Abortion

Point 1: I am sorry, but your comment about my Point 1 from Round 2 I do not get. I was trying to say that the prohibition of abortion will end up like the prohibition of alcohol. Abortions will start being done in the home by someone with no medical training, and there will be an increase in illegal abortion. Point 2: "For 1972, the last full year before Roe, the federal Centers for Disease Control reported that 39 women died due to illegal abortion.":http://www.straightdope.com.... Yes, only 39 women died of illegal abortion in the United States in 1972. Point 3: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that in 1972 alone, 130,000 women obtained illegal or self-induced procedures, 39 of whom died.":http://www.guttmacher.org.... This means that at least 260,000 people broke the law by having an illegal abortion. That number only takes into account the woman and the doctor. There could be more the 2 involced in one abortion. The prohibition of abortion will again cause 130,000+ crimes. And they need solving. Police are already having a hard time controlling crime. Adding 130,000+ crimes with at least 260,000 people involved will make the police department a mess. Point 4: "In 1967, England liberalized its abortion law to permit any woman to have an abortion with the written consent of two physicians. More than 600 American women made the trip to the United Kingdom during the last three months of 1969 alone" "The year before the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade, just over 100,000 women left their own state to obtain a legal abortion in New York City":http://www.guttmacher.org.... This means that is abortion is made illegal, then thousands of women will travel to a foreign country that legalizes abortion. In other words, they will bypass the law. Point 5: "The proportion of abortions obtained early in the first trimester has risen from 20% in 1970 to 56% in 1998": http://www.guttmacher.org.... This means that since the legalization of abortion in 1973, there has been a sharp increase in the percentage of abortions, legal or illegal, done in the first trimester. And approximately 55% of abortions in the year 2000 were done before the 8th week of pregnancy; up from 23% in 1972.: Website: http://www.guttmacher.org... ; Website's source: Trends in Abortion in the United States, 1973-2000 and Abortion and Women's Health. So most babies aborted do not feel any pain. Point 6: One of the four major factors that decreased crime in the 1990s was abortion: http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu.... "The underlying theory rests on two premises: 1) unwanted children are at greater risk for crime, and 2) legalized abortion leads to a reduction in the number of unwanted births." :http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu... "These children who were born because their mothers were denied a nabortion were substantially more likely to be involved in crime, even when controlling for the income, age, education and health of the mother.":http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu.... "For instance, homicide fell 25.9 percent in high-abortion states between 1985 and 1997 compared to an INCREASE of 4.1 percent in low-abortion states. Panel data estimates confiï¿½rm the strong negative relationship between lagged abortion and crime. An analysis of arrest rates by age reveal that only arrests of those born after abortion legalization are affected by the law change.":http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu.... There are so many great passages on this website to list all here. To have a better understanding of what this article is saying, read the article from the bottom of page 19 to the top of page 21. Also, look at the graphs throughout the article. Here is the article again: http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu.... And no, I can not prove the prohibiting abortion would just increase crime and poverty in the United States, but I can prove the legalizing abortion has decreased crime. Point 7: "For example, Dagg (1991) reports that these women overwhelmingly kept their babies, rather than giving them up for adoption, but that they often resented the unwanted children.": http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu.... This shows that if a woman is denied an abortion, she will most likely keep it instead of putting it up for adoption. Point 8: "I think people should pay for their mistakes." Yes, I think the mother should have to pay, but why make an innocent child pay? As pointed previously, an overwhelming percentage of poor people have abortions. So if they were denied an abortion, you are not only making the mother pay, but you are also making the child pay. You are making the child pay through making him or her live in poverty for 18 years, and most likely, in poverty his or her whole life. Point 9: Also with the last few points, I have proved that legalizing abortion does not increase the number of people in poverty, and the prohibition of abortion will increase the number of people in poverty, Point 10: Proving that abortion is a right that women need is unnecessary. They have the right to abort if necessary. Point 11: "Preemies begin to feel pain around a woman's 35th week of pregnancy, about two to four weeks before delivery, according to a new study from University College London.": http://abcnews.go.com.... The exact date when fetuses begin to feel pain will probably never be answered. It is all a matter of one's opinion and of one's stance on abortion. I am sure it is not the 35th week of pregnancy, but there are extreme and radical answers on both sides. But the major concensus is 20 weeks: http://www.omaha.com..., http://www.godandscience.org..., http://news.discovery.com.... Point 12: Having a lower social status makes you more vulnerable to mental diseases or the other way around depending on what side you take: http://en.wikipedia.org.... A good article on the relationship between low income and social status to mental disorders: http://epirev.oxfordjournals.org... Point 13: In February 2003, the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) held a workshop of more than 100 of the world's leading experts who study pregnancy and breast cancer risk. The experts reviewed human and animal studies that looked at the link between pregnancy and breast cancer risk, including studies of induced and spontaneous abortions. Some of their findings were: • Breast cancer risk is increased for a short time after a full-term pregnancy (that is, a pregnancy that results in the birth of a living child). • Induced abortion is not linked to an increase in breast cancer risk. • Spontaneous abortion is not linked to an increase in breast cancer risk. The level of scientific evidence for these findings was considered to be "well established" (the highest level): http://www.cancer.org.... Point 14: Adoption is a bumpy ride for most children. Point 15: Young people do not know how to take care of a baby, and most likely, the parent is not willing to help. So its either the baby suffer from bad parenting at the hands of the girl, or go through the bumpy ride of adoption. Abortion seems like a very logical choice. ==Conclusion== My return arguments disprove most of my opponents claims. I have now proven that the legalization of abortion has decreased crime significantly.