Alan Schaefer
English 103
6 December 2007
Abortion: The Choice of Life or Death
Abortion has long been a sensitive subject for a number of years. It is a very controversial topic among many politicians today. United States citizens want to know each person’s feelings toward abortion which is sometimes the deciding factor come election time. There are several sides and angles from which one can approach this subject but the reason for why we shouldn’t
English 103
6 December 2007
Abortion: The Choice of Life or Death
Abortion has long been a sensitive subject for a number of years. It is a very controversial topic among many politicians today. United States citizens want to know each person’s feelings toward abortion which is sometimes the deciding factor come election time. There are several sides and angles from which one can approach this subject but the reason for why we shouldn’t
support abortion is my main focus.
There are several interesting facts pertaining to abortion. Worldwide there are 46 million abortions per year and 126,000 abortions per day. The U.S. accounts for 1.37 million a year and about 3,700 per day. More than half of the women receiving abortions are all under the age of 25 years. Worldwide it comes out to be about one abortion per one woman in a lifetime. Even though the majority of abortions are taking place in undeveloped countries, 1.37 million abortions a year is nothing to be boasting about (abortion facts).
Almost all pro-choice believers accept the idea that life begins when the fetus is outside the mother’s body or in others words when the child is born. As soon as conception takes place the life of a new child begins and the fetus begins to form. A fetus is indeed an innocent person which is turn results with abortion representing the killing of innocent persons. There is no way to determine that a fetus is not a person. A quote from Paula Sutcliffe in “Precious in my Sight” “Pro-Life Feminism: Different Voice,” states:
I found much distress in the clinic, but it involved not only the women. I saw the pain of the babies who were born burned from the saline solution used for late-term abortions. I saw the bits of feet, bits of hands, the mangled heads and bodies of the little people. I saw pain and felt pain. (Abortion facts)
The act of killing is irreversible. Once the fetus has passed there is no bringing it back later. For someone to decide to kill an innocent fetus there should be extremely valid reasons for having it done. Fetuses when inside the womb have working organs nerves just like the rest of us. It is false to say that a fetus is not an actual living person because they have a heartbeat as well. When the baby is born they don’t just all of a sudden become a living organism at the drop of a hat. The fetus was alive in its mother’s body from conception until birth. My point is that the fetus not being a person is a very weak standpoint because who’s to prove that a fetus is not a real person.
One of the greatest tragedies is the fact that there is no telling what an aborted child would have become in their lifetime. When the fetus’s future is removed, our world loses the potential of another young person. No one knows when the next U.S. president or U.S. soldier will be aborted. The sad thing to say is that we know it has probably happened. Gwendolyn Brooks, U.S. poet shares an interesting point, “Abortions will not let you forget. You remember the children you got that you did not get.” (Abortion facts) This quote speaks loudly on the fact that aborted children truly are a great loss to our society.
Another important point to bring up is women that are rape victims and want to receive an abortion because of an unwanted pregnancy. Most of time women who become rape victims put themselves in very harmful and dangerous environments which would increase their chance of becoming sexually assaulted. These instances can easily be avoided by staying away form these particularly unstable situations. A mere 1% of all abortions are because of rape or incest and 93% are because the child is unwanted or inconvenient (abortion facts). It appears that the majority of abortions are coming from those who simply just don’t want to put up with the raising of a child because it will alter their social lifestyle.
Not only is abortion fatal to the fetus but it is also very harmful to the mother’s
Body. Dr. Elizabeth Shadigan pronounced before a senate subcommittee that:
Abortion increases the rates of breast cancer, placenta previa, pre-term births, and maternal suicide…Statistically, all types of death are higher with women who have had induced abortions. (Alcorn 130)
Abortions also increase the malformations of later children and the frequency of early deaths of infants nearly four times the normal rate. Dr. Joel Brind, professor of Endocrinology at City University of New York states:
The single most avoidable risk factor for breast cancer is induced abortion. A woman who has an abortion increases her risk of breast cancer by a minimum of 50 percent and as much as 300 percent. (Alcorn 130)
Post-abortion specialist David Reardon writes:
In a study of post-abortion patients only 8 weeks after their abortion, researchers found that 44% complained of nervous disorders, 36% had experienced sleep disturbances, 31% had regrets about their decision, and 11% had been prescribed psychotropic medicine by their family doctor. (Alcorn 131)
An excerpt from the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology states:
Consider the mother who hemorrhaged, was transfused, got hepatitis, and died months later. Official cause of death? Hepatitis. Actual cause? Abortion. A perforated uterus leads to pelvic abscess, sepsis (blood poisoning), and death. The official report of the cause of death may list pelvic abscess and septicemia. Abortion will not be listed. Abortion causes tubal pathology. She has an ectopic pregnancy years later and dies. The cause listed will be ectopic pregnancy. The actual cause? Abortion. (Alcorn 132)
There is no doubt that abortion does not stop at the death of an innocent child but can cause serious health risks later on down the road. In other words abortion can cause more than the loss of just one life. Those women who consider having an abortion should be aware of all the risks involved and that the chance of safely having a baby in the future is very slim.
