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I would like to contest with my opponent's definition of abortion before I get onto my case. It is more accurate to change 28 weeks to 24 weeks since my case will primarily revolve around the abortion in countries such as the UK where abortion is only considered legal up to 24 weeks into the pregnancy. I’m sure that this will not affect my opponent’s case in any way and that they will agree to my definition. The burden of proof is split. I must argue for the legalization of abortion. My opponent must argue for abortion to be illegal. Libertarian Framework My framework for this debate will be based around libertarianism and the fact that the government has no right to interfere with our choices. My opponent must provide an alternative framework and a reason as to why there framework is preferable in order to gain a huge advantage in this debate. Without a response or sufficient acknowledgement of my framework libertarianism will stand and therefore voters ought to look at this debate from the libertarian perspective brought up in this debate by me. This is a case that is very controversial amongst libertarians however with the support of my contentions I will attempt to eliminate the other side of the debate (at least from a libertarian onset). Would you find it acceptable if you went to get some food and the government stopped you from doing so? The reasonable and rational answer is no. So why would you allow the government to step in and stop you from doing what is best for you and your baby. The baby is yours and the government have no right to make decisions on your behalf - especially when there is no personal look upon the situation. If abortion is to remain illegal (as my opponent proposes), then the government won’t come in and look to see if there is no hope of anything good coming out of the pregnancy and allowing an abortion. The government will simply not allow the act to occur no matter what the circumstances because abortion is illegal. Simple enough. No that this has been explained I will reiterate the food analogy. You have some food, the government then come in and stop you from having this food. This is unacceptable, as any rational person would argue. Now put the fetus into this perspective. You have a baby. The government try to stop you from aborting this baby. Is this acceptable - no. You have the choice and the right to do what you feel is beneficial for the baby and due to this you ought to prefer the legalization of abortion over the illegalization of abortion. Contention 1: Is the fetus alive? The requirements of being alive require many things. The acronym that is usually taught is MRS GREN (1). I will address each individual one separately. Remember that each of these requirements must be met in order for the fetus to be classified as living (1). Movement - The fetus can move so this part is met. Respiration - The fetus cannot respire on its own (2). Sensitivity - The fetus cannot sense at 24 weeks or even 28 weeks (3). Growth - The fetus does grow. Reproduction - Whilst it is a fetus, no it cannot reproduce (4). Excretion - This is possible however very rare and unlikely (5). Nutrition - The fetus cannot independently take in nutrition. If one of these wasn’t met then the fetus would not be considered alive. The fetus was only able to meet 2 of these. Making it considered not alive (1). Contention 2: Illegal Abortions When an abortion is legal there is absolutely no point in having an illegal abortion because they have been proven to be very dangerous and expensive. If abortion are legal then illegal abortions will negatively correlate (6). These illegal abortions have been known to kill both the mother and the baby and sometimes result in extreme suffering on the mother’s behalf (6). Mothers are not doctors so these illegal abortions also occur later than 24 (and even 28) weeks meaning that the babies suffer too (6)! Did you know that: “13% of pregnancy-related deaths worldwide are related to complications of unsafe abortion. ”(7) This statistic is shocking but demonstrates my point very well. These unsafe abortions are illegal abortions and this is what is currently happening because abortions are illegal in places. Contention 3: Underaged teenagers “19% of teens who have had sexual intercourse become pregnant each year. 78% of these pregnancies are unplanned. 6 in 10 teen pregnancies occur among 18-19 year olds. ” (7) This statistic is extremely significant for many reasons. Firstly, if this occurs amongst 18 - 19 year olds then this is extremely bad. Having to look after and care for a child ruins their chances of going to college / university. Your twenties are your most important period of your lives according to many sources (8,9,10). Having to look after a child in this period of time is extremely stressful and prevents you from getting proper qualifications and more importantly, it prevents you from getting a full time job and a house. Children are extremely expensive to have and having a child at the time when you should be looking for a job makes income problematic. On top of this you will have to pay huge amounts of money. “To raise a child born in 2013 to the age of 18, it will cost a middle-income couple just over $245,000, according to newly released estimates from the U. S. Department of Agriculture. That's up $4,260, or almost 2%, from the year before. ”(11) Now let's compare this to the average income of a family: “The typical U. S. households pulls in $51,371 per year. ” Now teenage parents are most likely to make a lot less than this but let's take this statistic anyway. Assuming that this ‘average’ family spend no money at all on anything. It will still cost them almost 5 times their yearly income to equate to that amount. Of course they will need food, clothes, mortgage, heating, electricity etc. on top of this sum of money. Now if this seems like a lot you should double the cost of a child figures (assuming that they have another child), what will you do then? Not allow an abortion? Allow these teengagers to pay almost $500,000, earning (most likely) less than $51,371 per year. Contention 4: Gender Equality Pregnancies have a huge impact upon people’s lives - in particular the mother. As Sarah Weddington stated: “A pregnancy to a woman is perhaps one of the most determinative aspects of her life. It disrupts her body. It disrupts her education. It disrupts her employment. And it often disrupts her entire family life. ” (13) She continued: “[And we feel that], because of the impact on the woman, this … is a matter which is of such fundamental and basic concern to the woman involved that she should be allowed to make the choice as to whether to continue or to terminate her pregnancy. ” (13) This was a very important case showing that without the right to a termination, you are denying women a right and therefore what my opponent is advocating is gender inequality. The great philosopher, Judith Thomson said: “If abortion rights are denied, then a constraint is imposed on women's freedom to act in a way that is of great importance to them, both for its own sake and for the sake of their achievement of equality . .. . and if the constraint is imposed on the ground that the foetus has a right to life from the moment of conception, then it is imposed on a ground that neither reason nor the rest of morality requires women to accept, or even to give any weight at all. ” (13) This emphasizes my previous point in regards to the denial of gender rights and equality and therefore we come to the following conclusion: P1: Denying women an abortion is gender inequality P2: Gender inequality is a violation of human rights C1: Abortion legalization stops gender inequality (in terms of this right) C2: Abortions should be legalized Sources[1] . http://www.bbc.co.uk...[2]http://www.babycenter.com...[3]http://able2know.org...[4]http://www.sexualityandu.ca...[5]http://www.ask.com...[6]http://en.wikipedia.org...[7]http://web.mit.edu...[8]http://bigthink.com...[9]http://www.forbes.com...[10]http://elitedaily.com...[11]http://money.cnn.com...[12]http://www.mybudget360.com...[13]http://www.bbc.co.uk...