Bryan's Views on how abortions are not Bad

Abortion is bad? No Way

Abortion is a highly controversial issue with many varying opinions. Many pro-lifers have the opinion that an abortion is inhumane and is the killing of a fetus and that an abortion should never be performed in any case. They feel that an abortion is dreadful every single time that one is performed. These pro-lifers neglect all of the positive aspects of an abortion that actually make abortions good. One important reason that abortions are good is because they give a woman the freedom to do as she wishes with her own body. Another reason is because they save lives in pregnancies in certain cases, help to prevent experiencing further trauma after being a victim of rape, can prevent a child from being raised in extremely poor financial situations, and can prevent children from being born with a sexually transmitted disease. Throughout this essay I will be evaluating the reasons why abortions are good rather than bad because these things are somehow overlooked by the pro-lifers. Pro-lifers must not be biased on the situation at hand.

One of the main reasons why abortions aren’t bad is because if a woman cannot choose whether or not to have a child, she would not have control of her own body. Essentially the government would have control of her body. According to the United States Bill of Rights, a woman has the right to her own body and has the right to do as she wishes with it. So if abortions were not allowed or were prohibited, women’s civil rights would be seriously violated. Also if the government controlled whether or not a woman could have a child, who knows what would happen next? Lowen states:
The ability of a woman to have control of her body is crucial to her civil rights.
Take away her reproductive choice and you step into a slippery slope. If the
Government can force a woman to continue a pregnancy, what about forcing a
Woman to use contraception or undergo sterilization?”(Lowen)
Therefore abortions are good because their availability gives women the right to control their own bodies and ensures equal rights among women and men.

Another reason why abortions are good is because in some cases, they can actually save lives rather than destroying them. This is one thing that these pro-lifers tend to neglect. One of these cases is the case of an ectopic pregnancy. This is a pregnancy in which an embryo gets stuck on the wall of the fallopian tube rather than the wall of the uterus. As the potential human being grows and develops, the fallopian tube will explode and lots of blood will be lost and the mother will die (Wagner 1). In this type of situation the baby that is developing will die regardless of what happens and if the mother does not get an abortion, then she will perish along with the child that is developing in her fallopian tube. So now I pose a question to the pro-lifers: Is an abortion really bad when the baby’s chances of survival are zero and the mother’s life is in jeopardy? The answer to that question is both obviously and logically no. If someone were to say that an abortion is bad in this case, they are absolutely out of their mind. A pro-lifer may say that all abortions are murder and therefore the mother is still committing a murder in this case, making this a bad thing. This is not murder because for one it’s not a human being because it has not developed a heart yet. How can you kill something that is not in existence? The answer to that question is you can’t. So in this type of situation an abortion would definitely be good because it will be saving the life of the mother.

Abortions also prevent a mother from experiencing further trauma in cases of rape, which is very beneficial. Imagine a woman being raped by a man and a child being conceived. There are an abundance of negative psychological effects that result from being raped alone. Studies by the American Psychiatric Association have shown that rape victims are very vulnerable to depression and Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (Gorcey ). According to a national study by the University of South Carolina over 30 percent of all rape victims develop post traumatic stress syndrome (Kilpatrick). Having to raise a child after experiencing these psychological effects of being raped, would only compound a woman’s mental problems. A pro-lifer may say: Why doesn’t the woman just have the baby and put it up for adoption after birth? That may not be such a good idea either because this can also lead to stress because the woman will be worried about what type of people she is just handing her child over to. That would lead to even more stress and anxiety in her life. So having an abortion after being raped is not a bad thing because this is protecting her mental state and not forcing her to have a child that she did not want in the first place.



Works Cited
I. Wagner, Steve. “What if the Mother’s Life is in Danger?” N.P., 2005. Web. 9
Mar.2010
II. Almond, Linda. The Abortion Controversy. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomas Gale,
2007. Print.
III. Pomeroy, Claire. “Abortion and Women’s Rights: Unification of Pro-Life and Pro-
Through Feminism.” Serendip, 2004. Web. 24 March 2010.
IV. Lowen, Linda. “Ten Arguments for Abortion and Against Abortion.” The New
York Times Company, 2006. Web. 24 March 2010.
V. M.Gorcey. “Long Term Effect of Rape in 35 Victims.” American Psychiatric
Association, 1985. Web. 25 March 2010.
VI. Kilpatric, Dean. “The Mental Health Impact of Rape.” Medical University of
South Carolina, 2000. Web. 30 March 2010.
VII. Alcorn, Randy. “Arguments Against Abortion.” Multnomah Books, 1994. Web
1 April 2010.
VIII. “Adoption and Abortion.” Answerbag.com. 2008. Web. 1 April 2010.