Abortion

Should Abortion Be Banned (Except in Special Circumstances Like Saving the Mother's Life)?

In a Nutshell

Yes

No

Abortion is a form of murder and demeans the value of human life.

Other birth control is readily available; thus, abortion shouldn't be a form of birth control.

The societal contributions of a potentially valuable human being are wiped out.

Women who have abortions often suffer major psychological damage from the experience along with, in some cases, the father of the child.

The advances of genetic testing may prompt more abortions (to avoid having the non-ideal child).

There are many couples who spend years on waiting lists trying to adopt a child.

The abortion decision is often made by minors or young adults, who don't have the maturity and life experiences to make good decisions.

People have the right not to see their tax dollars go to something they find immoral.

Abortion is against doctors' Hippocratic Oath.

Government gets to control a woman's body.

"Back alley" abortions would increase if it were made illegal, leading to increased risk of young women dying or becoming sterile.

It's arguably better for society to have babies aborted than have them be brought up poor and neglected, where not only will the child suffer but society when that child develops a higher attraction to crime, welfare, etc.

One brief mistake can take away a woman's childhood and trap her for life.

Giving up a child for adoption can be just as emotionally damaging as having an abortion.

Abortion is not murder because it is performed before a fetus has developed into a human person.

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Overview/Background

No social issue in America since slavery has ever been so divisive as that of abortion. No issue brings out so much passion and hatred of the other side. Any court decisions related to abortion regularly bring protestors from both sides. Polls show Americans are split almost evenly on the issue. The issue has been recharged under the Bush administration. In Bush's first term, Congress passed a bill making third trimester abortions, or "partial birth abortions", illegal. Many of President Bush's judicial nominations have been thwarted by the Democrats usually for one reason and one reason only -- their stance on Roe vs. Wade, the controversial court decision that first made abortion legal. Which side is right? Are there any shades of gray in this dispute?

Yes

Abortion is a form of murder and demeans the value of human life. When a pregnant women feels a kick in her belly, she doesn't say "Oh, the fetus kicked" or "Oh, the mass of cells that hasn't become a person kicked", she says "The baby kicked." Yes, after conception you have a real human being waiting to enter the world. Why should taking someone's life when they're in the womb be any different than taking their life when they're a baby in the crib? Pro-choice advocates claim this isn't a real baby only to justify their wrong acts in their own minds. Even if you don't believe abortion is murder, it still demeans the value of human life, since women can so callously stomp out a living being simply because they're inconvenienced.

Other birth control is readily available; thus, abortion shouldn't be a form of birth control. There are dozens of birth control methods that can keep you from becoming pregnant, including the 100 percent effective one: abstinence. Maybe if abortion wasn't available, people wouldn't be so careless in the first place.

The societal contributions of a potentially valuable human being are wiped out. What would the world be like if the mothers of Abe Lincoln, George Washington, or Thomas Edison had had an abortion? Just maybe a woman has become pregnant despite all birth control attempts because the child is destined to do something great.

Women who have abortions often suffer major psychological damage from the experience along with, in some cases, the father of the child. Many women who have abortion in their younger years end up living the rest of their lives in perpetual guilt. Even if that women doesn't consider it murder at the time, that may change as she matures. Even Jane Roe (not her real name), the original woman behind the famous court decision, has completely changed her mind on abortion. She filed a petition to have the decision overturned to help relieve the guilt of hundreds of thousands of needless deaths she blames on herself. Also, let's not forget that there are two parents of every aborted child. The father may feel just as guilty. The father may even want the child, but he has no choice if the mother chooses abortion.

The advances of genetic testing may prompt more abortions (to avoid having the non-ideal child). All of us who have or want kids imagine them growing up to be doctors, senators, sports stars, or whatever. But what would you do if you knew the child would have Down's Syndrome? What would you do if you knew the child would have an intelligence level lower than that required to enter public school? What if the child had a strong risk of schizophrenia? Would you still have the child or would you want an abortion? As genetic knowledge continues to grow, we are able to determine more and more about what a child will be like as an adult. Legalized abortion could turn babies into science experiments.

There are many couples who spend years on waiting lists trying to adopt a child. The number of couples out there who cannot have a child of their own for physical reasons are too numerous to count. The waiting list for adopting babies can be 5-10 years or more. Young women in their teens are right to be concerned that they're not ready to effectively raise a child. However, if that is the case, there are plenty of wonderful people out there who are. Not only would you be bringing a valuable life