Arguing the abortion issue

by Brenna Rapp

As controversial as abortion is, a simple white bumper sticker with black lettering puts everything into perspective. It states: “If you don’t like an abortion, don’t get one.”

Abortion is not for everybody. It is a very private and emotional decision that many woman are faced with. It is not up to pro-life organizations or Congress to decide the what, how, when or why of an abortion. It is instead a personal decision that only a woman can make.

Being able to make a decision that concerns a woman’s body is a Constitutional right guaranteed after the landmark decision in 1973 with Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed women the right to have an abortion.

Unfortunately, there are many people who would like to see abortion clinics closed. Many pro-life organizations believe that women do not have the right to make a decision about their own bodies. It seems these groups believe that women should not have the choice of having an abortion. Who is better to make the decision for these women? The women who know themselves, their bodies and their situations, or perfect strangers.

Many women face the choice of abortion, and find themselves in clinics because it is their last option. They may be raped or incest victims. Or women who would bring the child into a dangerous situation—such as domestic abuse. Whatever the reason, it is THEIR decision.

When women choose to have an abortion, it is their decision; who am I or anyone else to tell them otherwise? I am not in their shoes, I do not know what they are going through. Abortion for many is a last resort, a choice that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. I can’t pretend to understand what they are going through, therefore I don’t. I choose to stay out of their personal decisions, but there are many people who do tell them what they’re doing is wrong or immoral.

Whatever the reason for an abortion, it is still a private choice. No matter how strange or stupid the reason may sound to outsiders, a woman’s decision has nothing to do with them, and everything to do with her.

Nobody is for abortion; rather, people are for a choice to be there if women needs it. It is our right and freedom, no matter what others may think. There will always be people who are against abortion. But do not let them stand in the way of a woman’s right to choose.

by Kim Cuneo

What do Susan B. Anthony, Senator Orrin Hatch, and Mother Teresa all have in common? They are just three of the many people who are against abortion. Susan B. Anthony called abortion “child murder,” and Mother Teresa called it “the great destroyer of peace today.” Today, being pro-choice is a more popular, more politically correct view of abortion, but it is a much bigger issue than most people realize. The pro-choice view claims to be in women’s best interest, but there a lot of evidence that proves abortion is not in women’s best interest.

There have been many negative effects of abortion since it was legalized in 1973 with the Roe v. Wade court case. One assumption that was made in that case was that if abortion was legalized then child abuse would decrease, since most abused children were unwanted at birth.

Since abortion has been legal, child abuse has actually risen at a dramatic rate. In 1973, there were 167,000 cases of child abuse in the United States, but in 1987, there were 2,025,200 cases of child abuse! So the claim that legalizing abortion would help reduce child abuse is completely false.

Not only is there more child abuse, but abortion also damages families. Relationships break up after abortions because of the “child that never was,” and women experience long-term stress from the effects of having an abortion.

Abortion has caused a moral shift in society, and has devalued human life. Some people claim that a fetus is not “life,” or that unborn infants do not enjoy a right to life. But the fact is, a fetus is living, and an unborn baby does have a right to life. Are mothers who kill their unborn babies different than murderers who kill someone who is six, or sixteen, or sixty? In either situation, a life is gone.

Of course people will argue that abortion is okay, based on the women who have been raped and gotten pregnant, or incidences of incest, or various other cases such as these but is it really fair to make a law based on these exceptions? Obviously these instances are not ordinary, and require a different approach.

But in reference to a run-of-the-mill abortion, such as for a woman who was too lazy

to use birth control, that is not a good reason to kill a life. Sure, it’s her body, but what about the body forming within her? That one should count, too.