Dan Donovan Votes for Abortion - Report Example

Abortion Is the life of an unborn child worthwhile? Is it still a ‘real’ life and would terminating that pregnancy be ified as murder? Many are the times people ask such questions to find answers that would justify abortion. Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy through medical procedures so that it does not result in birth. Women end their pregnancies if they were unplanned and especially because they may not be ready to raise a child mainly because of economic reasons, age and their education. Statistics shows that 3 out of 10 pregnant women in America induce their abortions with approximately 1.21 million abortions occurring every year. In 2011 alone, 1.06 pregnancies were eliminated through abortion (Mesce & Sines, 2006). Abortion is a very sensitive issue in all dimensions, including political, moral, cultural and religious dimensions. Some may argue that is right while other may go against it in all manner of ways. Unless the birth of a child would pose a significant risk to the mother, a child should be allowed to live even while still in the womb. Besides, there are numerous deaths of mothers when abortion is done in unsafe conditions. Even though the US has already legalized abortion, some people still use crude methods to carry out abortions for fear of stigma when their act is known (Jones & Jerman, 2014). This could result in the death of those women. Furthermore, abortion has many adverse effects especially when done in the late trimesters such as infertility, severe bleeding leading to death, pain, complete damage of the woman’s cervix and uterus and the guilt that comes along with abortion (Jones & Jerman, 2014). One common secondary effect of this would be broken marriages due to being unable to conceive. Abortion would therefore not be worthwhile. This essay discusses Staten Islands, New York representatives at all levels of the government and their views about abortion. Dan Donavan Dan Donovan is the elected representative of the House of Representatives. Though he often brushes off questions regarding abortion, it has always been clear that he is pro-life. When he was a candidate for the Attorney General position, he said that he would enforce laws as they were, and he would go by all the laws of woman reproductive health. However, he avoided the topic entirely. Hes take on abortion can be seen clearly. He supports the right of a child to live and does not agree that women should have the choice to do away with their babies in the womb. He only supports abortion to the extent that the womans life is in danger due to complications in pregnancy, and if the pregnancy is a result of incest or rape. His support for abortion was seen where he provided support to the Crisis Pregnancy Center. The Crisis Pregnancy Center was created in order to educate women on their reproductive health including abortion (Pillifant, 2010). Nevertheless, Dan Donovan does not support abortion when the pregnancy is more than 20 weeks old. He even wrote that he believes in life after conception on the Choice Matters’ candidate questionnaire when he was an Attorney General candidate (Choice Matters, 2010). This clearly shows that he would never support abortion. During his campaigns for the House of Representatives seat, he promised people that he would oppose all bills that restricted abortion. However, during the first few days of his term, he voted for a bill that outlawed abortion after the pregnancy was 20 weeks old (Shapiro, 2015). This fact that he is pro-life is crystal. Senator Schumer Senator Schumer can be considered a pro-choice. He is seen to sponsors laws that incriminate cutting of off of family planning clinics. During his term in office, he voted against the ban on partial-birth abortions, against a law that would illegalize transporting minors to have abortions without prior notice to the minor’s parents. He also voted against a law that would make it possible for a prosecutor to fashion a separate offense in cases where a fetus was endangered unintentionally in a crime. In his website, Schumer sites his attempts to endorse the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. This act makes blockading of family planning clinics a crime. When voting against Justice Alito’s nomination, Schumer stated that there was a probability that Justice Alito would not give women the right to choose. Schumer also voted against an amendment submitted by Senator Wicker, which was to avert the use of aid funds for coercive abortions. He also voted against an amendment seeking the definition of a child for the purpose of State Children’s Health Insurance Program. This would clearly define the stage at which abortion amounted to killing a child. He also voted against amendments to enforce abortion laws. Another bill that he voted against was that which was against providing funding to abortion providers. The Notification Act prohibited transportation of a minor to procure an abortion if her parents were not aware unless the minor’s life was at risk. Schumer voted against it. He also voted against an amendment seeking to make harming of a child in the uterus a separate offense while a person was committing another federal crime. He supported a measure in favor of Roe v Wade. He was also against all Partial Birth Abortion bans (PoliGu.com - The Political Guide, n.d.). Michael Cusick Staten Island’s