Argumentative Essay: The Abortion Debate
Wedans Delma
Composition 111
Professor
Abortion
The topic of abortion has many controversies because people tend to choose different sides. People who support abortion or believes that it is a woman’s right to choose if she want to have a baby or not are known as Pro-choice supporters. On the other hand, people who do not want abortion even when a women get raped, and get pregnant of rapist child are known as Pro-life supporters. Women who are not ready to be a mother should have a choice of getting an abortion without being judged. Women who get pregnant unintentionally, and pregnancy is surprise for them should have an access towards abortion. There could be so many different reason of why women would choose to have an abortion, including …show more content…
negative impact of pregnancy on women future, and financial instability. If an abortion become illegal again, it will not just effect mother, but will also have a negative effect on baby. Society should not force women to have a child when she is not mentally ready for it. To raise a child it is very expensive, so if a woman is single or not married then she should have an access toward abortion. Women should have the option of getting an abortion when they are not financially stable or for whatever reason they want abortion. They are the one who go through labor, so they should be the one to decide whether to have a baby at the time or not.
Abortion become legal after Roe v. wade case on January 22, 1973, before that it was illegal throughout the United States. After the legalization of abortion the movement of “Pro-choice” began. The legalization of abortion save a lot of women life, before this law was passed a lot of women die in process of performing illegal abortion. Even though this law has saved so many women lives, Pro-life supporters still want to abolish this law.
A lot of Pro-life supporters say that abortion is basically killing of a young baby. Technically, it is not, because baby hasn’t born yet, and still is in woman womb, and relies on mother for his nutrition. No matter what the situation is Pro-life supporters want women to have a baby, and basically live with it, whether she like it or not. At any cost they do not want women to get abortion. Providing for a child is a big responsibility. In order to have a child, parent should be financially stable, and should have time to for their child. If they are not financially stable or think they would not be able to give enough time to their child then abortion is the answer. Women should not be forced to have a child if they are not ready to take responsibility. People who force women through pregnancy are wrong, because it is a women body so it should be their choice. Women can decide if it is right for them to have a baby. Bringing a baby in this world without proper preparation could lead to the neglect of the baby. If people are okay with bringing a child in this world, and not caring about what happen to the child then there is something wrong with them. Because how can you bring a child in a world when you are not able to provide for him. It is only right to have a baby when woman is pregnant, and the family is waiting of the arrival of the baby with open arms.
Pro-life supporter do not understand that usually these “unwanted children” are the one who cause problem in society.
They are the one who from very young age start doing crime for various reasons. They might choose the path of crime in order to put food on table because usually these children are from low income households, and are raised by single mothers. Since they are usually raised by single mothers, who most likely did not have enough time to spend with their children because they had to work a lot of hours, these kids are very violent and lack morality. Unwanted child and crime rate has a direct relation. They more unwanted children a state has, the higher its crime rate will be. John Donohue, a law professor at Stanford Law School and economist widely known for his writings on effect of legalized abortion on crime, and was president of the American Law and Economics Association in 2012 states in his article “The Impact of Legalization of Abortion on Crime”
Crime began to fall roughly eighteen years after abortion legalization. The states that allowed abortion in 1970 experienced declines earlier than the rest of the nation, which legalized in 1973 with Roe v. Wade. States with high abortion rates in the 1970s and 1980s experienced greater crime reductions in the 1990s. In high abortion states, only arrests of those born after abortion legalization fall relative to low abortion states. Legalized abortion appears to account for as much as 50 percent of the recent drop …show more content…
in crime. (Donohue and Levitt 379)
The States in U.S. that has higher abortion rates has less crime rates compare to the states that has low abortion rates because state with high abortion rates have less unwanted children. In the long run, these unwanted children make society suffer too because society have to tolerate their crime, and have to spend money to get rid of them. As these unwanted children turn into teenagers they become criminals, so in order to maintain the crime rate low community with a lot of unwanted children will need a lot more cops compare to community with less unwanted children to maintain crime rate low. That community with high rate of unwanted children will have to pay more taxes in order to hire more police officer to stop these children from turning into criminals or to put them in jail if they have already became criminals. If we force poor woman to have a baby, and do not fund her abortion then eventually we the taxpayers will have to provide for the baby.
