Abortion should be OK

1. Some woman have certain circumstances where abortion is needed, for example rape, incest, abuse etc. According to rainn.org, there are 237,868 victims of sexual assault each year, and 44% of them are under the age of eighteen. Imagine being 12 years old and pregnant due to a rape. First and foremost, can your body even handle a pregnancy at that age? According to Medline Plus, the younger a mother is below age 20, the greater the risk of her infant dying during the first year of life and infants born to teens are 2 - 6 times more likely to have low birth weight than those born to mothers age 20 or older. Even if a teen could later put the baby up for adoption, the baby would have already been exposed to dangerous conditions. Also, going back to being a pregnant 12 year old, how would that pregnancy affect your future? According to Medline Plus, teen mothers are about 2 years behind their age group in completing their education and women who have a baby during their teen years are more likely to live in poverty. There are woman out there who are put in situations such as rape, incest, or abuse and having a baby can disrupt their whole lives. http://www.rainn.org... http://www.nlm.nih.gov...2. It is not the job of the government to decide whether or not a woman can have an abortion. Whatever circumstance a women is in, the government has no way of knowing. Even if abortion was made against the law unless subject to rape, incest, etc, how can the government enforce that rule? If a woman really wanted to get an abortion, she can easily lie to get it. Also, this country prides itself on the freedom of choice, so why is the choice of women being taken away? Whether or not a woman decides to have an abortion, it is her decision and it will affect her life. Abortion is no easy task, it is very emotional and personal to the woman and her family. If a woman is in a situation where she has to consider having an abortion, she needs to figure that out by herself or with her close family. The government should not be able to weigh in on a decision that personal. 3. If a woman even wants an abortion, the baby is unwanted. It is better to terminate a small blood cell, then to let it grow up unwanted or in a bad environment. Imagine that you are a woman in an abusive relationship. You have no freedom or choice in your household and is physically and mentally abused often. What if you had gotten pregnant? Do you think you live in an environment ideal for raising a child? If my opponent had what he wanted, abortion would be illegal, and for this particular woman, adoption is not an option. Does this child deserve to grow up in such a dangerous environment? Do you think his/her life will be a good one? If a woman is in a situation that she knows is not good for a child, isn’t it her responsibility to terminate the pregnancy? Shouldn’t she at least have the choice to terminate the pregnancy? Though it is hard to picture this, there are women out there in these types of circumstances and worse. My opponent could argue the women could always find help, but does he know how dire her situation is? Does he have any way of proving that every single woman out there has a clear path to safety? According to the Center for Disease Control, at least 4 to 8 percent of pregnant women—that's over 300,000 per year—report suffering abuse during pregnancy. Also, domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to American women between 15 and 44 and is estimated to be responsible for 20 to 25 percent of all hospital emergency room visits by women. 300,000 women a year are abused while pregnant, and on top of this, my opponent believes they shouldn't have the choice to end the pregnancy? http://www.womensweb.ca... In conclusion, I believe abortion should be legal because some women have certain circumstances, it is not the responsibility of the government, and the baby could be put in a bad situation. When a baby is born, it is completely at the mercy of its caregivers. A child is a living thing, a life, and the parents must take the initiative to protect it, at whatever cost.