Citizens of South Dakota are working hard to ban abortion from their state completely. While it won’t happen overnight, they are trying hard to rid themselves from the procedure that is killing their future (“Next Step: Scrapping Roe” D05). Canada is performing a practice of having all abortions done in the early periods of gestation in which 90% are performed by 12 weeks and 98% are done by 16 weeks (“Rights, Wrongs and Abortion” A21). It doesn’t matter if the abortion takes place by 12 weeks or 16 weeks, killing an innocent person means what it says. That fetus was just as alive and innocent at 12 weeks as 16 weeks. The U.S. Science and Technology committee is working hard to get abortions for women who want them. The committee is attempting to waive off the requirement of having to get two doctor’s signatures for the procedure and to make it legal for nurses as well as doctors to perform abortions within the first three months of pregnancy (5). It is a mystery to me as to why the U.S. Science and Technology Committee are so eager to hand out abortions to all mothers who are interested. Not only that but the committee is working on making the ability for women to get an abortion easier and easier.
There are a small percentage of women who obtain abortions because of the fact that they were rape victims. Despite the surroundings of these victims at the time, there are those innocent individuals who suffered a very unfortunate event. The chance that these women could become pregnant results in a pregnancy that was not planned and the mother would not want to follow through with the birth of that child. The majority of mothers would not want to carry through raising the child of a rapist. An abortion under these circumstances would be an understanding for the betterment of that woman’s life.
No one truly knows if the impact of an aborted child would have been a positive or negative one. In reality, there is an equal probability that the child would have become a productive or corrupt figure in society. They could be future fathers, mothers, and business mothers just as easily as turning out to be criminals and rapists. No one is really to say exactly the outcome of each situation. All we do know is that a child lost its future regardless of what it had in store. In the end a life was lost which is a horrible tragedy in itself.
There are many specific arguments as to why abortion is right or wrong. There is always a common ground to be found within arguments just like that with abortion. Not every aspect of the argument can find that spot in the middle but there are those that can. It is imperative that mediation takes place for instances like this one. It is very important when both sides of the argument are very extreme ones. Everyday two sides of a particular belief come together to compromise and find that common understanding.
Works Cited
Baird, Robert M. The Ethics of Abortion: Pro-Life Vs. Pro-Choice. Prometheus Books
There are several interesting facts pertaining to abortion. Worldwide there are 46 million abortions per year and 126,000 abortions per day. The U.S. accounts for 1.37 million a year and about 3,700 per day. More than half of the women receiving abortions are all under the age of 25 years. Worldwide it comes out to be about one abortion per one woman in a lifetime. Even though the majority of abortions are taking place in undeveloped countries, 1.37 million abortions a year is nothing to be boasting about (abortion facts).
Almost all pro-choice believers accept the idea that life begins when the fetus is outside the mother’s body or in others words when the child is born. As soon as conception takes place the life of a new child begins and the fetus begins to form. A fetus is indeed an innocent person which is turn results with abortion representing the killing of innocent persons. There is no way to determine that a fetus is not a person. A quote from Paula Sutcliffe in “Precious in my Sight” “Pro-Life Feminism: Different Voice,” states:
I found much distress in the clinic, but it involved not only the women. I saw the pain of the babies who were born burned from the saline solution used for late-term abortions. I saw the bits of feet, bits of hands, the mangled heads and bodies of the little people. I saw pain and felt pain. (Abortion facts)
The act of killing is irreversible. Once the fetus has passed there is no bringing it back later. For someone to decide to kill an innocent fetus there should be extremely valid reasons for having it done. Fetuses when inside the womb have working organs nerves just like the rest of us. It is false to say that a fetus is not an actual living person because they have a heartbeat as well. When the baby is born they don’t just all of a sudden become a living organism at the drop of a hat. The fetus was alive in its mother’s body from conception until birth. My point is that the fetus not being a person is a very weak standpoint because who’s to prove that a fetus is not a real person.
One of the greatest tragedies is the fact that there is no telling what an aborted child would have become in their lifetime. When the fetus’s future is removed, our world loses the potential of another young person. No one knows when the next U.S. president or U.S. soldier will be aborted. The sad thing to say is that we know it has probably happened. Gwendolyn Brooks, U.S. poet shares an interesting point, “Abortions will not let you forget. You remember the children you got that you did not get.” (Abortion facts) This quote speaks loudly on the fact that aborted children truly are a great loss to our society.
Another important point to bring up is women that are rape victims and want to receive an abortion because of an unwanted pregnancy. Most of time women who become rape victims put themselves in very harmful and dangerous environments which would increase their chance of becoming sexually assaulted. These instances can easily be avoided by staying away form these particularly unstable situations. A mere 1% of all abortions are because of rape or incest and 93% are because the child is unwanted or inconvenient (abortion facts). It appears that the majority of abortions are coming from those who simply just don’t want to put up with the raising of a child because it will alter their social lifestyle.
