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Miranda Mecham Bryson Newhart English 1010 March 31, 2014 Abortion: Are you Pro-choice, or Pro-life? The debate about abortion has been an ongoing battle between pro-life and pro-choice since 1973. But ultimately the question is, who wins? Better yet, who cares? No matter what the law says, people are going to have their own decision on why they think it is right or wrong. In this essay I am going to provide you with education that I have researched to provide you knowledge about the larger topic surrounding abortion. In my opinion, I believe that it should only be legal for people to get an abortion if it is a case of rape, incest, or if they baby has a disease and if they do get an abortion, it has to be within 4 to 6 weeks of the pregnancy. Pazol, Karen, et al. "Abortion Surveillance - United States, 2010." MMWR Surveillance Summaries 62.8 (2013): 1-44. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Apr. 2014. In this article Pazol gave many statistics on abortion. I think it is important to understand how popular abortion has become and how many people go though it yearly. Its also important to understand the facts before you put your opinion in the subject. She states that there was a total number of 765,651 abortions that were reported in the year 2010 just in the United States; this doesnt include illegal at home abortions. That is almost 2100 abortions daily. She also states that the majority of abortions are women who are in their 20s that exceeds 13 weeks pregnant.

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By this time, the baby is as big as a peach, it is forming intestines, bones, and can also begin to suck their thumb. Pazol makes her article convincing because she not only provides statistics about abortions, but she shares the reality of how common abortions are today. She gives feedback from how clinics all over the U.S volunteers to share the number of abortions in their clinic that year. She mentions that only some share the number and how some clinics decides to keep it private so the real number of abortions in 2010 is unknown. This helps us understand the statistics about abortion, so we can have an educated opinion rather than just personal opinions. This article has opened my mind a little deeper to my personal opinion. I didnt know that abortions were that common and so many people got them. It has made my personal opinion stronger because I now understand that it is more common then I believed in the first place, as well as how long they were in their pregnancies. It also makes me wonder what pro-choice and pro-life people would have to say about how common abortion has become. Eckholm, Erik. "Abortion Providers in Texas Sue Over a Restrictive Rule That Could Close Clinics." . The New York Times, 02 April 2014. Web. 3 Apr 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/03/us/texas-abortion-providers-lawsuit.html?_r=0>. In this article Eckholm begins with stating that, Health clinics offering abortions in Texas filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday to block a new state rule that could shut down more than half of the states remaining providers this fall, forcing women seeking an abortion in southern and western Texas to drive several hundred miles each way or go out of state. He explains that this is going to cause Texas that originally has 24 abortion clinics state wide to narrow down to only 6. This causes a lot of pro-choice vs pro-life confliction. He also states the

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new law that was just passed last year in 2013, The rule, part of a sweeping anti-abortion law passed last year, requires that all clinics providing abortions at any stage of pregnancy, including nonsurgical drug-induced abortions, meet the costly building standards of ambulatory surgery centers. This means that they will have to make at least 7 million dollars to keep open. That is why they will have to shut down, as many have. The author gives good detail about the way to pro-choice feels and how they want more clinics so mothers have the choice to get the procedure done close to home instead of hundreds of miles away. He also provides good detail on how pro-life feels about the new law. He quotes, The greater the evidence that this rule will cause more clinics to close, and leave large areas of the state without abortion providers, the greater their chance of success, said Caitlin E. Borgmann, an expert on reproductive law at the CUNY School of Law. This makes the author seem very credible with the way he cites his evidence. Throughout his article he made me think, if I agree that I think it is a good thing that less people will have an abortion clinic close to home, or if I feel sympathy towards the women who will now have to travel hundreds of miles away to do this. In my opinion I think that this is going to help the abortion rates go down, but I also think it is going to make illegal abortion rates go sky rocketing. So in a way I think this could be something good, for the fact that less abortion clinics will be around but I also think it can turn into something dangerous.

Calhoun, Ada. "The Rise Of DIY Abortions. (Cover Story)." New Republic 243.20 (2012): 1417. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.

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When I first saw the name of this article I couldnt believe what it said. I then tried to think about what I thought the article was going to be about. It reminded me of a social network I use called Pinterest. Im sure many of you readers have heard about it. They always have DIY shampoos, or face primer, or body scrubs. So when I heard DIY abortions I actually thought that they would perform a step by step medical procedure by themselves. Luckily, that was not the case. The article is about a lady who started with her first kid only about 14 years old. She then later got married and had two more children. During her marriage she began talking to a man who was in prison for a robbery charge, and they fell in love. When he got released from prison, she divorced her husband for him. Months later she found out she was pregnant again. He took her to get her first abortion because they could hardly make it with the little income hey had coming in. About a year later her new love, was sent back to prison for abusing his probation with the use of alcohol. Once he was back in prison she then found out that she was pregnant again. She only had about $200-$250 coming in from child support from her ex-husband. She had no car to drive to the nearest clinic and get an abortion as well as no money for it. She then asked her sister to order an abortion pill from online and give it to her. Once she received it, it was in an unmarked envelope and some directions. She took the first pill when she got it and later that evening, she had bad cramps. Later that night she delivered her baby in her bathroom along with the placenta and everything else. She explains how the baby was about a foot long, was clearly a girl and you could tell distinct features on the babys body. She was a lot farther along then she thought she was. She then put the baby in a bad and a box and hid it under her bed for weeks. She didnt feel like it was right to just throw away her baby girl. She didnt know what to do so she told her friend, who then told his sister who called the cops. When the detectives arrived at her house they found the baby on the back porch half frozen. She was then

