Should Abortion Be Outlawed

Before we begin, let"s define a few key terms. Abortion " the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy Outlaw " ban: make illegal Life " the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death My opponent has taken the stance that abortion should be outlawed. In order for my opponent to win this round, you must be completely convinced that abortion should be illegal in all instances, with absolutely no exceptions. I will be showing you why my opponent is incorrect through a few simple contentions. Contention 1: Abortion does not necessarily violate life Link: Life requires functional activity In the definition of life which I provided above, we see four simple conditions that must be met in order to consider someone or something alive. Let"s focus specifically on the third standard. The definition states that in order to be alive, we must see "functional activity. " If we do not see this standard met, we cannot consider life to exist. Link: Functional activity does not begin before 20 weeks According to an article by the Scientific American, (. https://www.scientificamerican.com...), a fetus is not "sentient" until after placental abruption, or the separation of the fetus from the placenta. This takes place, as stated in the article, sometime after 20 weeks. Without sentience, we cannot expect a fetus to fulfill this standard of functional activity. Impact: Abortion before 20 weeks does not take life Before 20 weeks, the fetus does not fulfill the criterion by which life is defined. This means that any abortion taking place before 20 weeks should not be considered as the taking of life, considering that there is no life to be taken. Having established that abortion should not always be considered the taking of life, let us turn to some reasons that abortion should be considered a crucial right of women. Contention 2: Abortion is a fundamental Women"s Right Link: Women are discriminated against An article from Project Concern International, studies have found that women are discriminated against on a regular basis in the workplace, by society, and even by laws in some nations. (. https://www.pciglobal.org...) Link: Unwanted pregnancies put women at a disadvantage Children are an economic strain on any family unit. Abortions are most often employed by women who do not see support for the child to be a viable economic path for their family unit, which often consists of just the woman, who is already struggling to support herself. A single woman struggling to support herself is going to be dragged down by a pregnancy that she is not prepared to support. Impact: Women"s right to choose In order for a woman to be able to compete in society, and especially to support herself economically, she needs to be able to make the decision as to whether or not to keep the baby " for herself. Contention 3: Unwanted pregnancies have terrible impacts The Brookings Institute published a study finding the following. "The high incidence of unintended pregnancy imposes costs on American society that range from increased rates of crime and welfare participation to reduced levels of high-school completion and labor-force participation. " Whether those effects be upon the woman or, often, girl who becomes pregnant, or upon the child who grows up in a home that does not want him, the negative impacts of unwanted pregnancies must be factored in. The only way to avoid these negative impacts is to allow abortions to take place. Let"s turn to some of the negative consequences of making abortion illegal. Disadvantage 1: Increased risk to women Before abortion was ruled a constitutional right by the U. S. Supreme Court, women went to all sorts of abortion providers when they found themselves in need. Because of the questionable legality of abortion at that point, some of those abortion providers were safer than others. In states where abortion was considered illegal, or heavily frowned upon, young girls had to go to unverified, often unsafe sources in order to get their abortions. After abortion was ruled constitutional, measures went into effect to ensure that all abortion providers were certified, and that safe abortion sources were available to everyone. By siding with my opponent in this round, we revert to the unsafe measures that girls had to take before abortion was legal. Disadvantage 2: Backsliding on Woman"s Rights As established above in Contention 2, abortion is a fundamental right of all women, because women have a right to do what they want with their own bodies. If we take this away from them, we put women in position of inferiority in society. Unwanted pregnancies are thrust upon women, with no promise of support from the father, and no way for the woman to continue to support herself economically. In order to avoid this, we must side against my opponent in this round. To conclude my opening arguments, remember blank very important things. 1. I order to side with my opponent, you must agree that abortion should be illegal in all circumstances. 2. Abortion is a fundamental right for all women. Taking this away from them prevents women from operating freely in society to the same capacity as men. 3. Removing legal abortion will not stop abortions from taking place. Rather it will present an incredible risk to women, who are forced to either (1) stall in society, or (2) get illegal and unsafe abortions. This is not a situation into which a fair or just society has any right to put women. Thank you.