Pro Choice

Specific Purpose:

Introduction: Pro Choice is a topic that is constantly under debate even after the decision to make it legal has already been decided. So why is it still under question? Pro Choice is the women's right to choose what to do after finding out one is pregnant whether it be, carrying on with a pregnancy and raising the baby, giving the baby up for adoption, putting the baby in foster care until the mother is stable enough to take on the responsibilities, or having an abortion. For those of you that don't know, yes, abortion is legal and abortions do happen everyday for specific reasons.

Transition Sentence: "How did you feel about your abortion," I asked my mom. "Did you ever feel regret, or disappointment, or depression?" My mom paused for awhile and then said "You know, I have never felt any regret. I saw my decision as the best medical and moral decision I could make as a young mother with two infants." The fact is that if my mom had continued the pregnancy, she faced the following bad outcomes: (a) rupture of her uterine wall, which would mean she could never get pregnant again, (b) a very premature baby, who may go on to have a host of horrific health consequences including lung disease/respiratory problems, digestive failures, etc., and (c) excessive hemorrhaging, which threatened her own life. If she were to avoid the worst outcomes to her own health by continuing the pregnancy, but still had a premature baby, she was looking at both an emotional and economic drain, which would compromise the quality of life for her existing young children.

I. Medical Reasons

a. If her mother would have carried on with her pregnancy, harm would have befallen the baby or herself and may have killed her. In a lot of cases, interrupting a pregnancy is necessary and if society had taken her right away to do so, she could have died or been severely injured.

b.

c.

d.

Transition Sentence: But what if the reason wasn't medical but still as justified?

II. It is dark and you're walking home from a friend's house. You aren't worried because you've done this a thousand times. Just two short blocks to go and turn to see a man following you. "How strange!" you think but you continue on walking anyway. Beginning to feel slightly nervous you shoot a glance behind you and there the man is - A FOOT FROM YOUR FACE! He grabs you, covering your face and dragging you into a nearby patch of trees and bushes. You've never been more scared in your life and it seems like it goes on forever. You finally black out and wake up sometime later, frightened and hysterical you run home. It's about 4 weeks later when you find out you're pregnant and you're 16 years old. What can you do but go on with the pregnancy and can never have the life you dreamed of, or quietly stop the pregnancy and