Dear Madam or Mister President,

During this election, the topic of women has come up more than any other election. As a young woman, I am concerned with how this topic will be addressed in the future. One of the biggest issues I would like to address is the discrepancy between wages for men and women. On average, a woman is paid 80% of what her male counterpart is paid. Because I will be entering the workforce within the next four years, this issue is extremely prevalent for me. So long as a woman has the same qualifications as a man and is able to perform the same tasks, there should be no reason that they are paid less. This is particularly concerning considering that, according to the Wall Street Journal, the Trump campaign paid male workers more than female workers in the same role. On the other hand, Hillary Clinton has been a long-time supporter of closing the wage gap. Additionally, seven years ago cosponsored the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which made wage discrimination based on gender much more difficult. The discrimination of pay based on gender—or anything other than skill for that matter—should not be allowed.

Another issue regarding women is the right to abortion and where Planned Parenthood comes into that. While I am a firm believer that a woman should have the ability to choose if they have an abortion or not, I do understand that others do not share these feelings. That being said, I believe Planned Parenthood should absolutely be federally funded. Both candidates have been a bit back and forth on this issue in their pasts, yet each have taken a stance as of this past year. A reported in the Wall Street Journal, Clinton has stated that she fully supports Planned Parenthood and will continue to do so. Trump, on the other hand, has stated that he plans to cut federal funding for Planned Parenthood unless clinics stop performing abortions. This is a tricky situation particularly because Planned Parenthood’s mission is not only to perform abortions but also to educate youth on many other matters. Because of this, I highly urge our next president to continue federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

Regardless of who our next president is, I strongly encourage them to take into account the rights of women that have been worked so hard for. Women have been discussed as sexual objects more than enough times throughout the campaign, which is setting us back as a country. Women are more than that and deserve to be treated as such. This means closing the wage gap and continuing the right to make choices regarding their bodies. Whoever our next president is, please be considerate to women.

Sincerely,

Grace G.