People think that abortion causes a lot of burden on welfare, but in reality it is good for society in the long run if a poor woman get abortion. As Clowes Brian mention in his article “Does abortion reduce welfare costs?” that in “A first-trimester Medicaid abortion currently costs about $515.10 By comparison, the cost of all kinds of public assistance for a child, including prenatal care, delivery and postnatal care, and two years of all types of public assistance for the child is about $22,300.11 So, at first glance, abortion seems to be a very good financial deal indeed for the long-suffering taxpayer.” If women in second-trimester want to get an abortion she should be eligible for aid through welfare. Even though it is more expensive to get abortion in second-trimester, but still in long run it is better for taxpayers if poor woman get abortion. If she do not get aid from welfare to get abortion then she will more likely give birth to baby. Then the taxpayers will have to pay for that food stamp, and medical care until child reach the age of eighteen. According to analysis provided by The Alan Guttmacher Institute in article “Induced Abortion in the United States” states that each tax dollar spent to pay for abortion for poor woman, saves about four dollars in public welfare and medical
cost.
Pro-life supporters suggest that adoption is the other solution to the abortion. They believe both achieve the same result. They want women who do not want their child, to give the birth to the child for the family, who is looking to adopt a child. By this family who is looking for a child will get a child, and women who want to get rid of her child will be able to get rid of her unwanted child. According to Linda Lowen, who has written a lot of articles on abortion in women issues and other magazine point out that there are 1.5 million families in America who are willing to adopt a child in her article “10 Common Arguments For and Against Abortion”. Pro-life supporters believe there is no such thing as unwanted child because there are 1.5 million families willing to adopt a child. The problem with this solution is that women who goes through all the pain of labor will most likely would not give up their child. Studies have shown that very few women put their child up for adoption after giving a birth to the child. According to Lowen, in her article “10 Common Arguments For and Against Abortion” only 3% white women give up their child for adoption, and only 2% black women give up their child for adoption. Another problem with Pro-life adoption plan is that there are more unwanted pregnancies than the families who are willing to adopt children. According to the article “Induced Abortion in the United States” provided by American Psychological Association half of pregnancies among American women are unintended, and four in ten of these are terminated by abortion. Teenage pregnancies are increasing day by day. In “Babies having Babies” Wendy S Myers points out the fact that forty percent of all women in United States will get pregnant by the age of 19. If for a moment we agree with Pro-life supporter, and illegalized the abortion again than their will be a lot of unwanted children because speed of teens giving birth to unwanted child will be a lot more than people who are willing to adopt a child. If young women are left with these unwanted children their whole life will be affected. According to Lowen, in article “Why Teens Choose Abortion” less than 2% of teen mothers who give birth before age 18 go on to earn a college degree by the time they turn 30. This fact show how young women future can be destroyed if she is not given an access to abortion. At the age of 19 most of women are either in high school or freshmen at college which mean they are not financially stable, and can’t provide for another human being. They themselves rely on their parent for financial assistance. If they are forced to have baby then they would not be left with a lot of choices, and would have to drop from school in order to provide for their child. In order to provide for a child, they would have to find a job, and without a good education they would not be able to find a good job, and will be stuck with some odd job for rest of their life. Odd jobs do not pay decent salary, so in order to pay bills and put food on table women will have to work a lot of hours. This mean she would not be able to give her child time leading the child towards the downfall. These children usually do not do well in school and are most likely to choose the path of crime. Society should not force young woman to have a baby when she is not financially ready to provide for her child.
