Source: https://lakelandmirror.com/opinions/editorials/2013/40th-anniversary-of-roe-vs-wade/
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 05:56:02+00:00

Document:
Jan. 22 marked the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision. The decision resulted from a Supreme Court hearing and overturned many existing state laws that stated that women were not legally allowed to have abortions. Roe v. Wade has made abortion available to women during the first trimester without any legal restriction. Beyond the first trimester, abortion is legal when the mother’s life is endangered due to the pregnancy.
Since the Roe v. Wade decision, approximately 55 million American babies have had their lives terminated. We encountered this staggeringly disturbing statistic while attending Wisconsin Right to Life’s 40-year anniversary Roe v. Wade commemorative concert.
At the concert, two bands played, but the main purpose was to raise awareness and funds for Wisconsin to fight the national decision that was made 40 years ago. The first speaker at the concert was Rev. Donald J. Hying.
His point was, of course, that America places more value on a bald eagle’s life than a human’s life. And we would like to assert to you today that this double standard of life is wrong, and America needs a change of attitude.
Some would argue that abortion is alright—at least in the first trimester—because the baby is dependent on his or her mother, and so cannot be considered his or her own person. These people consider the baby to be a part of the woman’s body.
But a baby’s heart will begin beating on its own within that first trimester, though it cannot be heard until the ninth or tenth week of the pregnancy. Furthermore, one must consider that the so-called “fetus” also has his or her own unique set of DNA from the very moment of conception when the sperm fertilizes the egg.
How could you say that the baby is somehow a part of the mother’s body if the baby has his or her own heartbeat and the baby’s DNA does not match the mother’s?
Some claim to be against abortion because they believe it is murder, and yet some say that they still want women to be able to have the choice of whether or not to have an abortion.
Those who take these contrasting views as their combined political and moral stance are contradicting themselves. We can all agree that murder is wrong, so if someone believes something is murder, they should not support it in any way. Either someone is pro-life or pro-choice; in this debate, you cannot be both.
Additionally, why should abortion be considered a superior option to adoption? Doesn’t adoption allow for a mother to be “free” of the unwanted baby and still give that baby a chance to live life?
Just think, there are many prospective parents who want to adopt because they themselves are unable to have children of their own. So, every time a child is aborted, the opportunity for a hopeful future parent to adopt that child is lost. Some people are already parents, but would welcome the addition of a non-biological child.
So even if a mother considering abortion does not want the child, she should consider allowing the child to be adopted because there are people across America who would love that child.
Another argument for abortion is that getting rid of the child gets rid of harmful stress that the mother may be experiencing due to her pregnancy.
Unfortunately, we’ve heard the stories of many women who have had abortions in their pasts, and the choice they made years or even decades before can be one that still haunts them. Abortion is not the answer to getting rid of bad feelings about a pregnancy; it only changes the nature of those feelings.
Furthermore, abortion does not just affect the mother of the child. The choice to abort a child is one that impacts that whole child’s family, especially—in many cases—the father of the child. What if the father wants to keep the child, but the mother does not? By the mother making a pro-choice decision, the father does not legally have the right to decide to keep the child himself.
There are plenty of other reasons to take the abortion option out of the picture. With the remembrance of the Roe v. Wade decision in mind, Wisconsin should fight back to overturn the legalization of abortion which should never have been made 40 years ago.
According to Wisconsin Right to Life, approximately 20 babies are aborted every day in Wisconsin alone. But the number of Wisconsin abortions is decreasing each year, partly thanks to the efforts of Wisconsin Right to Life. In 1980, about 21,000 children were aborted, but in 2011, that number decreased to about 7,000.
If you would like to support the pro-life cause or find more information about the Roe v. Wade decision, visit wrtl.org, the Wisconsin Right to Life webpage. There is a lot more information to discover.
The website also has information about future events relating to the pro-life cause. So get out there and make a difference.

References: v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v.