Abortion: a Discursive Essay

Discursive essay- Abortion is murder
Thirty years ago, the United States Supreme Court made up a constitutional right to abortion. Since then there have been 44 million abortions. There have been 112 million births. Using those two numbers, a scientist calculated that 28 percent of all pregnancies have ended in abortion.Abortion is an issue that people have been questioning for generations. It is often a very hard personal decision to make; you must consider all sides of the issue. Abortion is the removal of a foetus before it has been born. Some call this murder; others say it is a matter of personal rights. Is it right to abort a baby if its father is a rapist? Is it right to save a baby with a possible poor quality of life or even one which may be homeless? What would you do if you discovered you were pregnant at 17 and you had no family to turn too? Would you kill a harmless child or strive to provide and do your best for your unborn baby?
The first reason that I am against abortion is that an abortion can result in medical complications later in life; the risk of ectopic pregnancies doubles, and the chance of a miscarriage and pelvic inflammatory disease also increases. These medical conditions severely endangers the mother herself but in the future if another pregnancy was to go ahead then that babies life would be in jeopardy due to a cold blooded murder of its older sibling. Death by ectopic pregnancies is common so therefore the mother’s family may be left one member down which cannot be seen as logical.
There may often be severe instances when abortion can be supported. Firstly, nearly all abortions take place in the first trimester, when a fetus cannot survive without its mother, outside the womb. As it is attached by the placenta and umbilical cord, its health is dependent on her health, and cannot be regarded as a separate human. If the baby would not survive does the mother have a duty of care to it or can this be disregarded? Is it really murder if the baby could not survive outside of the womb? Some believe it is not.
Secondly, I believe abortion is wrong due to it frequently causing intense psychological pain and stress to the mother and her family members who are watching her aborting a soon to be active member of the family. Maybe she feels like she could not cope and jumped to the decision without true consultation of her close support network. It has also been proved that up to 20% (yes that’s one in five) of abortions have been regretted by the offending mother. A decision taken that could result in severe family breakdowns and often in some cases the regret of such actions can result in the mother committing suicide. A famous quotation from Mother Teresa disagrees with abortion; ‘
It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.”
― Mother Teresa
Another instance that abortion should be supported is lain down very plainly by the government. The ability of a woman to have control of her body is critical to civil rights. Take away her reproductive choice and you breech her rights resulting in massive political fallout. If you remove a women’s right to abortion when she wants it then you force compulsory parenthood upon her: often called a form of rape by the government. Edward Abbey supports abortion in certain circumstances he was quoted outside of an interview with the words;
‘If the government can force a woman to continue a pregnancy, what about forcing a woman to use contraception or undergo sterilization? It is wrong, morally wrong and forceful’
Edward Abbey

Thirdly, I disagree on abortion as whenever a child is conceived it should have the full rights to life as you or I have. Since life begins at conception, abortion is a pass to direct murder as it is the act of taking human life. Abortion is in direct defiance of the commonly accepted idea of the importance of a human’s life.
In a severe case of rape or incest, forcing a woman made pregnant by this violent act would cause further psychological harm to the victim so many say this is a reason why abortion should be legal. Often a woman is too afraid to speak up or is unaware she is pregnant, thus the morning after pill is ineffective in these situations. Unfortunately, the poor defenseless child will be a constant reminder for the mother of her abuse, this means that a mother experiences over whelming fear and hate for a child it may result in a poor quality of life for him or her. Jerry Weller after a heated debate on abortion was quoted saying;
‘Ban partial-birth abortion except to save mother's life or in rape.’
Jerry Weller

“If a mother can kill her own child - what is left for me to kill you and you to kill me - there is nothing between.”
― Mother Teresa
This short quotation from Mother Teresa outlines my final most poignant argument against abortion. Abortion is cold blooded murder. A destroyal of a moving, living baby pacified by unbothered politicians. No one has the guts to stand up and make a law as they cannot face the criticism they may receive but abortion is murder, it is wrong. If abortion is allowed then why is murder of an everyday citizen not? Surely, it should be under current laws. Current laws are ancient and must be modified to only fit the most severe cases of incest and rape.
Abortion is the deliberate killing of the weakest and most defenceless among us. Unfortunately, for the last few decades, the practice has been recognized as a fundamental human right by the highest court of the land and the wealthiest. Many people are heartfelt supporters of abortion. Their reasons for support are varied as previously discussed. However, I believe that support for abortion is not possible for those who understand our dignity as human persons under God. We were made by God, and it is from him we learn that murder is wrong in any form. From God we also receive undivided love and guidance which would carry the difficult childbearing mother through times of pain and unrest.
Sources
-http://www.customwritings.com/blog/sample-research-papers/reseach-paper-abortion.htm
-www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/abortion.html
-www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/abortion
-womensissues.about.com › ... ›

Wordcount-1077