PRO-LIFE Abortions are a very controversial issue for all of us, more so for the pro-life movement. Most of the foundation on which they build their beliefs is based on religious status. The pro-life movement maintains that the human life begins at conception. Medical studies have shown that the fetus responds to light, sound, and touch as early as 25 weeks. In 1984, a highly controversial film entitled The Silent Scream was released. The film claims to be a live-action ultrasound of an ongoing abortion.
Dr. Nathanson, a M. D. who performed abortions, stopped when he saw the film. He provides the following comment: “You can see from the moment the tip of the suction machine starts to move. The fetus knows it and starts to scuttle to the top of the uterus.
You can see her mouth open in a silent scream. From there on you can see all the agitation: you can see the heart speeding up, you can see the limbs moving faster, you can see the child moving more rapidly. Even the breathing increases. So there is no question this child feels pain, and actually sense’s danger.” Opponents of legal abortion do not see it as a constitutional right.
They argue that the law places many limits on child abuse, but abortion the most severe case of child abuse-is okay. Pro-life advocates believe that abortion can also cause serious mental problems to the mother. They believe that legal abortion exploits women. They say that abortion manipulates women who want to keep their babies, and after it is all said and done, the women regret ever having done it. The woman is left feeling degraded and less a human being as before she had the abortion.
They stress abstinence as an alternative of pregnancy. Here is a first hand account of a young woman who had an abortion and is pro-life: “An abortion was the worst thing that has ever happened to me. When I found out that I was pregnant, my parents forced me to have an abortion. They took me in a room and laid me down on a table and performed the abortion.
It felt like my whole insides were being torn to pieces. If I ever got pregnant again, I would keep the child, whether my parents liked it or not.” PRO-CHOICE There are many arguments for the pro-choice advocates. It is hard to find out where to start-they think that an unwanted child is a legitimate justification for terminating their pregnancy. For instance, they look out for the “best interest” of the fetus by saying that they do not want their child to live through knowing that their parents gave them up because they were unwanted.
The mother knows what the child would live through and therefore does not want to put the child through it. Another side is that the parents force them to have an abortion though they don’t want to. They are forced to make the decision of giving up their child or their family, and they would rather give up the child than be disowned by their family. Although abortions have been going on for decades before it became legal, more women, statistically speaking, are having abortions.
There are several reasons for this: 1. Safer medical procedures. 2. Privacy 3. No criticism for those who choose an abortion by the health workers. Here is an account of a woman who had an abortion and is pro-choice.
As you can see, the women who are pro-choice describe the procedure very differently than those who are pro-life “An abortion procedure is done simple and swiftly. First, make an appointment with the clinic, then go into the clinic and sign release forms saying that you know the hazards and that you are willing to go through it. Next, you are taken to group consoling that consists of a group leader and about five other pregnant women, and the leader explains the procedure in great detail. After the group counseling, you are taken to an individual counselor that evaluates if you are still willing to have the abortion performed.
Next, you are taken to a bathroom and given a sheet to wrap around the lower half of your body. You are then taken to the room the doctor will perform the procedure in, which looks like an operation room. The doctor then lies you down on a table and gives a general anesthetic to minimize the pain. The doctor opens the vagina with a medical device that looks like two steel tongue depressors so that he is more able to see.
He then gives a shot in the cervix that deadens it, then gentle opens the cervix and takes a small suction machine into the cervix and empties the uterus. Afterwards, you are taken to a room with reclining chairs that you are to sit in. There are approximately twenty women who have just had an abortion too. You are given light soda and are given a set of instructions of how to take care of yourself to reduce damage. At times I feel a bit guilty, but I also think that I did the best I could with the situation I had.” STATISTICS Here are a few statistics on abortion.
Number of abortions after it was legalized… nearly doubled From 1965-1967 (number of abortions in New York) Whites. 4. 2 abortions per 1, 000 live births Non-Whites 1. 8 abortions per 1, 000 live births Puerto Ricans 0. 9 abortions per 1, 000 live births Second year of state’s free-choice statute: Whites 366 abortions per 1, 000 live births Non-Whites 736 abortions per 1, 000 live births Puerto Ricans 336 abortions per 1, 000 live births INTERVIEWS LILA “I am against it, in one sense of the topic, and in another sense of the topic I can see why women need the choice to have a choice.
I know it’s an issue that I don’t know how we can legislate anything that personnel. We have a right in this country to choose who is our President, what church we attend, and on and on. I guess each woman should have that right to choose about something that personnel to her, and it is her choice. I do not condemn those that choose this, I support them with their choice, but the whole issue boils down too morally they should not have sex before marriage and they should have thought through the responsibility of what they might be creating. Too often a woman has found herself unable to take care of and are not responsible enough to be a parent. INTERVIEW MARK “I’m against abortion.
I think everything has a right to life, I believe that at the moment of conception, there is life. I mean, we protect everything in the world, like eagles and other things, but we can’t protect our unborn children? If you destroy an eagle’s egg and it is a federal offense, but it means nothing that we kill the unborn? Or is the eagle is better? I put abortion with somebody killing somebody, if someone goes out and shoots someone they get punished, but if you have an abortion, nothing happens, it’s like, “oh, big deal.” I don’t see how you can justify something like that. My opinion on when abortion should be allowed, is when the mother’s life is in danger, if she doesn’t want it, she can put it up for adoption. Or give it to the father, I believe the father has just as much say in it as the mother because it takes two, not one.
What’s next after they legalize abortion, are they going to start killing off the elderly? I’m still waiting for that day to happen. They have all kind of contraceptives these days, there is no reason for a woman to get pregnant if they don’t want to. There is no excuse for people not to use contraceptives, they just don’t talk about it. It’s not like the olden days, I mean they didn’t talk about contraceptives, it was all hush hush, it is all in the open now. Parents should realize that what they done when they were kids, their kids are going to do it too. It’s kind of sad that parents can’t realize that and put their kids on contraceptives before it’s too late.
You can’t tell me that people didn’t have sex before they were married, it just wasn’t talked about, that’s the only difference. INTERVIEW ROBERT I am against abortion because a child has the right to live just like my mother give me the right to live. What gives a person the right to kill a child and get away with it? It is called murder in my book. I could go out and murder someone and be put in prison for life. A baby is like a seed that God planted in the ground. When that seed sprouts open, it has life.
So what is the difference between when a boy and a girl has sexual contact and plant that seed and turn around and destroy it. It is against God’s will to destroy the seed that he has planted. If God hadn’t planned for this child to be on earth, he wouldn’t have planted the seed in that certain woman. If it is a threat on the mother’s life, I could see for that person to have an abortion, because God will plant another seed for her.
Rape, a woman should not get abortion because she got raped. If she wouldn’t be in places (dark alleys for instance), she could have avoided it. If a person gets raped, if she feels she does not want the child, she can put it up for adoption. Most likely, if a woman does not get an abortion, she will be more than happy to keep the child in the end. If she only give that child a chance..