Abortion Should Be Outlawed - Essay Example

Abortion Should Be Outlawed Attention Getter: America formally declared its independence from Great Britain on July 4th 1776. As the founding fathers severed ties with the old country and denounced tyrannical despotism, they catalogued several truths that they held to be "self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness" (Thomas Jefferson The Declaration of Independence). Over two hundred years later, at least one of these truths ceases to be "self-evident" as Federal Law currently does not agree that all individuals are endowed with a right to Life. Semantic dances are erected to devalue the life of a human embryo, so that it is reduced to simple cells or tissues unworthy of rights. Rather than referring to the unborn child, we now designate such an individual as a fetus that is a more technical, "less human" term that makes people more comfortable and removed from the dirty details of abortion (Robb). Similar tactics were used by the Nazis in defense of Jewish extermination and even by American supporters of slavery in the 19th century. No matter what you call it or how you spin it, abortion is "the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus" (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary). Abortion is not an unalienable or self-evident right. Abortion is the practice of killing the very weakest and most defenseless beings among us, and tragically, it has been accepted and supported within our culture. As a civilized nation, America has stepped back over two thousand years to a time when the destruction of unwanted children was permissible in Rome. No human should have the right to choose whether someone lives or dies. Thesis Statement: Abortion is essentially legalized murder, and it should be outlawed and prohibited under any circumstances. Topic Sentence 1: In the past thirty years, casualties of unborn children have reached heights of over 6 times the number of lives lost during the holocaust. Since the Supreme Court passed the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, nearly 40 million abortions have been committed in the United States alone (Robb). That is almost a third of the entire number of babies that have been born during this time. If you go to a high school or college graduation ceremony this year, consider that one third of the graduating class is missing, because they have been aborted. These individuals were deprived of the rights to Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness written about by our founding Fathers. Americans are shocked when they read about the human sacrifices of ancient cultures, or modern human atrocities being committed throughout the world on a daily basis. And yet, our unborn children are routinely sacrificed on the altars of privacy, choice, and convenience. America is currently in the throes of its own holocaust, and sadly the victims are largely underrepresented and unspoken for. Fancy legal jargon and stilted scientific language do not hide the fact that millions of babies are being killed. While the abortion issue is debated in the highest courts in the world, more and more lives quietly slip away. Topic Sentence 2: Multitudes of people in our society have been duped into believing that they benefit from abortion laws. They have been convinced by endless propaganda that the practice of unrestricted abortion is good and that it should be protected at all costs (McKenna). This extreme view originates from radical feminists and liberals who argue that women should be afforded the right to kill their unborn babies if they choose. People have failed to realize that if there is a choice to be made, it should be made before the conception of a child. After a child has been conceived, it is too late to make decisions about pregnancy. Once a living individual has been created, no man should have the right to destroy that life before it has even had a chance to be born. Abortion laws do not protect the rights of women. Abortion laws permit the lawful destruction of innocent life (McKenna). America polices the world under the guise of human rights while annually committing more abortions than any other country in the world. It is time that people understand abortion is not a right or a privilege that needs to be protected by laws. Abortion is a heinous and barbaric practice that needs to be eradicated. Topic Sentence 3: It is ironic that the same people who support abortion today criticize the ideologies that are associated with other past evils. For example, the supporters of slavery during the 1800's widely argued that slavery was good for slaves. They said that it was better to be a Christian slave and go to heaven than to be a heathen in Africa. Today, abortion supporters say that it is better for babies to be aborted than to grow up in a home where they are unwanted. But, who are they to decide if a life is meaningless Just because an unborn baby is unwanted today does not mean that he or she is destined to be unwanted for the rest of his or her life. Topic Sentence 4: Nothing illustrates the depravity of the pro-abortion activists better than their support for partial birth abortion. In this procedure, the baby's head remains inside the Mother while a sharp object is stuck into its brain (Charatan). The baby is only inches away from having full constitutional rights when