The Controversial Issue Of Abortion

Abortion has become the number one controversial issue in America over the past 10 years. Abortion is a very deep and personal decision. There are two genres that discuss both the pros and the cons of this personal choice. The first is a website called Abortion. procon.org. It is nonpartisan, nonprofit, and presents facts, studies, and pro and con statements related to abortion. This is a very informational and relatable site that any women should consider in their decision making process. The second source is an e-book by Dr. John Jefferson Davis. This source is called Abortion and the Christian: What Every Believer Should Know. It generally discusses both sides of the
controversial topic. It is not a long book so it is an easy read with a lot of worthy information. In understanding the effectiveness of each genre it should be determined what source makes the purpose more well-defined on abortion. Without doubt, the website is trying to raise awareness of women to list their options in their thinking process with this difficult decision. It also is trying to impart deeper meaning into keeping abortion legal or making it illegal. These purposes are to teach women many statistics about abortion. It states the pros and cons if it were to be illegal or if it stays legal. It states on the website that, “Some pro-choice proponents believe abortion should only be used as a last resort, while others advocate unrestricted access to abortion services under any circumstance” (Procon.org, 1). This statement is showing both sides of the abortion controversy. To repeat, the purpose of What Every Believer Should Know is to raise awareness of both sides to this controversy. It also has a deeper meaning because it starts to involve religion and ethical views. This book explains in great detail that abortion is not just a controversy issue but also the judgment on American human values. It states in the preface, “The abortion controversy reflects tensions and conflicts felt widely in marriage, the family, role identities, and human sexuality in general” (Davis, preface 1). He is saying that abortion makes a difference in more ways than people would understand. It creates problems with not only people who are strongly for or against abortion but families, friends, marriages and self- reflection. The purpose of this book is to create a more vivid big picture behind abortion. Next, the audience of the website abortion.procon.org is women dealing with a challenging decision of abortion.
Also the audience is not just for women but, people that are interested in keeping it legal or making it illegal. The website lists many pros and cons to abortion and it can be informational to the public and women interested in researching their decision. The website is trying to inform women and the general public about abortion and giving detailed arguments to the controversial issue. They tie in the purpose by informing women and the general public of both sides to abortion. The audience is likely to understand what abortion is but want to know some pros and cons of it. The audience can spend about an hour thoroughly reading this website and when they are done be very informed on the listed pros and cons to abortion. This information is very formal and appropriate for the target audience by the use of the easy to read facts and how well the information is constructed. The specialized vocabulary being used is the specific dates and court dates used to present past history. The website did a very decent job talking to the target
audience. In addition, the book, What Every Believer Should Know had the same target audience of women and general public wanting more information about abortion. The purpose of the book was to inform the target audience of both sides of the controversial topic. The audience ties in with the purpose because he is trying to inform the women and general public of his personal views about both sides of abortion. Dr. John Davis is trying to make the target audience open up their mind to his views. Dr. Davis is not necessarily trying to persuade them to change their minds but open up to his point of view. He brings religion into it because he knows it is a very touchy subject and can either “make or break” the audiences thoughts on abortion. The women and general public will spend about a day or two reading his online book. It provides just enough information to help the readers understand both sides. The language is very formal and appropriate to the audience because he does not step out of line with any comments, just provides valid facts and information. The specialized vocabulary the author uses is coming from his doctorate degree so it makes the audience believe it more. This book did a very good job talking to his target audience. Furthermore, the website uses a chart split into two halves to show the pros and cons of pro legalization and cons of legalization of abortion.
It helps achieve the purpose because it is informing the target audience on the pros and cons of abortion. It also uses facts and wholesome statistics to inform women. It doesn’t show any empathy in the website because it is used more for facts and statistics. It doesn’t create any emotional experience for the general public reading it but it may for pregnant women trying to make their decision. The credibility of this website is highly credible because it presents verifiable facts, statistics and doesn’t give any biased opinions. It has a trusted reputation because it is not like Wikipedia where anyone can change the information. It is also a non-profit organization. The website is very
credible. To repeat, the book What Every Believer Should Know creates a connection with the audience but does not use any graphs, pictures or charts to help create a better understanding. The book doesn’t use any type of pathos to construct a better picture of his thoughts and views. Davis used a great deal of facts and useful opinions that he didn’t really need charts or graphs to create visual ideas. His evidence was supported with all his knowledge with a PhD degree, facts from past court cases and religious verses from the bible. This genre creates an emotional experience for women who are considering abortion and anyone that is against abortion. It makes you step back and look into to the realization of your decision and provides a fair amount of detail for both sides of the controversial topic. This book did a very respectable job of relaying the message to the target audience. As for the pro con website, the layout is very organized. It is very easy to follow and simple. It has a side bar to search other topics and a side panel with easy access to featured resources. At the top of the page there is a box that summarizes what the page is about. Then there is a box with did you know facts to keep the target audiences attention. Towards the middle there is a chart with the pros and cons of abortion. At the bottom there is a about 5 paragraphs just summarizing all the information of the page. The colors are very neutral so when you click on the page it isn’t overwhelming. The font is Times new roman about size 14 so you are able to read everything clearly. These small things make the biggest difference in whether someone chooses to stay on this website or not because it is organized and very easy to understand and process. This website did a very good job because it also contributed to the purpose by informing the reader in multiple ways, not just a boring 4 page article. It was exactly what a website should be formatted like. Likewise, the book What Every Believer Should Know was constructed very simple as well. It was set up like book with only 7 chapters that were easy going and light reading. The online book was set up into two different chapters that were about 10 pages each. The font was Times New Roman with font size about 20 so it wasn’t difficult to read. It was a lot of relatable information. The background color was a neutral gray so it wasn’t overpowering when you were trying to read. The only thing that could potentially turn someone away from this book is the religious side. The elements did contribute to the purpose of the book because it keeps the reader focused by not having a lot of the page when they are reading a book. The set up was very well done for this kind of informational book.
In conclusion, the website was the better genre to reach its purpose. In understanding the effectiveness the website made the purpose more well-defined on abortion. It was more interesting, organized and better laid out for the target audience. This website provided actual facts, created a clear difference between the pros and cons and was light reading. The pro con website was a complete choice for pregnant women and even just the general public wanting to know more information on abortion. The website is an all-around better choice when choosing between the two genres.

Reference Page

Jefferson Davis, P. D. (n.d.). 1984. Abortion and the Christian: What Every
Believer Should Know http://www.ccel.us/AbortionandtheXian.toc.html Abortion ProCon.org. (n.d.). ProConorg Headlines. Retrieved February 9, 2014, from http://abortion.procon.org