What Are The Issues?

AUDIENCE ANALYSIS

This paper targets an audience of about age 18. Now an adult it is important for them to know about one of today's most controversial issues. Their knowledge of information from both sides would allow them to make a decision for themselves. By reading this paper they would be better informed of not only who is for and against partial-birth abortion, but also the reasons, facts and claims they give to prove their side.

Abortion is one of today's most controversial issues in the United States. It is being discussed from as high as the Supreme Court and Congress to the street corners of our local and smallest towns. However the disunity over different states views reflects society's conflicting views toward abortion. Currently Partial-birth abortion is a heavy topic in Congress. One must look at both sides of this procedure and decide for themselves as to what they believe. The arguments from both sides are claims of all six stasis fact, definition, cause, value, action and jurisdiction.

The most talked about procedure of abortion is the partial-birth abortion also known as dilate and extract. This procedure is used to abort babies in women who are 20 to 32 weeks gestation or even later in the pregnancy. Babies born at 23 weeks or more often survive but this procedure eliminates that possibility. Partial-birth abortion involves dilating the mother's uterus, delivering the baby's entire body except head, puncturing a hole in the baby's skull with scissors, extracting the brains and then finally removing the now dead fetus. In the last two years, twenty-one states have passed legislation banning or limiting the practice of partial-birth abortion.

Although the history of abortion in the United States goes back long before 1973, the Supreme Court case Roe vs. Wade decision marked an important turning point in public health policy. This case made it possible for women to get safe, legal abortions from well-trained medical practitioners and thus led to a dramatic decrease in abortion-related injury and death. Previously, there have been two other laws passed before Congress to impose a ban, but former President Bill Clinton vetoed both measures. In 2000, a third attempt was sidetracked when the Supreme Court invalidated a Nebraska state law that closely resembled the current measure moving through the House and Senate. Yet a fourth attempt failed last year when Democrats, then in control of the Senate, refused to schedule a vote.

Currently the Partial-Birth Abortion is being reexamined. On March 13, 2003, with a senate vote of 64-33, The Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 was passed to the House of Representatives. This Act prohibits any physician or other individual from knowingly performing a partial-birth abortion, except when necessary to save the life of a mother that is endangered by a physical disorder, illness, or injury. The bill declares, "A moral, medical and ethical consensus exists that the practice of performing a partial-birth abortion, is a gruesome and inhumane procedure that is never medically necessary and should be prohibited" (108th Congress). It defines a partial abortion as, "an abortion in which a physician delivers an unborn child body until only the head remains inside the womb, punctures the back of the child's skull with a sharp instrument, and sucks the child's brains out before completing delivery of the dead infant"(108th Congress). The bill uses a claim of cause when it states, "partial-birth abortion remains a disfavored procedure that is not only unnecessary to preserve the health of the mother, but in fact poses serious risks to the long-term health of women and in some circumstances, their lives"(108th Congress). It continues,

Pursuant to the testimony received during extensive legislative hearings during the 104th, 105th, and 107th Congresses, Congress finds and declares that a) Partial-birth abortion poses serious risks to the health of a woman undergoing the procedure. B) There is no credible medical evidence that partial birth abortions are safe or are safer than other abortion procedures. No controlled studies of partial-birth abortions have been conducted nor have any comparative studies been conducted to demonstrate its safety and efficacy compared to other abortion methods. Furthermore, there have been no articles published in peer-reviewed journals that establish that partial-birth abortions are superior in any way to established abortion procedures (108th Congress)

With a 282-139 vote, the House of Representatives passed the Partial Abortion Act on June 4, 2003. This moves the restriction a step closer to becoming a law and setting the stage for what may be a huge court battle. A ban would mark the first federal restriction on an abortion procedure since he Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision which, legalized abortion in 1973. Abortion rights groups said they would challenge it in court as soon as it becomes a law, pushing the issue of the Act constitutionality toward a divided Supreme Court. President Bush, unlike former President Bill Clinton, urged Congress in his State of the Union address, given this past January, to give him a bill he could sign. As of June 9, 2003 the Senate and House bills are being harmonized.

Those in favor of the ban also know as Pro-life often compare partial-abortion to infanticide. They use claims of fact when they say that the procedure is too gruesome, and that it is not medically necessary to save the life of the mother. Senator Rick Santorum, a republican from Pennsylvania, states that partial birth abortion is a procedure that is "never medically necessary, not taught in any medical school in this country, not recommended," yet is performed more than 2,200 times a year ("What you need to know"). The other side of this debate is those who favor partial-birth abortion or Pro-choice. Ultimately they believe that it is a women's choice and many times abortion is the necessary thing to do. Partial-birth abortion supporters claim fact that this procedure is rare and only used when the live of the mother is at risk. However, Ron Fitzsimmons, who has testified to Congress on this fact, recently said that he had lied about the number of partial birth abortions that occur each year.

The right-to life movement, as they are also called, uses the claim of definition as well when supporting their argument. They believe that the moment of