Not only is abortion fatal to the fetus but it is also very harmful to the mother’s
Body. Dr. Elizabeth Shadigan pronounced before a senate subcommittee that:
Abortion increases the rates of breast cancer, placenta previa, pre-term births, and maternal suicide…Statistically, all types of death are higher with women who have had induced abortions. (Alcorn 130)
Abortions also increase the malformations of later children and the frequency of early deaths of infants nearly four times the normal rate. Dr. Joel Brind, professor of Endocrinology at City University of New York states:
The single most avoidable risk factor for breast cancer is induced abortion. A woman who has an abortion increases her risk of breast cancer by a minimum of 50 percent and as much as 300 percent. (Alcorn 130)
Post-abortion specialist David Reardon writes:
In a study of post-abortion patients only 8 weeks after their abortion, researchers found that 44% complained of nervous disorders, 36% had experienced sleep disturbances, 31% had regrets about their decision, and 11% had been prescribed psychotropic medicine by their family doctor. (Alcorn 131)
An excerpt from the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology states:
Consider the mother who hemorrhaged, was transfused, got hepatitis, and died months later. Official cause of death? Hepatitis. Actual cause? Abortion. A perforated uterus leads to pelvic abscess, sepsis (blood poisoning), and death. The official report of the cause of death may list pelvic abscess and septicemia. Abortion will not be listed. Abortion causes tubal pathology. She has an ectopic pregnancy years later and dies. The cause listed will be ectopic pregnancy. The actual cause? Abortion. (Alcorn 132)
There is no doubt that abortion does not stop at the death of an innocent child but can cause serious health risks later on down the road. In other words abortion can cause more than the loss of just one life. Those women who consider having an abortion should be aware of all the risks involved and that the chance of safely having a baby in the future is very slim.
Citizens of South Dakota are working hard to ban abortion from their state completely. While it won’t happen overnight, they are trying hard to rid themselves from the procedure that is killing their future (“Next Step: Scrapping Roe” D05). Canada is performing a practice of having all abortions done in the early periods of gestation in which 90% are performed by 12 weeks and 98% are done by 16 weeks (“Rights, Wrongs and Abortion” A21). It doesn’t matter if the abortion takes place by 12 weeks or 16 weeks, killing an innocent person means what it says. That fetus was just as alive and innocent at 12 weeks as 16 weeks. The U.S. Science and Technology committee is working hard to get abortions for women who want them. The committee is attempting to waive off the requirement of having to get two doctor’s signatures for the procedure and to make it legal for nurses as well as doctors to perform abortions within the first three months of pregnancy (5). It is a mystery to me as to why the U.S. Science and Technology Committee are so eager to hand out abortions to all mothers who are interested. Not only that but the committee is working on making the ability for women to get an abortion easier and easier.
There are a small percentage of women who obtain abortions because of the fact that they were rape victims. Despite the surroundings of these victims at the time, there are those innocent individuals who suffered a very unfortunate event. The chance that these women could become pregnant results in a pregnancy that was not planned and the mother would not want to follow through with the birth of that child. The majority of mothers would not want to carry through raising the child of a rapist. An abortion under these circumstances would be an understanding for the betterment of that woman’s life.
No one truly knows if the impact of an aborted child would have been a positive or negative one. In reality, there is an equal probability that the child would have become a productive or corrupt figure in society. They could be future fathers, mothers, and business mothers just as easily as turning out to be criminals and rapists. No one is really to say exactly the outcome of each situation. All we do know is that a child lost its future regardless of what it had in store. In the end a life was lost which is a horrible tragedy in itself.
There are many specific arguments as to why abortion is right or wrong. There is always a common ground to be found within arguments just like that with abortion. Not every aspect of the argument can find that spot in the middle but there are those that can. It is imperative that mediation takes place for instances like this one. It is very important when both sides of the argument are very extreme ones. Everyday two sides of a particular belief come together to compromise and find that common understanding.
Works Cited
Baird, Robert M. The Ethics of Abortion: Pro-Life Vs. Pro-Choice. Prometheus Books
Alcorn, Randy. Why Pro Life? Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2004.
Last, Jonathan V."Next Step: Scrapping Roe.” The Philadelphia Inquirer. 2006.
Arthur, Joyce. "Rights, Wrongs and Abortion.” National Post. National Ed. 2006.
"Abortion Facts." The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform. August 31, 1995. 5 Dec 2007.
Bailey, Holly. "The Great Courtship." Newsweek February 26, 2007: 26.
"Unsettled Issue; Abortion." The Economist October 20, 2007
Last, Jonathan V."Next Step: Scrapping Roe.” The Philadelphia Inquirer. 2006.
Arthur, Joyce. "Rights, Wrongs and Abortion.” National Post. National Ed. 2006.
"Abortion Facts." The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform. August 31, 1995. 5 Dec 2007
Bailey, Holly. "The Great Courtship." Newsweek February 26, 2007: 26.
"Unsettled Issue; Abortion." The Economist October 20, 2007
