Abortion Position Paper

Abortion is one of the most compelling and controversial issues in American culture

and politics today. Since its legalization in 1973, abortion has sparked heated rivalries

between groups wanting to either restrict or increase access to the procedure. These

groups are usually considered either pro-life or pro-choice. Pro-lifers generally

contend that abortion is wrong because it kills human life. Those who are pro-choice

believe that abortion should remain legal because a woman has the right to control

what happens to her body. These same people proclaim that abortion isn’t murder

because the baby has yet to be born. What they must realize is that this is a living

soul they’re killing, someone who has the potential to prosper in this world. People

can no longer ignore the scientific evidence that life begins at the moment of

conception. They must stop denying the facts about the procedure and start hearing

the silent screams of unborn children.

On January 22, 1973, a pregnant single woman, using the assumed named of Roe,

brought an action challenging the constitutionality of the Texas abortion laws. Roe

and her lawyer claimed that the laws against abortion were constitutionally vague

and infringed upon the rights guaranteed to pregnant women by the U.S.

Constitution. The court ruled with a 7-2 majority, voting to strike down the law

prohibiting abortions in the U.S. The decision gave a woman total autonomy over the

pregnancy during the first trimester and defined different levels of state interest for

the second and third trimesters. As a result, the laws of the 50 states were affected by

the court’s ruling(Robinson).

The issue of abortion though, and whether it is right or wrong, has been around longer than

1973. As far back as the early centuries of Christianity, Greco-Roman cultures struggled to

decide whether abortion should be allowed or not. Both Plato and Aristotle believed that a

child had life long before birth. Unfortunately, the welfare of society and family were more

important to them than the rights of an unborn child. Christians during this time period,

however, were outspoken against abortion claiming that the unborn child had the right to life.

Their strong views on this won over the empire and made abortion illegal in Roman society.

The values of the Greco-Romans, in which the child’s life only had meaning as the state or

families granted it meaning, would not resurface for 1500 years. Even as far back as Roman

times, we see Christian values of right and wrong triumphing over an issue such as

abortion(Stafford).

One of the most divisive arguments of the abortion debate is the question of when

human life begins. Many abortion opponents argue that life begins at fertilization,

where someone with unique characteristics and a genetic code is created. The pro-

choice supporters say that until the baby is separated from his mother and breathing,

it is not murder to have an abortion. Researchers have stated that the fetus does

indeed feel pain during the operation. This begs the question that if pain is suffered,

how is murder not the result of abortion?

All abortions are categorized as either first, second, or third trimester abortions.

First trimester abortions are the most commonly performed procedures. Almost 90%

of women choose to have an abortion during this time period. Two of the most

common techniques are manual vacuum aspiration and RU-486. Manual vacuum

aspiration, or RVA, is becoming more available in North America. First developed in

the 1960’s, the RVA procedure involves a hand held syringe that creates a tiny

vacuum that removes the embryo(Robinson).

The second and more up-to-date method is called RU-486. A single pill is to be taken

within 49 days of the start of the last menstrual period. It causes the woman’s uterine

walls to collapse and the contractions of her uterus to begin. Within four hours the

embryo is expelled from the women’s body. During the first six months of its release

in 2001, more than 37,000 abortions were performed with RU-486(Robinson).

The second and third trimester procedures are far less common as those of the first

trimesters. Statistics indicate that they are used about 10% of the time. Two

procedures used in these trimesters are induced labor and dilation and extraction

(D&X). Induced labor is fairly simple. It includes medication administered to the

pregnant women triggering labor and eventually giving birth to the partially

developed fetus. The “D&X” procedure, also referred to as partial birth abortion, is

commonly used during both second and third trimester abortions. In this more

complicated procedure, first, the women’s cervix is dilated. The surgeon then reaches

into the woman’s uterus and pulls out the foetus’ body with the exception of its head.

Surgical scissors are then inserted into the skull of the foetus and withdrawn. A

suction tube is then inserted into the surgical opening, and the foetus’ brains are

removed. The skull is then collapsed, and the foetus is taken out of the womb

(Robinson).