representative in the NY state assembly, Michael Cusick is pro-life. This means that he does not support abortion. He voted against the Womens Equality Act, which would have given the state abortion rights strength. He was also against the late-term abortion expansion bill though he was not able to vote. He has been seen to be against abortion and opposes all laws and acts that are for abortion. He is very conservative and views abortion as a great vice with grave consequences. According to him, women should not be given choice on whether to get an abortion or not (Reproductive, n.d.). Andrew J Lanza and Steve Matteo Andrew J Lanza is a member of the state senate. He is pro-life and does not support abortion at all. He was one of the 32 senators who voted against the Womens Equality Act, which would cement the rights to abortion in the state law. This would have made abortion still legal in New York if overturning Roe v Wade succeeded. He has been rated highly by the New York State Right to life committee due to his contributions to voting against abortion. He has, therefore, showed that to him abortion is wrong and should not be legal (Reproductive, n.d.). City council member Steve Matteo’s view on abortion is not clear. His activities are mainly based on cleaning up the city and other city activities. However, being a member of the Republican Party, it is clear that he opposes abortion. Republicans believe that unborn babies are human and, therefore, have a right to live. For this reason, they oppose federal abortion funding. They are mainly for adoption and abstinence instead of abortion. They continually seek to amend laws regarding human life present in the constitution and to ban abortion entirely (ontheissues.org, n.d.). By virtue of being Republican, he is pro-life. Conclusion Most of Staten Islands representatives disagree with abortion. They treat the life of an unborn child with sanctity while still in the womb. Although it could be argued that they could only be actively against abortion so as to get back into office, their fight against abortion is crystal. Abortion to me is a selfish act especially when done in the event where neither the mother nor the baby’s life is at risk. Another exception to abortion being a vice in my view is in the case of rape, incest or any other unfortunate occurrence that resulted in the pregnancy. If pregnancy occurs in the absence of such adverse events and a mother terminates the pregnancy at her free will, this should be seen as a grave vice. I would be willing to start and join in organizations within the university to campaign against abortion. I would also be willing to work hand in hand with pro-life representatives to eradicate instances of abortion. Acquiring funding in the campaign against abortion would also be a major priority. Pro-life leaders include Dan Donavan, Michael Cusick, Andrew J Lanza and Steve Matteo. The only pro-choice leader discussed in the essay is Senator Schumer. Dan Donovan is totally against abortion and even voted against abortion in his early term as elected House of Representatives member. The Women’s Equality Act opposed by representatives such as Michael Cusick and Andrew J Lanza is an Act that supports abortion and extension of funds in abortion. If ever it would take effect, this would result in even a greater number of abortions. Senator Schumer is a clear advocator for federal funding abortion and abortion as a whole. He also supports the right of a woman to choose. I do not support Senator Schumers arguments since they glorify abortion. Even though every woman is entitled to a right to choose, abortion should be an exception. This is to uphold human life and dignity. Abortion should not be glorified. It should be seen as a violation of life since a pregnancy is not just a mass of cells but an actual baby. Every child deserves to live. References Choice Matters, (2010). Tell Dan Donovan: Stop Blaming Religion - Choice Matters. Retrieved 19 May 2015, from http://www.choicematters.org/2010/10/tell-dan-donovan-stop-blaming-religion/ Jones, R. K., & Jerman, J. (2014). Abortion incidence and service availability in the United States, 2011. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 46(1), 3-14. Mesce, D., & Sines, E. (2006). Unsafe abortion: facts and figures. ontheissues.org,. Republican Party on Abortion Party Platform. Retrieved 19 May 2015, from http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ontheissues.org%2FCeleb%2FRepublican_Party_Abortion.htm&ei=twFbVa75DsL5Uu7-gKAC&usg=AFQjCNHksatC2IIvaTy7kqU6hQOHqH_rXA&sig2=E3d-m_MY6BqMLXB0hlbMtA&bvm=bv.93564037,d.d24 Pillifant, R. (2010). NARAL Goes After Donovan for Crisis Pregnancy Center Award. Observer. Retrieved 19 May 2015, from http://observer.com/2010/10/naral-goes-after-donovan-for-crisis-pregnancy-center-award/ PoliGu.com - The Political Guide,. Charles Schumer - Abortion. Retrieved 29 April 2015, from http://www.thepoliticalguide.com/Profiles/Senate/New_York/Charles_Schumer/Views/Abortion/ Reproductive, M. The Voters Self Defense System. Project Vote Smart. Retrieved 29 April 2015, from http://votesmart.org/candidate/44583/michael-cusick?categoryId=75&type=V,S,R,E,F,P#.VUBYIpP-bK8 Shapiro, R. (2015). Dan Donovan votes for abortion, Iran bills and Dems attack. SILive.com. Retrieved 19 May 2015, from http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/05/dems_attack_dan_donovan_for_an.html Read More