the life is terminated. Only inches legally separate the child from murder. Have abortion and murder really been reduced to a matter of inches, or was there ever really a difference between the two at all Pro-abortion activists claim that the mother's life could be placed in danger if partial-birth abortions were outlawed. However, neither mother nor child would be in peril if the mother were encouraged to carry the unborn baby to full term and then put it up for adoption. Alternatives to abortion are only loosely encouraged or spoken of while the mother's "right to privacy" seems to overshadow the baby's right to live at all." Means are always available to enable women to overcome the burdens that can accompany pregnancy and child rearing. Partial-birth abortion is not a practice that should be supported, funded, or advocated in a civilized society. Abortion, in all of its forms, is a practice that should be abhorred and abolished. Topic Sentence 5: "That America has the most permissive abortion regime among the world's democracies is a betrayal of the classic American promise of justice for all". Due to the abortion license, there is only justice for those who have been born. The abortion license has done a lot of damage to American ideals and ethics. It has been responsible for the deaths of millions of unborn children, caused a lot of heartache and anguish to their mothers, and minimized the role of fathers in society. The reemergence of American democracy in regards to the original standards set forth by the founding fathers, requires that we stand up for the inalienable right of Life, stand up for women in crisis, and stand against the abortion license in all of its forms. When asked by Tim Russert whether they would choose to cut taxes or ban abortion if they could have only one political wish come true, Pat Buchanan, John Ashcroft, and Steve Forbes all stated that they would choose to ban abortion. "Because the Declaration of Independence says 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," said Forbes (). "Life comes first" (). It is definitely time for America to start putting Life first again by putting an end to the violent act of abortion. Topic Sentence 6: Many pro-choice supporters are moderates that feel abortion should be committed only under circumstances in which the mother was raped, or the mother is in danger. But, abortion under any circumstances still involves the termination of life, and humans should not play God in circumstances that are hard to classify and define from a moral or ethical standpoint (Skeffington). It is not up to humans to decide what circumstances constitute life and what circumstances constitute death. A child, once it has been conceived, has a right to be born and live out a life just like the rest of us. It is sad that today in America, the unborn child "enjoys less legal protection than an endangered species of bird in a national forest" (Skeffington). When it comes to humans, there is not a hierarchy of life. Humans are not conceived as inferior sub-human beings that exist as a mere appendage in the mother's womb until a time in which the Superior Court deems the appendage "viable" and alive. Humans are conceived into life, born into life, and should be protected by the rights extended to all humans under the United States Constitution. Topic Sentence 7: One of the biggest misconceptions of the pro-choice argument concerning "life" is to confuse a human person with a human being (Greenhouse). Human beings have the right to live. Though we can define personhood as we have done with women and slaves in the past, we cannot change a human's being. A human being is a living, individual member of the Homo Sapien species that has the inherent capacity to function as a person. Pro-abortionists claim that the fetus does not resemble a human being, but the fetus is an exact replica of a human being at the earliest stages of life. Conception is the point at which life begins, and it is the only time when a radically different genetic structure is formed, one that is very different from the original. The sperm and ovum become one diploid cell, and this new formation is the human being in its most basic form. A newly formed zygote is indeed living, and it does belong to the Homo sapiens species. Not only does the zygote belong to the human species, but it is also a distinct member of that species possessing a genetic structure that is unique from the mother and half of the time being of a sex opposite of the mother. Scientifically, this is all that is required for the existence of a human being. Therefore, an unborn child qualifies as a human being and should be protected by the same rights governing all human beings, not only those that have been born (Politt). Topic Sentence 8: Recent and past medical reports provide a plethora of medical evidence to suggest that abortions are harmful to the mother. One report states that abortions are psychologically traumatic for women both during and following an abortion procedure. Other reports state that often the uterus is punctured during an abortion, and this can prevent future pregnancies. One of the most recent debates surrounds a high propensity for breast cancer following an abortion which is due in part to cellular changes in a woman's breast that are interrupted by an abortion (Lancet Vol. 9414). Another study identifies