Abortion should be illegal.

Hello, my name is Forever 23 and I am going to argue that abortion must be legal.First, I would like to define the terms in the debate, refute my opponents points and then proceed to state 3 of my own points.Abortion- the deliberate termination of pregnancy in a human being.Now onto refutation.My opponent stated that the fetus is alive and therefore abortion is murder. However, you can only murder something that is alive. The fetus is not alive. [1]Lets first examine the fact that only 1.4% of abortions are performed before the 28 weeks at which the fetus is considered alive. Next, something can only be considered alive if it fits more than half of the following criteria. [2]Movement - The fetus movesRespiration - The fetus does not breathSensitivity - It can not senseGrowth - The fetus growsReproduction - It can not reproduceExcretion - Very rareNutrition - The fetus depends on the mother for nutritionClearly, the fetus fits 2, 3 at MOST of these criteria. That clearly proves that the fetus is not alive.Now, I would like to establish the grounds of my own case.Contention #1- The Black MarketMaking abortion illegal will really make this situation worse than it already is by straightening the black market. Making something illegal does not choke the demand side. Women still need abortion but since it is illegal, they do it through the black market. The problem is that in the black market, operations will be unsafe and may hurt the health of the young women. Having abortion as illegal increases the amount of unsafe operations resulting in the women doing the abortions at the black market. [3] In Mexico, miso is sold over the counter as an ulcer medication (in the U.S., it's only available with a prescription) creating the perfect conditions for black market sales in the United States. And while no abortion clinics remain in the Valley, the Mexican town of Reynosa is just across the nearby border. There, miso can be bought in bulk at Mexican pharmacies and snuck back over the border into Texas, where it's sold undercover at sprawling flea markets like the one I'm searching in today. [4] 13% of pregnancy-related deaths worldwide are related to complications of unsafe abortion.When something is legal, there is no point for the black market to exist. If abortion was to be legal, the black market would be substantially decreased or completely eradicated. The statistics above prove my point to the fullest extent. The women who receive abortions in the black market are desperate. They have no option to receive the safe operation so they have to take a dangerous path.Contention #2- Abortion and Human RightsOne of the main human rights is gender equality.[5]" A pregnancy to a woman is perhaps one of the most determinative aspects of her life. It disrupts her body. It disrupts her education. It disrupts her employment. And it often disrupts her entire family life. Ã¢â‚¬Å"[And we feel that], because of the impact on the woman, this Ã¢â‚¬Â¦ is a matter which is of such fundamental and basic concern to the woman involved that she should be allowed to make the choice as to whether to continue or to terminate her pregnancy"- Sarah WeddingtonÃ¢â‚¬Å"If abortion rights are denied, then a constraint is imposed on women's freedom to act in a way that is of great importance to them, both for its own sake and for the sake of their achievement of equality .... and if the constraint is imposed on the ground that the foetus has a right to life from the moment of conception, then it is imposed on a ground that neither reason nor the rest of morality requires women to accept, or even to give any weight at all.Ã¢â‚¬Â" - Judith ThompsonO1- Abortion being illegal takes away gender equality from women.O2- This therefore violates some of the most important human rightsConclusion- If abortion is illegal, clearly, there is a violation of the human rights. Abortion would however, end the gender inequality and protect the human rights of women. If the human rights of women are to be protected, abortion must be legal.A clarification of the right to life. My opponent may mention how the fetus has a right to life. The fetus however, is not scientifically living. Life does not begin at conception and therefore, the right to life does not apply to the fetus. Illegal abortion violates another human right- the right to body.Every woman and man have the right to their body and anything inside it. That means that the women have control over the fetus. The fetus does not have the right to body because it is not a living thing. The fetus is not a living thing and it depends on the woman. Therefore, the women can choose what to do with the fetus and whether she will get abortion or not.[6] â€¢ Make decisions about our own health, body, sexual life and identity without fear of coercion or criminalizationâ€¢ Seek and receive information about sexuality and reproduction and access related health services and contraceptionâ€¢ Have access to comprehensive education on human sexuality, sexual and reproductive health, human rights and gender equalityâ€¢ Decide whether and when to have children, and how many to haveâ€¢ Access safe abortion services in cases of rape, incest, when the life or health of the pregnant woman is at risk, or when there is severe or fatal fetal impairmentâ€¢ Choose our intimate partner, whether and when to marry and what type of family to createâ€¢ Live free from discrimination, coercion and violence, including rape and other sexual violence, female genital mutilation/cutting, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, forced sterilization and forced marriageBoth the access to abortion and the decision to have children or not are engraved into the heart of the human rights. Illegal abortion takes away these prominent rights away from women.O1- Illegal abortion takes away right to body and decision.O2- The illegal abortion violates key human rightsConclusion- Legal abortion would ensure human beings these unalienable rights and endow upon us a safer environment.Defense of this contention- The fetus is not alive as proven by numerous statistics and therefore none of these human rights concern the fetus.Contention #3- Concerning the TeenagersAt the age of 18-19, teenagers may end up getting pregnant. It is their fault, the opposition admits, however since that has already happened and denying the right to abortion to teenagers is immoral. The teens may have made a mistake but they can not be paying for it their whole life. [4] 19% of teens who have had sexual intercourse become pregnant each year. 78% of these pregnancies are unplanned. 6 in 10 teen pregnancies occur among 18-19 year olds.The teens have made a mistake but they should not be paying for it their whole life. If a woman is pregnant or has given birth, it may decrease her chances of entering a good college and getting an education. The teen years are the time when one can have an easier time learning and the only way to use these years productively is by if pregnant, getting abortion. In addition, a child can be a burden due to the expenses for a young mother. The price to raise a child is [7] To raise a child born in 2013 to the age of 18, it will cost a middle-income couple just over $245,000, according to newly released estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That's up $4,260, or almost 2%, from the year before.Family income- Pulls in $51,371 per year.A young mother can not afford the child.Vote con[1] http://abortion.ws...[2] http://www.bbc.co.uk...[3] http://jezebel.com...-[4] http://web.mit.edu...[5] http://www.bbc.co.uk...[6] http://www.amnestyusa.org...[7] http://money.cnn.com...