Zika Virus Persuasive Speech

The third article in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person.” However, in places like El Salvador, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, and Jamaica, the Zika virus threatens this right. As Zika spreads, it is not only stripping excitement and celebration from mothers expecting a new baby, but also filling them with an irrevocable fear of the serious birth defects that their baby may develop as a result of catching the virus. Influenced by this fear, women have searched for varying solutions in an attempt to prevent the mass spread of this dreadful epidemic.
Discovered in the western hemisphere between 2013 and 2015, Zika Virus has been spreading via daytime-active Aedes mosquitoes and in some cases via sexual transmission. Microcephaly, caused by the Zika virus, is a serious
birth defect in babies that results in seizures and developmental abnormalities of the brain, ears, and eyes. In rare cases, stillbirths or miscarriages can occur. When the government made the connection between the Zika virus and microcephaly, they told women to avoid pregnancy altogether.
Unfortunately, the government failed to provide distinctive guidelines regarding how women should safeguard themselves, which leads to the first effect of the Zika virus -- fear.
For instance, Kelsey Mishkin Gardner, aware of the birth defects caused by the Zika virus, states in USA TODAY, “I plan my life around a tiny insect that could cause devastating birth defects to my unborn child. There is no reprieve from the planning. And when all precautions fail to prevent the dreaded bite, there is no reprieve from the worry. I wear pants and long sleeves to walk the dog in the sweltering summer heat. I slather myself with bug spray on the way to and from work and cringe when I receive annoyed glances because of the smell. I no longer hike or do normal outdoor activities. I take longer routes to avoid areas that might harbor mosquitoes. I am on constant alert at work and in the comfort of my own home for the sly mosquito that has slipped its way in. Every time I get a mosquito bite, I am consumed by fear that I have contracted Zika and that my first baby-to-be will suffer from irreparable and nearly inconceivable birth
defects.”
Second, even though medical procedures are generally limited or illegal, abortions are skyrocketing in the affected areas. Studies show Latin American countries are requesting up to triple the amount of abortions in contrast to abortions requested preceding the Zika virus epidemic. Women on Web is known for helping women obtain pills that will terminate an early pregnancy in places where abortion is illegal, and this is the method to which many women are turning.
Lastly, as a result of all the lost lives, whether it is by disability or abortion, the overall growth of society has been negatively influenced by the decrease in population. J. K. Rowling writes, “…It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be!” There aren’t studies to prove a baby’s prospect in overcoming the effects of the Zika virus, so how unfortunate it is that these women are robbed of watching who their baby “grows to be” by a minute mosquito.
Everyone has a right to life, liberty, and security of person, but is a life full of so many aberrations worth living at all? Without a cure, women will have to continue navigating these unprecedented situations. Whether it is abortion or raising a child with major disabilities, the repercussions are devastating. Until the sun breaks through with a cure, the darkening clouds of the Zika virus hover over a future generation.