Pro-life supporters want women to carry a child, and would not allow them to get abortion even if they got raped. According to FBI there were an estimated 83,425 forcible rapes reported to law enforcement in 2011(Forcible Rape). Pro-life supporters are willing to destroy the future of these 83,425 women, but not willing to change their perception about abortion. They want these women to carry a man child who they does not even know. The argue they state is that it is not child fault, so he or she should not be killed by abortion. Pro-life supporters also state that abortion cause women to feel guilty, later in life for killing a child. They believe that fetus is a human being, but in fact in is not. Fetus is only a part of pregnant woman, like her liver or heart. Basically it is just a tissue, it is a potential human being not an actual human being. Abortion is to dismiss pregnancy, not to kill a baby. Some Pro-life supporter argue that abortion have psychological effect on women. However, according to recent report provided by American Psychological Association “Mental Health and Abortion Task Force Report” abortions in many cases do not causes any psychological effect on woman. If abortion had psychological effect on women then women in larger number would not get abortion. In 2011, just alone in state of Pennsylvania 169,000 women perform abortion (State Facts About Abortion: Pennsylvania). There are some negative feeling about unwanted pregnancies, but not abortion. Abortion usually bring relief to women because it set them free of responsibility of providing for a human being.
According to U.S. National library of medicine 1 in 3 women in U.S will get raped once in their life time which is roughly 33% of women population (Rape sexual assault). Basically Pro-life supporter want these women to re-live rape for whole year until she gives a birth to rapist child. Then later if she want to get rid of that child she can put the child for adoption. What Pro-life support doesn’t realize is that by forcing a woman to carry her rapist child will harm her psychologically. After getting raped women are very scared, and usually don’t talk about it with their family members or friends for weeks, and about 80 to 90 percent of them do not even report it to police according to U.S. National library of Medicine ( Rape sexual assault). By the time she tell her friends, she is already pregnant. The only option then she is left with is abortion in order to protect her future. If she get abortion then she can just keep her rape a secret from the world. If she do not get abortion not just that it will psychologically affect her, but also it will make very hard for her to find someone to marry. After all, there are few guys in our society, who are willing to marry a woman who has been raped in past.
In conclusion, abortion is the right choice for women who are not ready to bring a child in this world for whatever reason. Raising a child by a single mom is very hard in our harsh world. It is very hard for women to play both mother and father role. Child is raised best way possible when both parent are actively with child all the time. No child wants to be without father. Usually women also do not wish to raise the child by themselves, so to save themselves they get abortion. After all perfect family consists of mother and father.
Works Cited
Clowes, Brian. "Does Abortion Reduce Welfare Costs? | LifeSiteNews.com." LifeSiteNews.
LifeSiteNews.com, 27. Nov.2012. Web. 01 May 2014.
Donohue, John J. and Levitt, Steven D. “The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime”. The Quarterly Journal of Economics. Vol. CXVI. Issue 2. (379-420) Web. 27 Apr. 2014
“Forcible Rape." FBI. FBI.gov, 17 Aug. 2012. Web. 05 May 2014
"Induced Abortion in the United States.". Guttmacher Institute. guttmacher.org, 14. Feb.2014. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.
Lowen, Linda. "10 Common Arguments For and Against Abortion." About.com Women 's Issues. About.com, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
Lowen, Linda. "The Top Reasons Why Teens Choose Abortion." About.com Women 's Issues. About.com, n.d. Web. 03 May 2014.
"Mental Health and Abortion Task Force Report." Http://www.apa.org. American Psychological Association. Aug. 2008. Web. 02 May 2014.
Myers, Wendy S. "Babies Having Babies. (Cover Story)." Women In Business 42.4 (1990): 18- 20. Academic Search Elite. Web. 4 Apr. 2014.
