Abortion Should be Illegal.

I'm glad he could respond to the final round because it would have been a shame to leave the debate as it was. I'll run through a rebuttal of my opponents points, than I'll also point out answers my opponent has clearly failed to give. This will clearly show why abortion should not be illegal. I will also in some cases paraphrase to avoid quoting large chunks of text. 1. My opponent claims that most if not all doctors are at the "bottom of the food chain" meaning they are under qualified / almost the same risk as "unsafe" abortions. He also states that abortion is already as dangerous as it would be if it was "underground", implying that abortion takes place in locations with drop out med students using dirty instruments in unsanitary conditions. I'm afraid that the picture you paint is exactly what it would be like if abortion was made illegal, not how the practice is done currently. You say this isn't a statement of your opinion, but actual facts. You then fail to provide those facts. Let me tell you what the real statistics are. Currently only 0.5% of abortion procedures result in a serious complication which requires further surgery or hospitalisation. Death only occurs in 0.0006% of legal abortion cases. In fact child birth, which you wish to make mandatory to go through is 10 times more likely to cause death. At a stark contrast death during an illegal abortion is the leading cause of maternity death in countries where abortion is illegal. [1] Clearly the facts do not support your view that abortion is either unsafe currently or practised in unsafe, unsanitary conditions performed by unqualifiedly doctors. About the only thing you accurately describe is the way abortion would become if it was made illegal. "Peleus, you also talk about drugs, and how they can have a long term effect on the human, such as increase in violence, which in turn would raise the crime rate. " An important clarification here is that I didn't say I was against drugs because of how it effected the human. I said because of how it effected society. I don't think my opponent could realistically start claiming that abortion is causing the same amount of crime and poverty associated with drugs. Yes there may be examples of women going into a poor psychological state of mind after an abortion, but unfortunately this could still occur after any stage of a pregnancy. There are plenty of cases of postnatal depression occurring as well, that doesn't mean we should outlaw childbirth. There is also no proof that this same woman wouldn't have tried to have an illegal abortion, simply having poor mental and physical health after the procedure. "Also , this will lead to unmarried couples or couples without enough money to support a child, this will force couples to have safe sex thus reducing the women through out America to even need an abortion in the first place. " What makes you think that someone who didn't have the responsibility of having safe sex the first time, will have it after abortion is made illegal? Why will this person simply not try and have an illegal abortion? My opponent then goes on to state that because abortion could get to the point that abortion could turn into something where a baby is alive for days before its then aborted, and therefore it should be banned. Quite frankly I think this is a pretty silly argument. It may be used to try and restrict the level of abortion allowed, but not necessarily making the entire practice illegal. It's unfair to take something legal and take it to the extreme point to try and make it illegal. That's like me saying that since a person could own a pistol nothing is stopping the legislation being bent and bent until it gets to the point where civilians can own nuclear weapons, therefore we should ban all guns. We simply have to examine each choice as it comes along. Again the conceptual question of where life beings is a philosophical one that has no correct answer. What makes the foetus a human being? Simply because it has the DNA of a human? My dandruff has my DNA but that doesn't make it human. Because it can develop into something? An egg isn't a chicken, and an acorn isn't an oak tree. It's up to the mother to decide this philosophical answer. My opponent has tried to characterise abortion as an unsafe dirty practice performed by the dregs of medical society, unfortunately the facts don't support this. Abortion is a relatively safe procedure, even safer than child birth. In return my opponent has failed to address the crippling effect making abortion illegal would have on the pregnant women in society. This would turn abortion from something that causes death in every 0.0006% of cases into the leading cause of maternal death in the nation. We have seen this in other locations where abortion has been outlawed. My opponent has only offered his moral beliefs as to why abortion should be made illegal. In return I've posed the question that he has been unable to answer. Why in the area of a philosophical debate is the government better suited to answer the question than the individual? You are more than welcome to always hold your own moral beliefs, but I firmly believe they shouldn't be legislated into law to restrict the freedom's of others. The only way an individuals choice to answer this conceptual question is restricted is if abortion is made illegal. Otherwise those who don't believe in abortion can carry through their term and those who believe that abortion is ok can exercise their right as well. The moral beliefs of someone should not be forced onto another in this unclear area. I have clearly refuted all of my opponents points, while providing some that he has been unable to sufficiently answer. As a result I urge you all to vote con on this resolution. I thank my opponent for this debate. [1] - . http://www.prochoice.org... (Using the below sources) [1] - The World Health Report 2005 - Make every mother and child count. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 2005. [1] - Tietze C, Henshaw SK. Induced abortion: A worldwide review, 1986. Third edition. New York: Guttmacher Institute, 1996. [1] - Henshaw SK. Unintended pregnancy and abortion: A public health perspective. In Paul M, Lichtenberg ES, Borgatta L, Grimes DA, Stubblefield PG. A Clinician's Guide to Medical and Surgical Abortion. New York: Churchill Livingstone, 1999, pp. 11-22.