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threatened with 5 years of prison time for illegal use of abortion as well as violating the abortion laws in her state. When she hired an attorney, he got everything lifted and she never served a day in prison because of lack of evidence. The author also mentions that the baby is still in custody of the state because it is an ongoing battle and the case is not closed, so the baby has yet to have a proper burial. The author makes herself seem pro-choice and pro-life at times because of the way that she explains how horribly wrong it is to be able to get away with such thing as well as the sympathy felt for the mother and family. She doesnt just go out and say that, but by the detail and the sympathy she shows with the baby she makes the reader see the dirty sides of abortion and what it can do to the family as well as the mother. In the beginning the author talks about what the mother went through growing up having her first child at age 14. In the beginning I felt pro-choice at first because I felt sympathy for the mother. But after the baby was delivered as a stillborn I felt pro-life because the baby was so far along already. The author convinces me to go along with whatever she goes along with because of the detail she gave. The author gives many details on how hard it was for this woman. I feel sympathy for what she went through but at the same time I feel anger toward the choice that she made. I never have seen myself as pro-choice before but for a minute the author makes you feel bad for the humiliation she felt, as well how it impacted her family. Vawter, Eve. "10 Reasons to have an abortion." . Mommyish, 29 Oct 2013. Web. 8 Apr 2014. <http://www.mommyish.com/2013/10/29/10-reasons-to-have-an-abortion/ In this article Eve Vawter describes herself as very pro-choice. She explains how it is possible for mothers to have children and still believe in abortions. She also explains that her

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mother believed in the same ways. She writes a blog on a parenting website called 10 reasons to get an abortion. Her first reason is a baby could endanger your life or cause medical hardships. But she does not explain anymore. The second reason is your birth control failed, it happens My question is, how does this justify killing a baby? If you dont want a baby, dont have sex. Her next reason is, it will ruin your career. Still my question remains the same, how does this justify killing a baby for your irresponsible actions? Next, her reason was, Im too young. What is this teaching your children? It is ok to have sex and get pregnant because you can get your problems fixed with an abortion? Her next reason is Im too old. If you can have a normal pregnancy and can give a child a life, why does this give you the right to kill your baby because you believe you are too old. My mother was almost thirty nine when she gave birth to me. Her seventh reason is, Your fear over-population. I honestly dont know anyone who would give up their child because they are afraid that they are helping over populating the earth. It is not very likely that is the real reason. Next is, You are worried about the baby. If you are so worried about your baby why wouldnt you care and fight for its life. You wouldnt just kill it, you would want to give it a chance. Reason number nine is, You want no relationship with the person who got you pregnant. Having regretful sex doesnt justify to kill the baby. You made to decision to sleep with them, so why should you get to get away killing the innocent baby, just because you dont like the father? Last but not least, her last reason is, You dont want a baby. If you dont want a baby then get a hysterectomy. That way you can have sex without getting pregnant. As you can tell Im more pro-life than pro-choice. By reading this article it has made me think that most people who get an abortion just make up excuses. She doesnt convince me that any of the reasons she posted justify getting an abortion. I think that if any of her reasons relate

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to you, you dont have to kill the baby. You have a choice to give it a life, either with you as a mother or you can give it up for adoption. For being so proud about being pro-choice, she doesnt do a very good job convincing her audience that her ten reasons are justifiable. She doesnt explain much about each reason, so it convinces me that she doesnt have a convincing argument. If she gave more detail about how these reasons are justifiable I may have been more open to considering some of these reason. Schwarzwalder , Rob. "The Best Pro-Life Arguments for Secular Audiences." . N.p.. Web. 8 Apr 2014. http://frc.org/arguments In Schwarzwalders article he explains many points of views on abortion. He gives you scientific facts on when the fetus is considered human, when it can feel, and move and also when the baby starts forming. He also gives you feedback on abortion laws so this way you can better understand what exactly is legal and what is not. He states, The Court ruled that abortion must be permitted for any reason a woman chooses until the child becomes viable; after viability, an abortion must still be permitted if an abortion doctor deems the abortion necessary to protect a woman's "health," defined by the Court in another ruling issued the same day as "all factors-physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age--relevant to the well-being of the patient." In this way the Court created a right to abort a child at any time, even past the point of viability, for "emotional" reasons. Stated another way, the Supreme Court gave abortion doctors the power to override any abortion restriction merely by claiming that there are "emotional" reasons for the abortion. So basically this gives the mother a right to have an abortion whenever because she can have emotional reasons.

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He convinces me to be pro-life because of how much evidence and facts he has on the issue. I can tell by reading his article that he did a lot of research himself to better understand the laws and regulations of the surrounding issue. Its a lot easier to believe someone when they have facts that is supporting the issue they are giving feedback on. He also makes it easier to understand because he explains himself, or his evidence well. By reading his article it has educated me enough to understand why I am pro-life. It also gives me knowledge to fall back on if I need more supporting evidence to make my claim that abortion should be illegal under many circumstances. I like the way the author supports every argument as well knowing what to say as if he knew what someone would argue against. By reading it, I feel very educated about abortion and the fundamental growth of a baby. That way I can believe what makes it unjustifiable to get an abortion for most reasons. In conclusion, I believe that abortion should be illegal for many reasons. Women need to understand what is justifiable and what is not. I believe that most women need to be more educated about abortion as well as the growth and education about babies and pregnancies to fully have an understanding on what they are doing. I also think it is important to take the consequences of having sex and not being able to just kill your baby. You always have the option to give your baby a life no matter if you want to be a part of the babys life or not. They should be given the same chance that all of our parents gave us no matter if we are adopted or are still involved with our biological parents. Give your baby a chance.

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