I met with London Locke, a reader of Conservatism Today and a fellow Arizona State University student on campus yesterday, and am pleased to report that conservatism is alive and well among the younger crowd. London recently started a blog that, after less than a week's time, is already showing great promise: Trunk Report
London is a committed conservative who lives his ideals and is not afraid to discuss them. Look no further than this piece he allowed me to print here:
Recently my new family, consisting of myself and my wife, had a life defining moment. A defining moment I believe reveals a person’s true nature or beliefs. These moments also test the strength of the principles you supposedly hold dear. The nature of this story is deeply personal but I hope that sharing it will make a difference.
My wife and I have been married for just under two years. During a majority of that time we were both students at Arizona State University. When my wife graduated her school insurance was terminated with her and her birth control prescription had only a limited number of renewals before she had to see a doctor again. It didn’t seem to be a problem because my wife was to be working as a teacher and would have insurance shortly.
Unfortunately my wife’s new insurance plan was to start a month after her birth control prescription was to expire. We researched the options and realized that very few were available for use to choose from in our current financial situation.
As a new family, one that believes that welfare is fundamentally wrong if you don’t need it and one that doesn’t lie on federal aid forms when applying for grants to college, financing a doctor’s visit was a big deal. We literally were broke because we were paying for my college education, my future application to law school, and the basic survival necessities. I am sure those who struggled when they were first married or went to school understand what I am getting at. A couple hundred dollars was a huge deal for us.
A few of our friends who faced similar circumstances recommended Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood could provide a low cost doctors visit to get a renewal prescription on my wife’s birth control.
Uneasiness set in immediately regarding Planned Parenthood. Knowing they were responsible for providing abortions and their history made me very uncomfortable with the whole idea, even for just a birth control prescription. Justification also set in and I and my wife decided we were just using them for the prescription and nothing else.
The day of the appointment came and for days it was eating me alive that we were doing this. I woke up the morning and it was on my mind. The images of aborted babies kept coming to my mind’s eye. I knew my wife was walking in the doors of her appointment and I knew I had to do something about it.
I called my wife and told her how I felt and that I thought we should not use such services. She agreed and related her experience in the Planned Parenthood waiting room.
“Young girls littered the room, aging from what it looked to be 14 to 18. Some sat with their boyfriends who looked significantly older and most of them were crying. A bathroom was next to one of the doors with boys and girls shuffling in and out with their urine samples. It was a depressive place that I knew I shouldn’t have been.”
When we spoke on the phone we both agreed that it wasn’t right supporting a place that murdered innocent life. We knew that by using any of their services we were endorsing their abortion services.
This story represents a fundamental difference in the values of Americans, especially when it relates to our Presidential election. There is a clear cut difference when it comes to the defining of our values. Obama believes babies are, “a punishment”, where I am grateful to see them as a gift from God. The politics of the left are defined in the ideas of abortion, class warfare, and radical egalitarianism. I am also grateful me and my wife made a relatively small decision not to use Planned Parenthood. A decision that defines in my opinion why conservatism is so great and why it is so important that McCain win the election in November.
Abortion is not my number one issue, but I appreciate his stand for his beliefs. It takes a lot, especially as a young adult, to have the strength to stand on principles even when it may not be in your best interests at the time. I made a similar stand regarding health insurance that I may share with you when I get a chance.
Let him know here, or at Trunk Report, what you think. If you'd like to see more from London Locke at this site, let me know.
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