Abortion
The argument surrounding abortion is currently of a great political importance. Many people in the U.S.—especially Presbyterians and Baptists—vote solely based on the standpoint of the presidential candidate on the idea of abortion. With the Conservatives making up the majority of the pro-life population as well as the Liberals forming the majority of the pro-choice party one can see abortion as such an influential dividing factor in politics.
Pro-life by definition is someone who is opposed to legalized abortion while pro-choice is one who supports and advocates legalized abortion. Therefore, while advocates of pro-life believe that after a mother is impregnated she cannot do anything that takes away the right of her child to live, pro-choice advocates believe in the authority of the mother over her body and they consider a fetus a part of the mother’s body allowing her to make decisions about life and death of her child—mostly before the beginning of the third trimester of pregnancy.
My main argument is that when this nation was founded on the basis of free will which then leads to the freedom of action, how can we then take away the freedom of choice from these mothers? While pro-life advocates are absolutely right about giving one the right to decide for his/her life—in this case children’s choice of living cannot be taken away without their consent, they fail to realize that first of all a fetus is still a part of the mother’s body and also that the mother can save that child from living an unwanted miserable life. Considering the high unwanted pregnancy rates for teenage girls--almost at 3%—and females who do not have enough money or family support to properly nourish a child, abortion actually benefits both the society and the unborn child.
Considering the statistical data that 77% of anti-abortion leaders are men and only a minority of women are anti-abortion, would it not be reasonable to ask, if women do not have the right to decide for their own bodies then why should men? I believe that not all women have easy access to contraceptives, proper sex education and enough emotional support which can cause them to make decisions that they may regret in the future but one mistake should not ruin the future of a mother and her child if it can be prevented easily. Also, even contraceptives do not function properly 100% of the time or people who are raped do not made the decision of becoming pregnant. So, can we just say abortion is allowed in certain cases? Would that not only imply a sense of punishment for the mothers? Is that how we vent out our anger by punishing people who make mistakes or are as humans supposed to help and love one another? Therefore, if one thinks that they should love their neighbors and not repay mistakes with punishment, he/she should show that love and compassion towards women who have gotten pregnant by mistake but now realize that they do not want their past mistakes to dictate their future.
The argument surrounding abortion is currently of a great political importance. Many people in the U.S.—especially Presbyterians and Baptists—vote solely based on the standpoint of the presidential candidate on the idea of abortion. With the Conservatives making up the majority of the pro-life population as well as the Liberals forming the majority of the pro-choice party one can see abortion as such an influential dividing factor in politics.
Pro-life by definition is someone who is opposed to legalized abortion while pro-choice is one who supports and advocates legalized abortion. Therefore, while advocates of pro-life believe that after a mother is impregnated she cannot do anything that takes away the right of her child to live, pro-choice advocates believe in the authority of the mother over her body and they consider a fetus a part of the mother’s body allowing her to make decisions about life and death of her child—mostly before the beginning of the third trimester of pregnancy.
My main argument is that when this nation was founded on the basis of free will which then leads to the freedom of action, how can we then take away the freedom of choice from these mothers? While pro-life advocates are absolutely right about giving one the right to decide for his/her life—in this case children’s choice of living cannot be taken away without their consent, they fail to realize that first of all a fetus is still a part of the mother’s body and also that the mother can save that child from living an unwanted miserable life. Considering the high unwanted pregnancy rates for teenage girls--almost at 3%—and females who do not have enough money or family support to properly nourish a child, abortion actually benefits both the society and the unborn child.
Considering the statistical data that 77% of anti-abortion leaders are men and only a minority of women are anti-abortion, would it not be reasonable to ask, if women do not have the right to decide for their own bodies then why should men? I believe that not all women have easy access to contraceptives, proper sex education and enough emotional support which can cause them to make decisions that they may regret in the future but one mistake should not ruin the future of a mother and her child if it can be prevented easily. Also, even contraceptives do not function properly 100% of the time or people who are raped do not made the decision of becoming pregnant. So, can we just say abortion is allowed in certain cases? Would that not only imply a sense of punishment for the mothers? Is that how we vent out our anger by punishing people who make mistakes or are as humans supposed to help and love one another? Therefore, if one thinks that they should love their neighbors and not repay mistakes with punishment, he/she should show that love and compassion towards women who have gotten pregnant by mistake but now realize that they do not want their past mistakes to dictate their future.