In October, Texas announced that they would stop funding any care for poor women at Planned Parenthood clinics after the release of a series of videos showing Planned Parenthood staff discussing about fetal tissue sales and price negotiations after abortion procedures, and Planned Parenthood sues Texas over plans to cut off Medicaid funding.

 I strongly disagree with the idea of Texas state's decision.

 First of all, Planned Parenthood offers not only cancer screenings for underprivileged women but also family planning services. I believe that many women at Planned Parenthood clinics could identify abnormal growth and prevent it from developing into cancer. If the state cuts off Medicaid funding, thousands of other women could lose access to similar services, such as pregnancy tests, contraception and cancer screenings.

 Also, state officials argue that they cannot support illegal abortion practices and handling of fetal tissues. However, only a few Planned Parenthood clinics provide abortions, and the proportion of abortion cases isonly 3.0 percent, which means 97 percent of their services are for family planning services and cancer screenings for poor women.

 I think that Texas state should not cut off Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood. In my opinion, it does not make sense to cut off those services for poor women just because of a small minority of the cases which are not even clear if they were illegal or not. On top of that, I believe that it would cause more problems related to STDs, STIs or cancers if those women have no access to screen diseases.

Commentary on Bluebonnet Politics' editorial published in Stage Five

 Personally, I think there is no point to increase funding toward improving bus stops if there are not many people who are actually using them. Also, I do not think Austin’s public transportation is that bad. I lived in Los Angeles and New York, and even though I had a car, I used public transportation in all three cities when I think it was more convenient. 

 I actually prefer to use Austin’s public transportation. It is true that we have just a few seats at the bus stops, but I think that is better than we have plenty of places to seat which cannot be controlled, full of trash or homeless people, just like other big cities. Moreover, if you only use public transportation, you would check arrival times on the Metro app. To do so, you do not need to wait for a long time. They do not arrive always on time, but they do not ridiculously late as well.

 Thus, I think the government should increase funding towards something else, not improving bus stops unless the majority of people in Austin are dependent on public transportation. 

No Guns on Campus.

 Senate Bill 11 provides that license holders may carry a concealed handgun throughout university campuses, starting Aug 1, 2016. Even though many students, staff, alumni and parents oppose guns in the classrooms, offices, dormitories and on UT campus, Texas legislators sponsored this law, and finally Texas legislation allowed license holders to carry concealed firearms on campus, in dormitories or other residential facilities.

 I strongly disagree with this idea that more guns make us safer. Also, I do not think that concealed handgun licenses have had any impact on crime rates.

 First of all, the presence of firearms will lead to an increase in accidental shootings. There are many cases being reported where students shoot people in their access, and in many cases end their own lives. Moreover, studies show that over half of college students contemplate committing suicide, and I think that the presence of firearms has a close relation to the chance of suicide by firearms.

 On top of that, guns disrupt the academic atmosphere of a university. If you are sitting in a class knowing that your classmates or your professor might be armed, that must alter the environment. In the same way, for professors and teaching assistants, lecturing in front of hundreds of students knowing that some of them are potentially armed encroaches upon the atmosphere of the classroom.

 I believe that college students and professors should not have to deal with guns on campus, and Texas legislation should not allow people to carry firearms on campus.