Should Abortion Be Outlawed

Firstly, I would like to clear confusion on my stance on the illegalization of abortion. Clearly I am not able to define all terms of the legislation within the debate title, so I would like to do that now. What I am arguing for is for abortion to be made illegal, except for the cases in which the mother's health is in serious danger, or where the baby was acquired from a legitimate, court-proven rape. Though it is still frowned upon, in these cases the choice is really about the mother's body, unlike the abortions of babies conceived and carried under normal circumstances. My opponents claim that a fetus does not have the four requirements for life is somewhat true, but does not go against the definition of life. My opponent has ignored an important part of the definition. The definition states CAPACITY for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death. A fetus does have the capacity to eventually sustain all of these life functions. Its ability to do so is taken away when it is killed by the abortionist. Also, the claim that it does not have functional activity is false. Fetuses experience functional activity very early in the pregnancy, though it may not be felt until anywhere from 13-25 weeks. This activity is movement, it is any process life exhibits. Babies move in the womb. They kick, they move their arms and legs. This is considered functional activity is it not. This proves that this standard of life is met. According to your article, the functional activity does not begin for 20 weeks. This is untrue, because functional activity begins almost immediately after conception[1]. The activity is cell division, this is a functional activity, and is exhibited by many forms of life. Sentience is not necessary for this. Animals, plants, bacteria, etc. are usually considered insentient, but are still alive. If this is considered functioning activity, so should be the activity of the human fetus and zygote. As I've proven that the fetus does exhibit the quality of life my opponent claims it does not, his argument that it is not murder is contradicted. The fetus does fulfill the criterion of life, and killing it, by definition, is murder. No, women are not, in this day in age, in the Western world, discriminated against, in the workplace or anywhere else. This article gives many facts to why that is simply untrue[2]. The wage gap has been debunked numerous times, and so has gender discrimination in the workplace[3]. At least unless your talking about some third-world, Middle-eastern country. Though that is irrelevant since we are talking about legislation within the United States and potentially other Western nations. Of course unwanted pregnancies put not only women, but men as well, at a disadvantage. That is why they are unwanted. But your actions have consequences, and the parents should have thought about that before conceiving the child. No one forced that woman to become pregnant. If you went out and shot someone, you would be arrested. You couldn't say, oh this puts me at a disadvantage. It is the same with pregnancy, you should have thought about the consequences before causing them. It is called maturity. This is why, though, our government forces the father to pay child support, and usually it is unfair to the father. She made a bad decision, a decision she will have to live with. Why does her bad judgment have to be taken out on the innocent, defenseless child. No, she should not get to make that decision. She could have made that decision before she created a new life. She has to be accountable, and her economic convenience DOES NOT take priority over a growing baby. Obviously unwanted pregnancies are not good. There is a better way to prevent them. Don't get pregnant! Any child would rather be in a "home that doesn't want him", than to be ripped apart or burned to death. Here are some stories of mother's that deeply regret having an abortion[4]. Here are some stories from failed abortions[5]. The only way to avoid these negative impacts is by making good choices and by being accountable for your actions. Made a right by the Roe v. Wade case. Funny story about that, the Roe, Norma McCorvey, later became pro-life. Ok here's a solution. Crack down on abortion providers and make it clearly equal to manslaughter. If you make that clear I don't know how many women will attempt an illegal abortion. And they would be engaging in illicit activity, so yes, it would be dangerous to engage in murder. This point really frustrates me with its backward logic. No, actually it is not your body. Unless you are in critical danger, in which I made it clear it is the mother's choice, it is not your body you are deciding on. It is the body of another human being, one who has a whole future. One who's whole life has been ended because of your selfishness. No, we don't put women in a position of inferiority because we forbid them to terminate the lives of others. They are guaranteed child support, and were never forced by anyone to become pregnant. In many cases, the father is left in economic ruin as he must make large child support payments every month. To rebut my opponent's arguments: 1. I have clarified that not all abortions would be illegal, and that is not the case. 2. It is not a fundamental right of women to become pregnant and then kill the baby at will. They could operate freely if they did not choose to have unprotected intercourse with a man. And no, child support renders men just as economically bound to that child as women. If you didn't want the child, you shouldn't have gotten pregnant, your bad decision does not mean you can kill an innocent human being for your own convenience. 3. Yes, it will stop abortions except for very rare cases. The reason it is different from pre-Roe v. Wade is because this legislation will come down hard on abortions. Unlike confusing laws and unclear rules of the past. It is fair, because the defenseless, innocent child gets to live, and the parents who made the bad decision will have to live with the consequences. That is actually fair, unlike your inhumane and unjust proposals. [1] . http://www.mayoclinic.org... [2] . http://www.jtest28.com... [3] . http://www.cbsnews.com... [4] . http://www.gargaro.com... [5] . http://theabortionsurvivors.com...