Yesterday I shared a story I wrote for school two years ago. Today I have a persuasive essay I had to write at the beginning of this month. Both had a five paragraph length requirement, but you can very easily see this is much, much longer than the first. Being a persuasive essay, it is controversial. The point of this post is the writing, not the topic of the essay.
Pro-Choice
Before
1973, if you were pregnant, you stayed pregnant until you gave birth. Imagine at any point in your life being pregnant,
then having to give birth to a child.
There are certainly parts of your life where it would be inconvenient,
but you could not just “take back” the pregnancy. In 1973, it became legal to have an abortion.
("Facts About Abortion: U.S. Abortion Law.") This enabled women to practically “take back”
the pregnancy. After 40 years, the topic
of abortion is being brought up in many political debates and discussions. Imagine a twelve-year old girl having her
life turned upside down from being raped and then being told her country
refuses to allow her to abort the child.
Not only will raising a child be physically difficult for a twelve-year
old, she will also have to deal with the emotional trauma of raising a child
that was a product of rape. Sometimes,
doctors know ahead of time that if a woman is to give birth to her baby, it could
end her life and possibly the baby’s as well.
In this case, abortion saves at least one life. Many politicians want to implement a federal law
that makes it illegal for women to get abortions. The majority of the politicians who want to
make it illegal are male, and thus the law does not affect them. If a politician lacks experience and
understanding related to something, it is not right for him to make a law
regarding it. Making abortions illegal
is unnecessary and unfair.
Women get abortions for many
different reasons. In the case of rape,
the woman may not be fit to give birth.
Rape happens to women and girls of all ages. One out of every twenty rape victims of
reproductive age get pregnant. There are
an estimated 32,101 cases of pregnancy from rape each year. Out of that, upwards of 60% get abortions
each year. To implement a law banning
abortions would completely change the lives of almost 20,000 people in just one
year. (Holmes) In other situations, it may not be safe for
the woman to give birth or maybe the woman’s financial situation changed and
she can no longer support the child. In
the case of not having enough money, if the woman is early on in the pregnancy,
there are still going to be many expensive doctor visits, as well as costly
tests. At that point, it would probably
be better for the woman to get an abortion.
If the mother were to become poverty and still have to give birth to the
child, the child would not be put in a healthy situation. The child would either be put up for adoption
or would be living with their mother who cannot support them. The child might even wind up having to live
in a homeless center. No child should be
forced to live that way. Sometimes it is
better for the woman who is pregnant to get an abortion. It is not fair to make a law banning
abortions when it will negatively affect thousands of people.
Murdering someone is illegal, yet
upwards of 14,000 people were murdered in 2012.
Robbery is also illegal, yet there were over 350,000 reported cases of
robbery in 2012 alone. ("U.S.: Reported Robbery Cases 1990-2012.") What
happens if a law making abortions illegal is passed? If a law banning abortions is passed, the
number of abortions occurring would be a fraction of what it was previously. However, making something illegal will not
completely eliminate it, as seen with murder and robbery. There will still be many women who decide
they still want an abortion, even though it is illegal. If
abortion is illegal, it is unlikely certified doctors would still perform them,
as they would not want to risk their qualification. Who will be performing the abortions on women
who decide they still want one? People lacking qualification and proper tools
are probably going to be the only option. This would make it unsafe to have
abortions done. It is better to allow
women the choice otherwise the procedure could result in the loss of the mother
and child.
Currently
most women get minimal counselling prior to getting an abortion, if it is made
illegal that will become non-existent.
People performing abortions on the black market will care about getting
paid, not the woman’s well-being. Instead
of taking away the choices of many women, the government could pass a law
requiring women to be fully educated.
They could get counselling as well as information on all their options
regarding abortion. Making a law
requiring counselling prior to performing an abortion could help women make an
informed decision and might even reduce abortions occurring. The government should help protect its
citizen’s well-being, not take away their options.
There are many people who feel
abortion is immoral. However, there are also many people on diets. They do not tell others not to eat a
doughnut, just because they believe it is unhealthy. There are many reasons people think abortions
are a bad idea. One argument is that
abortion is permanent. Having an
abortion is absolutely permanent, but having a child is just as permanent. With both, there is no way someone can change
their mind once it happens. It is
important to have options and to be thoroughly educated on all options. It is also argued that having an abortion
hurts the child. Based on the brain
development of the fetus, they really cannot feel pain. (Derbyshire) Another
argument is that getting an abortion is manslaughter. In most states, the latest week you can get
abortion is about week twenty. At week
twenty, the fetus is only half-way to being fully developed. ("Your
Pregnancy: 20 Weeks.") If abortion is going to be considered murder,
which is not untrue, there should be a point at which it is officially
considered murder. Then, make women get
an abortion before then, not take away the option altogether. There are many arguments as to why abortions
should not occur. However, for women who
find themselves in an unfortunate situation, these do not outweigh the benefits
of having the right to get an abortion.
There are
many valid reasons women get abortions. Some
of these include pregnancy caused by rape, an unstable financial situation, and
when the safety of the mother is in jeopardy.
As seen with murder and robbery, if abortions are made illegal they will
not cease to occur. Instead, they will
stop happening safely and the woman is more likely to get injured in the care
of an unqualified person without proper tools.
Most, if not all, of the arguments against abortions can be overcome or
disproven. Women should have the right
to obtain medical procedures that are in their best interest. It is unfair of the government to revoke
women’s options. Prohibiting abortions
can put women in a dangerous situation.
The federal government does not have the right to strip women of their
choices, especially when it can lead to further harm and injury.
Bibliography
Derbyshire, Stuart W G.
"Can Fetuses Feel Pain?" US National Library of Medicine National
Institutes
of Health. N.p., 15 Apr. 2006. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1440624/>.
"Facts About
Abortion: U.S. Abortion Law." Facts About Abortion: U.S. Abortion Law.
Holmes,
Melisa M., et al. "Rape-related pregnancy: estimates and descriptive characteristics
from a national sample of women." American Journal of Obstetrics and
Gynecology 175.2 (1996):
320-325.
"United States
Crime Rates 1960 - 2012." United States Crime Rates 1960 - 2012. The Disaster
Center,
n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2013. <http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm>.
"U.S.: Reported
Robbery Cases 1990-2012." Statista RSS. Statisa, 2013. Web. 06 Dec. 2013.
<http://www.statista.com/statistics/191139/reported-robbery-cases-in-the-us-since-1990/>.
"Your
Pregnancy: 20 Weeks." BabyCenter. Baby Center, n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2013.
<http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-20-weeks_1109.bc>.
-Cassi
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