Kubo 1 Erin Kubo John Kubler English 114A 22 October 2013 The Gift of Life that Abortions Take

It has often been said that abortion, the termination of a human pregnancy, is the first big step to gaining more civil rights for women. In discussion of abortion, one controversial issue is whether these women should be given the right to kill their own child just because they can to protect themselves. On the one hand, people in favor of this act argue that the women need this right to protect the health of pregnant women both physically and mentally. There are some examples of these arguments in the article Roe v. Wade allows abortions for all 9 months of pregnancy, not just the first 3 when the writer listed things that can be harmful to the mother like stigma of unwed motherhood, the work of child care, and the distress, for all concerned, associated with the unwanted child(Agresti). These can be legit reasons to get an abortion because it had to do with the mothers health according to the Roe vs. Wade Law. On the other hand, the people against this contend that problems resulting from this act both from a physical and psychological standpoint are far worse than just dealing with the pregnancy plus the fact that they are involving a human life that cant speak for itself. For example in an article called 10 Reasons Why Abortion is Evil & Not a Pro-Choice the author states that the the National Cancer Institute commissioned a study [which then] found a link between abortion and cancer. So abortions can lead to long lasting cancer which is a worse consequence than just having the baby. But, there are many any others who even maintain a middle state where they would give women the choice of abortion but only during a certain time frame after which the government will step in to protect the child. However, my own view is that we as a country should adopt the

Kubo 2 practice of protecting life as much as possible for both the child and the mother equally. In other words I am against abortion, except in emergency situations involving a life or death situation in the mothers case. Despite what bad circumstances these women have experienced that resulted in pregnancy, nevertheless, there are still many options open to them which will make the best of a bad situation, allowing new life to enter this world.

Now many mothers in favor of abortion would probably object that the health of the mother is whats most important and by letting them go through with the pregnancy will cause them physical and mental problems for the well-being of women. Although I grant that dealing with some situations will be harmful to these women, I still maintain that we should protect the child because these mothers will have worse problems if they go through the abortion rather than without it. In an essay called Induced abortion and anxiety, mood, and substance abuse disorders: Isolating the effects of abortion in the national co morbidity survey, that the researchers Coleman worked together with took info from the surveys to find that abortion can cause a wide range of anxiety (panic disorder, panic attacks, PTSD, agoraphobia), mood (bipolar disorder, mania, major depression), and substance abuse disorders (alcohol and drug abuse and dependence) which shows that the outcomes are far worse for women if they go through with abortions than for women who dont (Coleman 771). If that wasnt scary enough in the article10 Reasons Why Abortion is Evil & Not a Pro-Choice the writer brings up a point to show that abortions are unsafe by stating the risk of breast cancer in those who had experienced an induced abortion was 50% higher than among other women (Bascom, Geoffrey, and Mull). With this increased risk should show that induced abortions might not be the healthiest route to take. This statement brings up that this doesnt only cause mental health problems but physical health as well by fighting of cancer for the rest of their lives.

Kubo 3 Many feminists would still argue that these women need to have this to finally have a breakthrough to have more civil rights. Sure, by giving women the option of abortion, they are given more civil rights but what the government is actually giving them is the power to become legal murderers. Although there are many people who are in the middle that have good intentions by saying that there should be a restriction up to a point where they are given the right, nevertheless the government made a huge loophole that gives women no restrictions as to when they can be given an abortion. This loophole was talked about in the article Roe v. Wade allows abortions for all 9 months of pregnancy, not just the first 3the writer James D. Agresti found that the wording of the ruling of the Roe v. Wade Law is so unrestrictive that doctors only have to say that an abortion is necessary because of the preservation of the health of the mother (Agresti). So, basically pregnant women just need a doctor to vouch that their health is in danger if they continued with the pregnancy then they could just kill the baby like its a simple problem that can be easily rid off from their lives. Women are using the health of the mother card so easily that they dont see the possibilities of life these children can have and all they can think of is the heat of the moment and all they see a nuisance that isnt needed. These women are killing life that can have a better future and that is taken away by the decision of another person because they cant speak for themselves. In the same article which I brought up earlier called 10 Reasons Why Abortion is Evil & Not a Pro-Choice the authors state that in medical books they have found in a definition that A living human person begins to exist at the moment of conception, even though only as a cell so that means all those women who have had abortions have committed murder without a second thought (Bascom, Geoffrey, and Mull). These women who do make the decision to go through abortion dont think about what they are truly doing thoroughly because in the heat of the moment situations like this many people cant really think too far into the future. There are very narrow sighted pregnant women that dont