the effects of anesthesia on the mother and fetus during an abortion. And, countless medical reports have sited negative effects regarding the morning after pill, RU-486 (Lancet Issue 9406). Supporters of abortion have long claimed that abortion laws protect the rights of women. But, aside from the unborn child that is killed during an abortion, the mother suffers the most mental, emotional, and physical damage following an abortion. Topic Sentence 9: Nothing speaks more for the prohibition of abortion than the actual procedures in which abortions are carried out. Many supporters of abortion do not even have an intimate understanding of how abortions are carried out (Politt). Currently, there are five main methods for abortion that are carried out throughout the world. The most common form of abortion occurs in the first trimester and is known as "Suction Aspiration." During this procedure, the cervix is dilated and a powerful vacuum tube with a sharp cutting edge is inserted. The suction cup rips apart the baby's body, and sucks out the blood, amniotic fluid, tissue, and body parts. This is very disturbing considering recent findings that suggest the fetus can experience pain. The second procedure is known as "Dilation and Evacuation" or D&E. This procedure is generally carried out in the second trimester. Forceps are used to rip away pieces of the developing body and remove them from the womb. Because the skull has often hardened by this time, it sometimes has to be crushed before it can be removed. Bone fragments from the crushed skull can sometimes puncture the cervix causing the mother high blood loss. A third procedure, commonly referred to as "Dilatation and Curettage," or D&C, usually occurs during the first or early second trimester. During this procedure, the cervix is dilated or stretched to permit the insertion of a loop-shaped steel knife. The body of the fetus is cut up and removed from the placenta. Blood loss and uterine perforation are high risks for this form of abortion. A fourth procedure is commonly associated with Nazi Germany. This method, first used in Nazi concentration camps and now commonly practiced in America, is performed during the second or early third trimester. A needle is injected into the abdomen, and 50-250 ml of amniotic liquid is removed. This fluid is replaced by a concentrated salt, which burns away and deteriorates the baby's skin. Within three days, the mother goes into labor, and delivers a dead, burned baby. This concentrated salt can cause severe hemorrhage, cervical injuries, or side effects to the nervous system such as seizures or coma. And finally, the "Partial Birth Abortion" is a procedure that is one of the most controversial and vile techniques of all. This abortion takes place during the late second or third trimester. With the aid of ultrasound, the abortionist grabs the baby's legs with forceps and forcefully delivers the entire baby except for the head. Scissors are then jammed into the back of the baby's skull, and the wound is pried open. A powerful vacuum tube is inserted which is used to suck out the baby's brain. These are all inhumane and vile ways to die. We would not stand for a five-year-old child to be treated in this manner, and there are no justifiable reasons for permitting an innocent unborn baby to be treated this way. Review Thesis Statement and Topic Sentences: Though it is shrouded in controversy and legal dogma, abortion remains legally sanctioned murder that must be abolished and eradicated and should not be permitted in even the most compromising circumstances. The biggest democracy in the world should not boast the highest number of abortions for any given year. Laws should be designed to protect the innocent rather than those who might do them harm. Abortions are not necessary to protect the health of mothers. In fact, abortions have been proven to do a great deal of harm to mothers. And, the current methods of abortion are barbaric, unjust, and inhumane. Clincher: All humans, those born and in the process of gestation, are entitled to the same inalienable rights of "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." And when government fails to protect these rights, it is the "Right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness" (Declaration of Independence). Works Cited "Breast cancer and abortion: collaborative reanalysis of data from 53 epidemiological studies, including 83 000 women with breast cancer from 16 countries." Lancet. Vol. 363 Issue 9414, p1007-1016, 10p, 1 chart, 4 graphs. (March 27, 2004) Charatan, Fred. "US courts in conflict over late term abortion." BMJ: British Medical Journal. Vol. 319 Issue 7219, p1220, 2/5p. (November 11, 1999). "Effect of US policies on women's health worldwide." Lancet. Vol. 363 Issue 9406, p401-402, 2p (October 31, 2004) Greenhouse, Linda. "The Evolution of a Justice" New York Times Magazine. Vol. 154 Issue 53180, p28-334 (October 1, 2005). McKenna, George. "Why They Help Them Lie." Human Life Review. Vol. 27 Issue 2, p7, 12p. (Spring 2001) Politt, Katha. "Should Roe Go" Nation. Vol. 281 Issue 4, p13-13, 1p (August 1, 2005). Vol. 281 Robb, Amanda. "The Abortion Battle." New York Times. Vol. 36 Issue 9, p39, 2/3p. (March 17, 2005). Skeffington, Robert; Andrew Heatcote and Craig Roberts. "Abortion debate flares." BRW. Vol. 26 Issue 45, p80-80, 1/9p. (October 11, 2004). Read More