"Rape (sexual Assault) - Overview: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia." U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2014
"State Facts About Abortion: Pennsylvania." Guttmacher Institute. Guttmacher.org, n.d. Web. 05 May 2014
Composition 111
Professor
Abortion
The topic of abortion has many controversies because people tend to choose different sides. People who support abortion or believes that it is a woman’s right to choose if she want to have a baby or not are known as Pro-choice supporters. On the other hand, people who do not want abortion even when a women get raped, and get pregnant of rapist child are known as Pro-life supporters. Women who are not ready to be a mother should have a choice of getting an abortion without being judged. Women who get pregnant unintentionally, and pregnancy is surprise for them should have an access towards abortion. There could be so many different reason of why women would choose to have an abortion, including …show more content…
negative impact of pregnancy on women future, and financial instability. If an abortion become illegal again, it will not just effect mother, but will also have a negative effect on baby. Society should not force women to have a child when she is not mentally ready for it. To raise a child it is very expensive, so if a woman is single or not married then she should have an access toward abortion. Women should have the option of getting an abortion when they are not financially stable or for whatever reason they want abortion. They are the one who go through labor, so they should be the one to decide whether to have a baby at the time or not.
Abortion become legal after Roe v. wade case on January 22, 1973, before that it was illegal throughout the United States. After the legalization of abortion the movement of “Pro-choice” began. The legalization of abortion save a lot of women life, before this law was passed a lot of women die in process of performing illegal abortion. Even though this law has saved so many women lives, Pro-life supporters still want to abolish this law.
A lot of Pro-life supporters say that abortion is basically killing of a young baby. Technically, it is not, because baby hasn’t born yet, and still is in woman womb, and relies on mother for his nutrition. No matter what the situation is Pro-life supporters want women to have a baby, and basically live with it, whether she like it or not. At any cost they do not want women to get abortion. Providing for a child is a big responsibility. In order to have a child, parent should be financially stable, and should have time to for their child. If they are not financially stable or think they would not be able to give enough time to their child then abortion is the answer. Women should not be forced to have a child if they are not ready to take responsibility. People who force women through pregnancy are wrong, because it is a women body so it should be their choice. Women can decide if it is right for them to have a baby. Bringing a baby in this world without proper preparation could lead to the neglect of the baby. If people are okay with bringing a child in this world, and not caring about what happen to the child then there is something wrong with them. Because how can you bring a child in a world when you are not able to provide for him. It is only right to have a baby when woman is pregnant, and the family is waiting of the arrival of the baby with open arms.
Pro-life supporter do not understand that usually these “unwanted children” are the one who cause problem in society.
They are the one who from very young age start doing crime for various reasons. They might choose the path of crime in order to put food on table because usually these children are from low income households, and are raised by single mothers. Since they are usually raised by single mothers, who most likely did not have enough time to spend with their children because they had to work a lot of hours, these kids are very violent and lack morality. Unwanted child and crime rate has a direct relation. They more unwanted children a state has, the higher its crime rate will be. John Donohue, a law professor at Stanford Law School and economist widely known for his writings on effect of legalized abortion on crime, and was president of the American Law and Economics Association in 2012 states in his article “The Impact of Legalization of Abortion on Crime”
Crime began to fall roughly eighteen years after abortion legalization. The states that allowed abortion in 1970 experienced declines earlier than the rest of the nation, which legalized in 1973 with Roe v. Wade. States with high abortion rates in the 1970s and 1980s experienced greater crime reductions in the 1990s. In high abortion states, only arrests of those born after abortion legalization fall relative to low abortion states. Legalized abortion appears to account for as much as 50 percent of the recent drop …show more content…
in crime. (Donohue and Levitt 379)
The States in U.S. that has higher abortion rates has less crime rates compare to the states that has low abortion rates because state with high abortion rates have less unwanted children. In the long run, these unwanted children make society suffer too because society have to tolerate their crime, and have to spend money to get rid of them. As these unwanted children turn into teenagers they become criminals, so in order to maintain the crime rate low community with a lot of unwanted children will need a lot more cops compare to community with less unwanted children to maintain crime rate low. That community with high rate of unwanted children will have to pay more taxes in order to hire more police officer to stop these children from turning into criminals or to put them in jail if they have already became criminals. If we force poor woman to have a baby, and do not fund her abortion then eventually we the taxpayers will have to provide for the baby.
