Abortion

Thanks for the strong opening arguments Con. Before I start I will point out that since Con is against abortion this implies ALL abortions. Therefore if even any abortions are justified I win the debate. 1. Right to Privacy The US Supreme Court came to the decision in the Roe V. Wade case that the right to privacy granted in the constitution encompasses abortions. This is because of a variety of reasons, but one of the biggest is that each situation is unique. One family may not have an adequate enough financial situation to be able to adequately care for a child while another teenage girl may end up being disowned by her family if she has that child. The point is that the government making the decision for all women that they cannot have abortions is severely limiting and a refusal to acknowledge that a family should be able to make the choice that best fits their personal situation. Sandra Day O'Connor claimed that "The ability of women to participate equally in the economic and social life of the Nation has been facilitated by their ability to control their reproductive lives." [1] Legalizing abortion has helped women fully recognize their right to privacy. 2. Life Does Not Begin at Conception Science supports the idea that personhood begins at the time of viability, or the ability to survive outside the womb. [2][3] The constitution grants rights to all people born in the US. A fetus is not born, and not a person. Abortion is terminating a pregnancy and calling it murder is an incredible flaw in reasoning. A large amount of pregnancies actually naturally abort but there is no uproar to try and save all of those fertilized eggs. Those that say life begins at conception often claim that because the potential of a human has been achieved, aborting the pregnancy is akin to murder. By that logic we should also attempt to save individual sperm and eggs as well, in order to preserve the potential for human life. We don't hear those arguments because life is defined by development of the brain. The same situation is seen in euthanasia. Justification for that exists and the US has legalized it for good reason. 3. Abortion Happens Either Way Making abortion illegal would lead to a large amount of unsafe back-alley abortions. It has happened repeatedly in the past and resulted in the deaths of many women due to a lack of safe equipment and medicines. Outlawing abortion WILL NOT STOP IT. It will only endanger the lives of many women who feel they have no other options. Many women feel that abortion is their only option, and when we as a nation give them no other alternative other than doing it illegally, then we as a nation are responsible for those girls' horrific injuries and deaths. 4. Mother's Life Many times, refusing to abort a pregnancy would result in the death of the mother. It is very subjective whether or not the fetus is alive, but no one can deny that the woman is alive and has the right to self defense. There are two options in that situation. Allow the mother to die, which is not even subjectively murder, or terminate the pregnancy as is naturally done all the time. Outlawing abortion simply puts a subjective life over a life that everyone agrees exists. Conclusion The key issue with abortion is that it should be a personal decision; the government does not have enough knowledge of an individual's unique situation to make the determination that a woman's choice is morally wrong and should be made illegal. It has been found time and time again in court that telling a woman she does not have the right to terminate her pregnancy is wrong. [1] Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania et al. v. Casey, Governor of Pennsylvania, et al., law.cornell.edu, June 29, 1992 [2] Franklin Foer, "Fetal Viability," slate.com, May 25, 1997 [3] James Davison Hunter, Before the Shooting Begins: Searching for Democracy in America's Culture War, 1994