Even with these shocking and repulsive techniques, many people are still in favour of

abortion. Most pro-choice advocates believe that very early abortions are morally
acceptable and that the woman should be allowed to make that choice. Others

believe that pregnancy should be aborted in case of rape or if the woman’s health is

at risk while giving birth. However, the most common reason women receive

abortions is because they are just not ready for the responsibility of having a child.

The pro-choice crowd finds it acceptable to have an abortion for no reason than a

woman is not ready for children.

Although they make a case for reasons such as rape or possible death, the majority

of their claims are bogus. Concern about her own death is rarely a reason a woman

has an abortion because in that situation her life is rarely in peril. When it comes to

pregnancy because of rape, I believe that the woman should offer the child up for

adoption and not destroy the child for something he or she didn’t do. Recent studies

also point out medical problems that can arise from having an abortion. Such

problems include an increased chance of breast cancer, a 25% chance of becoming

infertile, post abortion syndrome (PAS), and future miscarriages (Robinson).

Women who choose to have an abortion believe they are relieving themselves of a

burden when in fact they are adding to their problems. Many women experience

problems following abortions such as depression or health issues that the procedure

causes. Women must realize that the situation, whether their fault or not, will not be

resolved by killing an innocent being. If women can see the value of having that child

and saving a life, then maybe those silent screams can be quieted

“Don’t Call Us `Pro-Abortion’ ― we’re `Pro-Choice’!”

Abortion is a very controversial topic and everyone has his or her own opinion. I don't really believe
in abortion and I would never have one but my opinion of abortion is if you are against it you
shouldn’t have one. Abortion does kill a human child. The child may not be very old or very well
developed, but it is still a baby that needs food and water and can feel pain and hear and see and
jump up and down. I believe that abortion is actually a good idea if the pregnancy will probably kill
the mother or if the foetus is not and can never be viable outside the womb. I have looked around to
find the choice arguments that I think are the most convincing arguments for abortion and tried to
answer them with my own opinion in a way that is as convincing as the way they are presented.

Don't teen girls need the choice of abortion though? As a teen girl I think an abortion would
be even harder for me now than if I was older. Killing a baby that has never done anything to
deserve death would make me very depressed. In addition, I think that many girls probably feel they
have no other choice. If schools and colleges provided free childcare during school hours, girls could
drop their babies off and visit between classes. I think that if girls had more choices like this, fewer
girls would have abortions. Even if schools have no childcare, a girl living close to her mother,
grandmother or even grandfather or father might be able to leave the baby with them for the day.

A Position Paper on Abortion

Abortion: A Position Paper

The controversy of abortion in the United States is unique because there seems to be no grounds of
compromise between two completely polar sides. That is mostly because either a living human is or
isn’t being killed. This is a case between life and liberty, but the ambivalence of the complexities of
abortion makes it hard to settle the two sides. There is much debate whether this is an action of life
or death, and the difference is rather large. Yet both sides to the abortion dispute share a common
goal: that abortions should become safer, and the number of abortions should decrease.

Abortion is defined as the inducing of premature delivery in order to destroy offspring. It is a chosen
miscarriage. Within abortion there are many different questions. Does the constitution defend an
individual’s right to abortion? Does this include confidentiality? Is a developing fetus a being? Should
the law allow abortions for rape or incest cases?

The constitution does allow abortion. The right to privacy and reproductive rights, although not
directly mentioned in the Constitution or Bill of Rights, is an enumerated right. The Supreme Court
Decision in 1973, Roe vs. Wade, legalized abortion in the first trimester. Since then, over 35 Million
women have had legal abortions (Colic/Tipp 53). In America, 24% of pregnancies end in abortion,
and 41% of that is on teenagers. 88% of abortions are performed during the first trimester.
When a foetus is actually living is hard to define. Factually, the heart begins to beat after 18-25 days,
but the brain function after 40 days. Some people claim you are a person directly after conception,
while others believe that a grouping of 46 chromosomes does not make you a human, but a
potential life. Whether or not they are a living human being depends on whether they are protected
by the right to life.

Abortions for rape or incest victims are another controversial topic. Babies born of these acts are not
intended at all, as the sexual act was forced and no contraception or precaution could be taken.
Killing the babies from these actions is penalizing them for something they had no choice in the
matter of.

This dispute is the link between two groups; Pro-Choice and Pro-Life. Naturally, each side is the
absolute reversal...