Abortion should be legal

Thank you, idaho.kalinovsky for accepting this debate. Affirmative Case The following arguments are the reasons that abortion should be legal in the United States. Argument 1: Unwanted children negatively impact society Section I: Sexual and psychological abuse of children Firstly, I believe it to be axiomatic (i.e. obvious) that there are not enough people to adopt unwanted children, hence the existence of foster care and the frightful statistics that follow. Of the children sent to foster care, a study by Orlow (2009) found that, “As many as 75 percent of all children in foster care, upon leaving the system, will have experienced sexual abuse” [1]. Given that in 2011, the amount of children in foster care was roughly 400,000, approximately 300,000 children will experience sexual abuse [2]. Worse still is there is a global trend towards “newborn abandonment,” which means that if unwanted children are not aborted, these instances of sexual abuse committed against children will happen at an increased rate [3]. Clearly, permitting abortion would prevent sexual abuse of children. As for psychological abuse, it is well documented that children suffer from a range of things, even if the adoption is considered “successful”. For example, Adopted Child Syndrome, which is a Dissociative Disorder (basically, a condition wherein the adopted feels “rejected” no matter what), is such a powerful psychological disorder that it has been used in successful legal defences [7]. Legalising abortion would prevent these soul-destroying psychological disorders from burdening these people and society at large. Section II: Better crime outcomes Steven Levitt, studying the homicide rate since Roe vs. Wade (wherein it was declared that the interest of the fetus should not come before the interest of the mother), found that there was a 40% decline in homicide rates which was tied to a decline in unwanted children [4]. To corroborate this conclusion, another study found that, “One of the strongest predictors of criminal activity, and the externalities that result, is family background.” From this, it was found that children who are adopted are more likely to commit crimes *of all types* than kids who are not adopted [5]. If abortion were legal, there would be better crime outcomes for the community. Section III: Non-adopted children For children who are not adopted, when they exceed the age restriction of foster care, they will have to find work, enter college, enlist in the military etc. *all on their own*. They do not have the luxuriant wallets/purses of their parents to burrow. There are many, many instances of where these children end up “not falling off a cliff, but definitely clinging to the edge” [6]. Clearly, by not being aborted, these unwanted children are left on their own eventually, struggling to fend for themselves. Argument 2: Rape pregnancies devastate mother and child Section I: Psychological impacts on the mother In the United States, the national rape-related pregnancy rate is 32,101 for females aged 12-45 [8]. Of this 32,101, a study found that rape pregnancies were closely linked to family and domestic violence, so much so that 50% of rape pregnancy women abandon or leave their child for adoption (for further impacts on the latter, see the previous argument) [9]. Other psychological difficulties routinely found in these women include: ambivalence towards the child (which harms the mother in the sense that she feels distant from the child, and this obviously harms the child, too), trouble telling the child about the rape pregnancy (once the child gets older), and distress and pathological denial of pregnancy (cognitive dissonance) [3]. Rape pregnancy women normally have to share custody with their rapist. In the constant interaction with the rapist, the mother has to pretend that she likes her attacker, of which has a tethering effect. This tethering effect dissolves her resolve, which leads to experiencing and re-experiencing feelings of rape continually. This causes serious psychological harm: depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation [8]. A clear majority of rape victims suffer from a form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTDS), and a further third of rape victims develop a particularly vicious form of PTDS: rape-related PTDS (RR-PTSD). Suffering from PTSD and sometimes RR-PTSD negatively effects the ability of the mother to parent properly, as she fears any sort of contact with the rape event in order to avoid flash-back of the rape [8]. Finally, rape trauma (which is basically reliving the rape within her mind) can be reactivated by giving birth to a child conceived through a rape, regardless of the mode of birth. This has been found to occur often for women who have rape pregnancies [10]. Aborting rape pregnancies would avoid these devastating outcomes for these 32,101 women. Section II: Harms to children There is often found a stigma attached to children produced through rape, one which is found throughout the world. Some communities in Rwanda call them “devil’s children.” Communities in Timor-Leste engage in calling these children “children of shame”. In Nicaragua, “monster babies” is the term used. “Dust of life” is what they are called in Vietnam [11]. This perception is compounded by the previously cited “ambivalence” of the mother towards the child, easily instils a feeling of neglect within many of these children [3]. For women who birth rape children, there is a greater risk of: preterm delivery, low birth weight and infection [12]. Finally, consider the mother and parenting climate in which these children are raised. Mothers are very often deeply psychologically scarred (for example, with PTSD or suicidal ideation), which contributes to poor parenting decisions, such as the decision to outright abandon the child (which is part of the 50% statistic wherein mothers either give the child up for adoption or abandon the child). Argument 3: Aborting to save a mother’s life There are documented cases wherein the life of the pregnant is at risk, and the only way to save her is to abort the child. To quote the gynaecologists of this article, “Abortions are necessary in a number of circumstances to save the life of a woman or to preserve her health.” Quoted within the article, a study published in Guttmacher’s International Family Planning Perspectives, found that a “risk to a woman’s health” was the primary reason for 2.8% of United States abortions [13]. An example of this “risk to a woman’s health” can be found in an article at the Salon. With the fetus going to die anyway, the mother almost lost her life because of failure to abort the already doomed fetus. There was only risk of the mother dying due to the refusal of doctors to perform the abortion. This is so obviously a case wherein abortion would allow the best case scenario (and it it) [14]. Argument 4: Outlawing abortions leads to many dangerous abortions Abortions do not cease when they become illegal. An article in the New York Times writes, “A comprehensive global study of abortion has concluded that abortion rates are similar in countries where it is legal and those where it is not, suggesting that outlawing the procedure does little to deter women seeking it.” To elaborate, the researchers saw that abortion performed in a safe way in countries which it were legal, but dangerously in countries where it was outlawed. On a global scale, these illegal abortions account for 13% of women’s deaths during childbirth and pregnancy [15]. References [1] http://www.hg.org... [2] http://www.acf.hhs.gov... [3] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov... [4] http://tinyurl.com... [5] http://www.mit.edu... [6] http://www.npr.org... [7] http://www.amfor.net... [8] http://georgetownlawjournal.org... [9] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov... [10] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov... [11] http://www.thelancet.com... [12] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov... [13] http://www.usatoday.com... [14] http://www.salon.com... [15] http://www.nytimes.com...