People think that abortion causes a lot of burden on welfare, but in reality it is good for society in the long run if a poor woman get abortion. As Clowes Brian mention in his article “Does abortion reduce welfare costs?” that in “A first-trimester Medicaid abortion currently costs about $515.10 By comparison, the cost of all kinds of public assistance for a child, including prenatal care, delivery and postnatal care, and two years of all types of public assistance for the child is about $22,300.11 So, at first glance, abortion seems to be a very good financial deal indeed for the long-suffering taxpayer.” If women in second-trimester want to get an abortion she should be eligible for aid through welfare. Even though it is more expensive to get abortion in second-trimester, but still in long run it is better for taxpayers if poor woman get abortion. If she do not get aid from welfare to get abortion then she will more likely give birth to baby. Then the taxpayers will have to pay for that food stamp, and medical care until child reach the age of eighteen. According to analysis provided by The Alan Guttmacher Institute in article “Induced Abortion in the United States” states that each tax dollar spent to pay for abortion for poor woman, saves about four dollars in public welfare and medical
cost.
Pro-life supporters suggest that adoption is the other solution to the abortion. They believe both achieve the same result. They want women who do not want their child, to give the birth to the child for the family, who is looking to adopt a child. By this family who is looking for a child will get a child, and women who want to get rid of her child will be able to get rid of her unwanted child. According to Linda Lowen, who has written a lot of articles on abortion in women issues and other magazine point out that there are 1.5 million families in America who are willing to adopt a child in her article “10 Common Arguments For and Against Abortion”. Pro-life supporters believe there is no such thing as unwanted child because there are 1.5 million families willing to adopt a child. The problem with this solution is that women who goes through all the pain of labor will most likely would not give up their child. Studies have shown that very few women put their child up for adoption after giving a birth to the child. According to Lowen, in her article “10 Common Arguments For and Against Abortion” only 3% white women give up their child for adoption, and only 2% black women give up their child for adoption. Another problem with Pro-life adoption plan is that there are more unwanted pregnancies than the families who are willing to adopt children. According to the article “Induced Abortion in the United States” provided by American Psychological Association half of pregnancies among American women are unintended, and four in ten of these are terminated by abortion. Teenage pregnancies are increasing day by day. In “Babies having Babies” Wendy S Myers points out the fact that forty percent of all women in United States will get pregnant by the age of 19. If for a moment we agree with Pro-life supporter, and illegalized the abortion again than their will be a lot of unwanted children because speed of teens giving birth to unwanted child will be a lot more than people who are willing to adopt a child. If young women are left with these unwanted children their whole life will be affected. According to Lowen, in article “Why Teens Choose Abortion” less than 2% of teen mothers who give birth before age 18 go on to earn a college degree by the time they turn 30. This fact show how young women future can be destroyed if she is not given an access to abortion. At the age of 19 most of women are either in high school or freshmen at college which mean they are not financially stable, and can’t provide for another human being. They themselves rely on their parent for financial assistance. If they are forced to have baby then they would not be left with a lot of choices, and would have to drop from school in order to provide for their child. In order to provide for a child, they would have to find a job, and without a good education they would not be able to find a good job, and will be stuck with some odd job for rest of their life. Odd jobs do not pay decent salary, so in order to pay bills and put food on table women will have to work a lot of hours. This mean she would not be able to give her child time leading the child towards the downfall. These children usually do not do well in school and are most likely to choose the path of crime. Society should not force young woman to have a baby when she is not financially ready to provide for her child.
