Kleptin Tournament: Abortion

---- Counterarguments ---- 1. Fetus is not a human being My opponent states that for a fetus to be considered a human being, he or she must have a fully developed brain. To establish this point, my opponent states, "You will not find a single unbiased, professional dictionary that adds 'fetus' to what a human being is. " I would thus like to point my opponent to Marriam Webster, which defines a fetus as, "a developing human from usually two months after conception to birth. " So, even if my opponent does not consider a fetus a human being, she must concede that they are developing ones. Given this information, who is to draw the line between what is developed and what is not? Is a newborn developed? What about a child with down syndrome? An eight month old fetus? Such lines are arbitrary, because a human is a human regardless of his or her development. 2. Potential Life is Not Equal to Actual Life My opponent states that if I were consistent with my position, I should want to outlaw masturbation, because masturbation destroys potential life. My opponent, however, is missing the entire point: a fetus is alive. On EEGs, electrical brainwaves have been recorded as soon as 43 days. In biology, the criteria for life are that a life form must exhibit homeostasis, organization, metabolism, growth, adaption to stimuli, and reproduction (source: . http://www.sciencemag.org...). I ask my opponent which of these criteria a fetus fails to pass? 3. Anti-abortion laws infringe on a woman's rights. Unfortunately, my opponent (being even more of a noob when he created this argument) failed to provide a resolution. I thus propose the resolution, "Abortion should be illegal in the United States except in the instances when the mother's life is at stake. " Vi_Veri, do you accept this resolution? I think it is reasonable, given that even the most battle-hardened pro-lifers agree to abortion under this exception. 4. Illegal Abortions are Dangerous My opponent states that the number of women dying from back alley abortions would increase if abortion were illegalized. This, however, is not the case, and it is known that all fetuses die from abortions. So, if it is true that the legality of abortions does not decrease the number of back alley abortions, then my opponent's argument is void. Let's see what the experts say. Senator James Buckley stated in front of congress, "Data from foreign countries having far longer experience with legalized abortion than we have had in the US, suggest that legalization has no effect on the criminal abortion rate. In at least three countries, the criminal abortion rate has actually risen since legalization. Legalized abortion moves the back alley abortionists into the front office where their trade can be practiced without fear of criminal prosecution. " Furthermore, according to studies done by David Reardon, between 40 and 85% of women who murdered their unborn children would not have murder their children if abortion were illegal. Besides, why protect murderers? If you have unprotected (heterosexual) sex, you should accept the responsibilities. You are knowingly accepting the possibility of a baby. I mean, should we outlaw social responsibility? 5. A Human's Essence is Not Premeditatedly Determined by Some Destiny. My opponent argues, "To go against the argument that a fetus may in fact become a genius that saves millions of human beings: A human's essence is not premeditatedly determined by some destiny, but is determined by his genes and environment. Assuming that a human's essence is determined by a destiny is an invalid claim, and therefore destroys the argument all together. " But God does in fact control our destiny. He has a plan for all of us, and we are destroying His creation and His plans for the murdered baby. God does not discriminate. He loves us all. He wants all to live and prosper. Fetuses are no exception. Here are a few of my favorite Bible versus that I memorized at Bible Camp last summer: "For you created my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother's womb. .. . Your eyes say my unformed body. " Psalm 139:13-16 "You shall not murder. " Exodus 20:13 "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. " Proverbs 31:8 ---- Arguments ---- Along with negating my opponent's claims, I shall present positive claims as to why abortion should be illegal. 1. Adoption exists If a mother acts irresponsibly and gets impregnated without wanting to be, she needs not murder her child. If worse comes to worst, she can always kick it Old Testament style, and send that baby down river. 2. Abortion is unhealthy for a mother According to Dr Jeffrey Barrett, women who have had abortions are seven to fifteen times more likely to develop placenta praevia. According to Dr Joel Brind, women who have had abortions are at least fifty percent more likely to develop breast cancer--one hundred forty percent more likely if you're a Chinese woman. Not to mention, the chance of ectopic pregnancies doubles, the chance for miscarriage and pelvic inflammatory disease increases, and depression and regret are very likely. Why allow a mother to harm herself so much? We don't allow people to take heroine, so why should society allow a mother to murder her child and harm herself in the process, also?