Kubo 4 see all consequences that come after the abortion. They make their decisions without being fully prepared for whats in store for the future and they even forget that they not only have to deal with themselves but with other people in their lives as well. Most of this country is of Christian faith and from a biblical standpoint these women are killing a gift from god. These children were sent here for reason and what women dont realize later is that they are usually going to be regretting what they have done by thinking about what their child might be doing now. There child might have been sent for a reason and they will never know until the future. For example in the film Crazy, Stupid, Love there is a romance between a womanizer named Jacob and woman named Hannah who changes his ways because he falls in love with her. Hannah turns out to be his soul mate when she actually got to know him as an individual person instead of a guy that would take her to bed. What they dont realize is that Hannahs parents had her when they were only 17 years old. If they would have decided to abort Hannah in the beginning then she would have never met Jacob which would have resulted in him still being a womanizer without anyone to really understand him as a person. Abortion kills the possibility that the child will grow up to do something good. I also understand that this world isnt perfect and in some situations the life that must be chosen is either the woman or the child. I think that abortions do kill lives and this is a decision that shouldnt be made by the woman alone. Many women may not realize this in the heat of the moment because this isnt just their problem it might involve other people. Women should only be given option of abortion when their lives are at stake because they are involving other people besides themselves such as their husbands and family. In the movie Breaking Dawn the main character Bella gets pregnant by her vampire lover and decides to have her vampire baby even though it is causing health problems to her. Towards the end her vampire father in law Carlisle, who is a doctor, tells her that she will die before she could give birth. She is stubborn and wants to

Kubo 5 give birth to it and tells her vampire husband Edward that he will have a part of her when she dies. He tells her Because you've given me no choice! Bella, we're supposed to be partners. Remember? But you decided this on your own. You've decided to leave me. and because of this he decides that he wouldnt be able to live if she died knowing it was the monster child that killed her. He brings in the point that it is only her that is making the decision and not discussing it with him or thinking about the people in her life that she is leaving behind. I understand that there are people who would argue by saying this is a fantasy situation, but in reality there are situations where the mothers do die because they werent given an abortion. In the article Woman dies after abortion request refused at Galway hospital the author talks about how a Hindu woman in Ireland was refused an abortion because the baby had a fetal heart beat and it was against the law to kill a baby if it had a heartbeat in that country. She wanted to have an abortion because of severe back pain. After they refused the abortion the back pain escalated and the baby died due to a miscarriage. The situation got worse when the women became critically ill and four days later her organs stopped functioning and she died. When the husband was asked if she would still be alive if she had the abortion he replied Of course, no doubt about it (BBC News Europe).This article shows that there are situations where pregnant women need an abortion to live. Thats why women should be given the option for not only their life but the lives of the other people in her life. Even though I would condone abortion in a life or death scenario, I still believe it should be used as a last resort. There are still people that would argue that abortions are needed to deal with situations of rape and incest. All I want to say is that even though in the bad cases of women being pregnant from the result of rape and incest there are still ways to make the best of these horrible situations. There are many success stories of women dealing with being impregnated from their rape by taking a positive outlook in life. With the internet there are websites where these types of women

Kubo 6 can seek moral support from other women that can relate to these kinds of situations. For the cases of incest there was a time not too long ago where this was a common practice to keep power within a family. What the best thing to do though in this two situations is to put the kid up for adoption if these women still dont want to have anything to do with them. There are still couples in this world who desperately want kids and could never have them. That would be the best option on both ends of the situation. Instead of women running away from their problems by going through with an abortion they should look at all of their options to see that they can make positive influence in life through a horrible situation. Ultimately, what is at stake here is not only the civil rights for women an concept of self defense as fundamental right but the loss of human life as well. Although my idea of restricting abortion to only woman of dire circumstances may seem trivial, it is in fact crucial in terms of todays concern over abortion rights. My argument will help establish a positive mindset to protect the lives of both the mothers and their children. Abortion may gain the power women are seeking to be on more equal terms of men but they are only making more conflicts in their lives that will hinder them instead of helping them. Abortion should only be used in the life or death situation because there are so many other positive options besides abortion that can be taken that will not only save a child but help the mother as well.

Kubo 7 Works Cited Agresti, James D. Roe v. Wade Allows Abortions for all 9 Months of Pregnancy, Not Just the First 3. JustFactsDaily.com. Just Facts, 18 Jan. 2013. Web. 21 October 2013. Coleman, Priscilla K., et al. Induced Abortions and Anxiety, Mood, and Substance Abuse Disorders: Isolating the Effects of Abortion in the National Comorbidity Survey. Journal of Psychiatric Research 43.8 (May 2009): 770-76. Science Direct Journals. Web. 21 October 2013 Mull, Geoffrey, and James Bascom. 10 Reasons Why Abortion is Evil & Not a Pro-Choice. TFPStudentAction.org. American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property, n.d. Web. 21 October 2013. BBC News Europe. Woman Dies after Abortion Request 'refused' at Galway Hospital. bbc.co.uk. 14 Nov. 2012. Web. 5 Dec. 2013. Crazy, Stupid, Love. Dir. Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. Perf. Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, and Emma Stone. Warner Brothers, 2011. Film. Breaking Dawn part 1. Dir. Bill Condon. Perf. Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson, and Kristen Stewart. Summit Entertainment, 2011. Film.