Pro-life supporters want women to carry a child, and would not allow them to get abortion even if they got raped. According to FBI there were an estimated 83,425 forcible rapes reported to law enforcement in 2011(Forcible Rape). Pro-life supporters are willing to destroy the future of these 83,425 women, but not willing to change their perception about abortion. They want these women to carry a man child who they does not even know. The argue they state is that it is not child fault, so he or she should not be killed by abortion. Pro-life supporters also state that abortion cause women to feel guilty, later in life for killing a child. They believe that fetus is a human being, but in fact in is not. Fetus is only a part of pregnant woman, like her liver or heart. Basically it is just a tissue, it is a potential human being not an actual human being. Abortion is to dismiss pregnancy, not to kill a baby. Some Pro-life supporter argue that abortion have psychological effect on women. However, according to recent report provided by American Psychological Association “Mental Health and Abortion Task Force Report” abortions in many cases do not causes any psychological effect on woman. If abortion had psychological effect on women then women in larger number would not get abortion. In 2011, just alone in state of Pennsylvania 169,000 women perform abortion (State Facts About Abortion: Pennsylvania). There are some negative feeling about unwanted pregnancies, but not abortion. Abortion usually bring relief to women because it set them free of responsibility of providing for a human being.
According to U.S. National library of medicine 1 in 3 women in U.S will get raped once in their life time which is roughly 33% of women population (Rape sexual assault). Basically Pro-life supporter want these women to re-live rape for whole year until she gives a birth to rapist child. Then later if she want to get rid of that child she can put the child for adoption. What Pro-life support doesn’t realize is that by forcing a woman to carry her rapist child will harm her psychologically. After getting raped women are very scared, and usually don’t talk about it with their family members or friends for weeks, and about 80 to 90 percent of them do not even report it to police according to U.S. National library of Medicine ( Rape sexual assault). By the time she tell her friends, she is already pregnant. The only option then she is left with is abortion in order to protect her future. If she get abortion then she can just keep her rape a secret from the world. If she do not get abortion not just that it will psychologically affect her, but also it will make very hard for her to find someone to marry. After all, there are few guys in our society, who are willing to marry a woman who has been raped in past.
In conclusion, abortion is the right choice for women who are not ready to bring a child in this world for whatever reason. Raising a child by a single mom is very hard in our harsh world. It is very hard for women to play both mother and father role. Child is raised best way possible when both parent are actively with child all the time. No child wants to be without father. Usually women also do not wish to raise the child by themselves, so to save themselves they get abortion. After all perfect family consists of mother and father.
Works Cited
Clowes, Brian. "Does Abortion Reduce Welfare Costs? | LifeSiteNews.com." LifeSiteNews.
LifeSiteNews.com, 27. Nov.2012. Web. 01 May 2014.
Donohue, John J. and Levitt, Steven D. “The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime”. The Quarterly Journal of Economics. Vol. CXVI. Issue 2. (379-420) Web. 27 Apr. 2014
“Forcible Rape." FBI. FBI.gov, 17 Aug. 2012. Web. 05 May 2014
"Induced Abortion in the United States.". Guttmacher Institute. guttmacher.org, 14. Feb.2014. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.
Lowen, Linda. "10 Common Arguments For and Against Abortion." About.com Women 's Issues. About.com, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
Lowen, Linda. "The Top Reasons Why Teens Choose Abortion." About.com Women 's Issues. About.com, n.d. Web. 03 May 2014.
"Mental Health and Abortion Task Force Report." Http://www.apa.org. American Psychological Association. Aug. 2008. Web. 02 May 2014.
Myers, Wendy S. "Babies Having Babies. (Cover Story)." Women In Business 42.4 (1990): 18- 20. Academic Search Elite. Web. 4 Apr. 2014.
"Rape (sexual Assault) - Overview: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia." U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2014
"State Facts About Abortion: Pennsylvania." Guttmacher Institute. Guttmacher.org, n.d. Web. 05 May 2014