Abortion Should Be Illegal

IntroductionBefore I begin my first arguments, I would like to apologize to everyone for not posting my first arguments in "Round 2". My opponent and I have agreed upon a new structure of the debate that would allow us to have a complete debate. We have also agreed upon reporting any and all votes that are based upon my forfeiture, i.e. any votes that deduct points from my side based upon my forfeiture will be removed by moderators. The new structure for the debate is below:Round 2 (Part B) - My opponent's first arguments.Round 3 (Part A) - My first arguments.Round 3 (Part B) - My opponent's rebuttal of my first arguments. Round 4 (Part A) - My rebuttal to my opponent's first arguments. Round 4 (Part B) - I ask my opponent to forfeit this round, so the debate will be even. Putting this aside, I will begin my first argument, "The Ethics of Abortion".The Ethics of AbortionThe truth is, abortion is an atrocity, and most people around the world (and in America) find it to be immoral. In fact, a survey done by the Pew Research Center, and reported by LifeSiteNews, found that, "the majority of the people in dozens of nations across every continent but Antarctica deemed abortion . . . morally unacceptable."[1] In addition, a Knights of Columbus/Marist poll found that, "more than six in 10 Americans believe that abortion is morally wrong".[2] With this in mind, it becomes absolutely clear that the public views abortion to be wrong. It is something that is immoral and ultimately an atrocity, as I stated before. Fetuses Feel Pain During Abortion ProceduresPerhaps one of the most convincing pieces of evidence against abortion is the fact that fetuses feel pain at 20 weeks, and even more shocking is the fact that (at this stage in life) fetuses feel pain more intensely than adult human beings.[3] Because of this fact, there have been many laws and efforts to make laws that would address this issue. An example would be the "Woman's Right to Know" law which was passed in Minnesota which requires women to be informed about the fact that fetuses feel pain at 20 weeks. The 14th AmendmentThe 14th Amendment was designed to protect the weakest and most vulnerable individuals within the United States. It specifically states that no state shall "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property . . . "[4] Notice, it says "person", which is to some synonymous with "human", and one would have to ignore the facts to deny that a fetus is a human being. There is a wide scientific consensus that a fetus is a human being and many scientific publications reiterate this claim. In fact, this is what one scientific textbook has to say about the debate about whether a fetus is a human being or not: "Fertilization is a sequence of events that begins with the contact of a sperm (spermatozoon) with a secondary oocyte (ovum) and ends with the fusion of their pronuclei (the haploid nuclei of the sperm and ovum) and the mingling of their chromosomes to form a new cell. This fertilized ovum, known as a zygote, is a large diploid cell that is the beginning, or primordium, of a human being. (Moore, Keith L. Essentials of Human Embryology. Toronto: B.C. Decker Inc, 1988, p.2) The development of a human being begins with fertilization, a process by which two highly specialized cells, the spermatozoon from the male and the oocyte from the female, unite to give rise to a new organism, the zygote. [Langman, Jan. Medical Embryology. 3rd edition. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins, 1975, p. 3] Zygote. This cell, formed by the union of an ovum and a sperm (Gr. zyg tos, yoked together), represents the beginning of a human being. The common expression ‘fertilized ovum’ refers to the zygote. [Moore, Keith L. and Persaud, T.V.N. Before We Are Born: Essentials of Embryology and Birth Defects. 4th edition. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Company, 1993, p. 1]" ConclusionWhen one considers the facts that fetuses can feel pain, the majority find abortion to be morally unacceptable, and the Constitution prohibits abortion, it becomes eminently clear that abortion should be prohibited by law.Footnotes1. https://www.lifesitenews.com... 2. http://www.washingtonexaminer.com...3. http://www.mccl.org...4. http://www.nationalreview.com...