Aside from the important question of why so many don’t vote and, in turn, hand over the decision-making – their very destiny – to the many others who do vote (but often don’t have everyone’s best interests in mind), the more critical question may be, “Is there anything we can do about it?”.

During the early 1930s, Joseph Stalin was consolidating his power in the Communist Party and purging anyone that criticized him. He called them “enemies of the people” (that sounds familiar) and arrested them. During the peak of these purges, over seven million Soviet citizens were arrested, and millions more died in prison camps (or gulags).

On Nov. 3, Louisianans will vote on this amendment to the Louisiana Constitution to ban abortions and government funding. Pro-choice people have gone to the extent of keeping the Shreveport abortion clinic open, disregarding the non-essential business proclamation.

Shreveport is at a crossroads. We have great potential, but we also have our fair share of challenges. We have to decide whether we want a better future, or whether we want our problems to continue to pile up and become even more difficult to solve. These are the stakes when Shreveport citizens head to the polls on Nov.