Melissa Cruise
Policy paper
March 7, 2009
Abortion Policy
Background:
In 1973 the U.S. Supreme Court legalized the controversy of abortion. This case was called Roe vs. Wade. Most of the abortions obtained today are by teenage women. Overwhelming amounts of twenty-five percent of all abortions done are by those under the age of twenty. In 1979 came the case of Bellotti vs. Baird. This particular case made it so that if a woman was a minor she would need to have the permission of a judge or her parents in order to get an abortion. As of October 2006 thirty-four of the fifty states require that if you are a minor you must have the permission of your parents or a judge. In the United States alone there are more than 64 million abortions a year. Bruce Lucero, a doctor from Alabama, has performed over 45,000 abortions in just a matter of fifteen years of practice. (Abortion)If you think that is an outrageous number you should consider that those deaths are just the doings of one man and the United States has thousands of people certified to do abortions.
I have a friend who is now only 19 years old. At the age of 14 she was raped one night and became pregnant. She was so ashamed that she told only her best friend who said she would take her to get an abortion if that is what she wanted. So after doing some research about where it could be done so that she would not have to have her parents’ permission she went and got it done. During the procedure she started to bleed out and the doctors almost lost her. After the procedure all she wanted to do was cry. She said she eventually got over it, but I know a person never truly gets over something like that. Then at the age of 17 she got pregnant once again. We all thought for sure that she would keep this one, but once again she went to get an abortion. This time there were no complications, but soon afterwards she tried to commit suicide. She is now in a mental care facility for treatment, and they do not yet know the release date.
It is a proven fact that abortion is not only murder but it is also a very dangerous thing to do. Every abortion is murder, because from the minute of conception the embryo becomes a real person. It is then dangerous because difficulties can occur with the procedure, people sometimes become depressed, and other times they just give up and throw their lives away.
Policy:
I have decided that abortion should be outlawed completely except for extreme cases. The only way it should be allowed at all is if having the child will kill the mother. In this case though the mother gets final say in whether she wants to have the child or abort it. This way we will cut down on the murders committed. This will also improve the chances for those who want a kid but are unable to have one be able to adopt one. I believe that the punishment for having an abortion should be the same punishment for if a person is found guilty of murder. To make this possible I would have all the abortion clinics shut down, and if anyone is caught performing an abortion illegally they will be arrested. To help pay for the imprisonment of these people and the cost of living for the children who are saved I would cut the budget the famous people receive. For example some of these people would be actors, actresses, sports players, coaches, and also singers. We could also set up group homes for these people which would receive government funding.
Conclusion:
There would be controversy on whether this should be passed or not because many people believe that it is their right to choose if they want to have this child or not. From my point of view though I believe that it is murder, and so it should not be allowed. You also have to look at it from the point that the ones who have been aborted have no say in if they want to live, and that is their right. Just think of it this way if your parents had decided to have an abortion you would obviously not be here today. The rights of others should always be protected and respected, but murder is murder no matter how you look at it. Consider that if you have a brother or sister, like most of us do, that your mother said yes. Most people say it is hard to raise kids but it is always a blessing.
References
• Piehl, Norah ( 2007). Social Issues Firsthand: Abortion. Farmington Hills: Greenhaven Press
• Reagan, Leslie j. (1997). When Abortion Was A Crime. London, England: University of California Press, LTD.
• Day, Nancy (1995). Abortion: Debating the Issue. Springfield, NJ: Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
• Lowenstein, Felicia (1996). The Abortion Battle: Looking At Both Sides. Springfield, NJ: Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
• Knapp, Lynette (2001). The Abortion Controversy. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press
• Flanders, Carl N. (1991). Abortion. New York, NY: Facts On File, Inc.
