Hoelscher stated.
In Ohio, Gov. DeWine and the state legislature passed a series of bills that would overhaul the Ohio Department of Education. One major piece of the overhaul is the Ohio Department of Education would be overseen by the governor’s office, instead of the independent state school board. The overhaul was supposed to take effect Tuesday, Oct. 24, but the overhaul has been placed on hold by a Franklin county judge, according to the Associated Press.
In the Scribe poll, 3 out of 4 students said they would support President Joe Biden in a rematch with former President Donald Trump. However, when presented with the option of “Someone else,” 65% do not want Biden or Trump. With Gen-Z becoming a bigger voting block in the 2024 election, they will continue to have a larger voice, which could end up deciding who lives in the White House for the next four years.
As of Nov, 7 2023 Issues one passed with 56% of the vote. On Thursday Dec, 7th 2023 a woman’s right to an abortion will be enshrined into Ohio’s constitution.
