Women all across the United States need to vote this November or forever hold their peace.
There is much at stake for women in the 2012 election; that is why it is all the more important for ladies everywhere to speak out.  

In 2008, there was a high number of young voters. De Anza faculty member Jennifer Myhre said that, this time the ladies decide who they want handling the decisions as to how their lives should be.  

So Gov. Mitt Romney or President Barack Obama?  

Granted, Obama has not done all he said he was going to do when he ran in 2008, but he had to pick up a trillon shattered pieces that former president, George W. Bush left lying.  

However on woman’s rights, though neither Obama nor Romney has directly addressed women themselves yet, Democrats generally have the support of the females.  

Republicans are conservatives and a big part of conservative thought is to be “generally against social services and government helping out people in need,” said Cynthia Kaufman, De Anza faculty and director of the Institute of Civic and Community Engagement.

One fine example of a Republican’s unwillingness to help would be Missouri’s Todd Akin, who stated in an article in the Huffington Post that women who were rape victims “rarely” became pregnant.  

Whether that was the thinking of one Republican or all of them, the backlash of that statement was something the GOP had coming; Democrats certainly had a field day with that remark.  

Abortion is a never-ending battle. The straight facts are if Obama gets re-elected, women keep control over their bodies, but if Romney is elected, there is a high chance of a repeal of Roe vs. Wade, the case that legalized abortion.  
It’s no secret that Republicans want to illegalize abortion, although why they think they have the right to make that decision for a woman goes unanswered.

And although Romney has tried to keep a soft voice when it comes to abortion issues, his running mate, Paul Ryan, has made his views crystal clear.

Ryan collaborated with Rep. Akin to explain what “legitimate” rape means.

Outside of abortion, there are other issues affecting women as well, like equal pay. Women only get paid 77 cents of a man’s dollar.

On a conference call held by Gov. Romney’s advisers in April, “Sam, we’ll get back to you on that,” was the answer given to Huffington Post reporter, Sam Stein, when he asked if Gov.Romney supported the Lilly Ledbetter Act. An act that guarantees equal rights to women.

Rachel Baltazar, a founder of the De Anza club Women Empowerment, spoke the words of many women:

“I want to make sure I get paid, as equally as someone else. I want to make sure I have a choice when it comes to my body.”

Because this may be a life -changing election for many women, it is important for every woman to speak out and make her voice heard.  

Every vote matters. Women have come too far to let the wrong pair of men decide the fate of thousands.