The Abortion Debate Sam Ballin Ella Einstein Sky Harper and Pamela Hermoza Summary of the Debate The abortion debate is an ongoing controversy concerning the moral philosophical and ethical status of women having the right to terminate a pregnancy One side of the debate is the prochoice ID: 929902
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Slide1
Creative and Contemporary Argument
The Abortion Debate
Sam Ballin, Ella Einstein, Sky Harper, and Pamela Hermoza
Slide2Summary of the Debate
The abortion debate is an ongoing controversy concerning the moral, philosophical, and ethical status of women having the right to terminate a pregnancy. One side of the debate is the "pro-choice" position, which draws attention to the right of women to decide whether they would like an abortion or not. The "pro-life" position draws attention to the obligation the government has to preserve all human life, regardless of intent, viability, or quality-of-life concerns. Both sides of the debate have tried to sway public opinion in order to enact change in legislation. Some pro-lifers have even resorted to violence to somehow get their point across. While this debate has been lively for decades, there remains an overwhelming stability in the dichotomy of the two sides and the position of the public. Abortion in the United States is legal, and every state has at least one abortion clinic. However, individual states can regulate the use of abortion or create “trap laws” which make abortion virtual impossible through legislation of other aspects of the process. Currently, six states have trigger laws (the states are already prepared to automatically ban abortion if
Roe v. Wade
is overturned) and three other states have laws intending to criminalize abortion. Also, 83% of the counties in the nation have no abortion providers, and many women must travel hundreds of miles to obtain an abortion. Pro-lifers continue their efforts to curb abortion access. Thusly, the question on whether abortions should be outright prohibited, allowed but not available, or publicly funded and available persists.
Slide3Claim
Abortion should be legal, fully funded, and accessible to all women because it is a fundamental right, it is not the place of the government to legislate against women's choices, it prevents child neglect, and a fetus is not legally or scientifically a person so abortion cannot be equated to murder.
Slide4Reason 1
Abortion should be legal, fully funded, and accessible to all women because it is a fundamental right.
The right to an abortion should be recognized as a fundamental right because childbearing and childbirth has a large impact on a woman's life.
Women run the risk of death during childbirth. A risk that is
5
times higher than the risk of death for an abortion during the first trimester.
Also, unwanted pregnancies disrupt a mother's life financially and psychologically.
Usually, when something impacts someone’s physical or mental health, they have a right to alleviate themselves.
Roe v. Wade:
abortion was declared to be a “fundamental right” guaranteed by the Constitution.
Slide5Reason 2
Abortion should be legal, fully funded, and accessible to all women because it is not the place of government to legislate against women's choices and set limitations.
Interest in protecting mother's health does not justify total ban, only regulation to increase the safety of the procedure.
Women have the right to get an abortion because what's in their bodies is theirs. The government should not have a say in what grows in your body and what you decide to do with it.
The argument against abortion is a moral argument which is subject to personal interpretation so should not be legislated against.
The US Supreme Court has declared abortion to be a "fundamental right" guaranteed by the US Constitution.
Slide6Reason 3
Abortion should be legal, fully funded, and accessible to all women because it prevents child neglect.
Unintended pregnancy demonstrates predictive value as one of the earliest identifiable risk-factor for child maltreatment.
Mother's reports of unintended pregnancy are associated with psychological aggression and neglect.
Fathers' reports of unintended pregnancy are associated with physical aggression.
(Gutterman 2015)
Therefore, more access to abortion would limit child maltreatment and neglect.
Slide7Reason 4
Pro-lifers say that abortion is murder and therefore should not be legal. However, abortion should be legal, fully funded, and accessible to all women because a fetus is not legally or scientifically a person so it cannot be equated to murder.
Fetuses are not "persons" within the meaning of the 14th Amendment. "Persons" elsewhere in the Constitution clearly refers to persons after birth, as it the enumeration (or census) clause.
At birth, and only as birth, does a baby begin to exist independently of their mother.
Fetus' are not fully developed by the time of an abortion, including their brains and the cortex that handles pain perception, therefore the fetuses do not experience any pain
Slide8Conclusion
Summary: Abortion should be legal, fully funded, and accessible to all women because it is a fundamental right, it is not the place of the government to legislate against women's choices, it prevents child neglect, and a fetus is not legally or scientifically a person so abortion cannot be equated to murder.
Importance:
This debate has immense power in improving legislation to help women gain more access to abortions.
Call to Action:
Speak out about your belief in every woman’s right to make decisions about her body! Learn how to stand your ground when discussing this important issue, whether at school, at work, or in your place of worship.
Go to
https://prochoice.org/about-naf/get-involved/
Slide9References
Benshoof, J. “Beyond Roe, after Casey: the Present and Future of a ‘Fundamental’ Right.”
Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports.
, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1993, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8274872.
Dias, Elizabeth, and Timothy Williams. “Anti-Abortion Activists Still See Their Best Chance in Years to Chip Away at Roe v. Wade.”
The New York Times
, The New York Times, 8 Feb. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/02/08/us/anti-abortion-activists-roe-v-wade.html.
“Ethics - Abortion: When Is the
Foetus
'Alive'?” BBC, BBC, www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/abortion/child/alive_1.shtml.Goldberg, Michelle. “Trump Loves a Culture War.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 6 Feb. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/02/06/opinion/state-of-the-union-abortion-trump.html.
Guterman, K. “Unintended Pregnancy as a Predictor of Child Maltreatment.”
Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports.
, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Oct. 2015, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26070372.
Leonhardt, David. “The Abortion Debate.”
The New York Times
, The New York Times, 7 Feb. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/02/07/opinion/abortion-new-york-virginia-trump.html.
Linder, Doug.
The Trial of Galileo: An Account
, law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/
ftrials
/
conlaw
/Roeargs.htm.
Liptak, Adam. “Supreme Court Blocks Louisiana Abortion Restrictions.”
The New York Times
, The New York Times, 8 Feb. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/02/07/us/politics/louisiana-abortion-law-supreme-court.html.
“Public Opinion on Abortion.”
Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project
, Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project, 15 Oct. 2018, www.pewforum.org/fact-sheet/public-opinion-on-abortion.