An Argument Against Abortion
Abortion is a serious topic that people have been debating about for years. Everywhere you turn the topic of abortion presents itself, on TV, in the newspapers, in books and magazines. It already has, and will continue to cause, controversy for years to come. As long as abortion remains legal, pro-life advocates will continue to protest what they believe to be these horrible acts of murder.
Dating all the way back to the 1800’s, abortions have been taking place all over the world. In the US abortion laws were created around 1820 stating that women would not have abortions after already being pregnant for four months. Then by 1900 most abortions were outlawed. It wasn’t until 1956 that all fifty states had banned abortion with certain exceptions varying by state. Abortions were performed in the case of rape or incest in order to save the life of the mother, or if the fetus was deformed. It was then that back alley abortions started becoming very popular. Women were finding any way possible to be rid of babies they didn’t want.
It wasn’t until later years in the case of Roe vs. Wade that abortion was again allowed.
The Supreme Court in 1973, in the case of Roe v. Wade, declared most existing state abortion laws unconstitutional. This decision ruled out any legislative interference in the first trimester of pregnancy and put limits on what restrictions could be passed on abortions in later stages of pregnancy(Rand ).
While most celebrated this new decision, others, like those in the Roman Catholic Church for example, opposed the change. It was then that the terms “Pro-Life” and “Pro-Choice” were coined as the two movement names: Pro-Life in favor of outlawing most abortions, while pro-choice in favor of it being the woman’s right to choose. Pro-choice advocates usually use the argument of “a women’s right to choose”. But does that mean women have the right to choose murder, because that is what she would be doing if the fetus were a person.
Abortion is a very controversial subject that has been argued about for many years. Abortion is the process that takes the lives of unborn babies that could very well have a long and prosperous life. How do we know every time we perform an abortion that we aren’t taking the life of the person who would one day grow up and find the cure for AIDS, or become president? Every huma...
... middle of paper ...
...y to defend themselves against it. The longer we keep abortion legal, the more and more innocent lives will be taken by people who are probably just cleaning up after a irresponsible mistake. If we made abortion illegal again, people would start to become more careful in their sexual acts because if they don’t they will have a baby to live with and raise. When discussing abortion, we should keep the women’s health as a major concern. Although abortion is a safe process, it does cause long-term damage to a woman’s body. Present day, birth control is so cheap that there is no reason that sexually active couples should not be able to afford and put it to use. If a woman becomes pregnant, and she doesn’t want the child, her other option besides getting an abortion is adoption. In the US there is such a large amount of people looking to adopt, that a home can easily be found for a new born infant.
Bibliography
Shanahan, Kelly . M.d. Risks of Repeated Abortions. iVillage Inc. 1995-2004
http://www.ivillagehealth.com/experts/womens/qas/0%2C%2C258053_732%2C00.html
Rand, Ayn. Abortion is Pro-Life. Copyright 1998 – 2003
http://www.abortionisprolife.com/essays.htm
Abortions have been performed for thousands of years. In the 1800s abortions began to be outlawed. The reasons for anti-abortion laws varied for each state. Some people did not want the world to be dominated by newly arrived immigrants. Abortion in the 1800s were very unsafe due to the fact that the doctors had a limited educations and hospitals were not common. The outlawing of abortions from 1880 to 1973 led to many woman attempting illgeal abortions. (add author). Almost two hundred women died from attempting illegal abortions in 1965. Between two hundred thousand and one million illegal abortions were given each year. In states where local laws restrict the availability of abortion, women tend to have the lowest level of education and income. Additionally, in those states, less money goes toawrds education, welfare, fostercare programs, and adoption services. (Anderson, 5).
As he was living in the Auld’s household for about seven years, at the expensive of Mrs. Auld he was educated to read and write as a young boy. At Mr. Auld’s dismay the lessons and tutoring is forced to come to an end, even though we see the shared similarities between Mrs. Auld and Douglass. Similar to pharaoh’s situation, her heart has hardened as a result of her husband’s commands. By this time we know that Douglass possesses the knowledge of the alphabet, leaving nothing in his way for reading except the understanding of words. It is here that he makes an exchange for bread to the poor local boys who provide him with reading lessons. The boys themselves see that Douglass is no less a boy than they are except the separation of
In Ellison’s book, The Invisible Man, the narrator confronts the challenges of becoming what society expects of him, and accepting his “Invisibility.” Although he contends with the stereotypes in the beginning stages of his journey, he discovers a way to thrive in lieu of his “Absence” in society.
A twisted coming-of-age story, Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man follows a tormented, nameless protagonist as he struggles to discover himself in the context of the racially charged 1950s. Ellison uses the question of existence “outside” history as a vehicle to show that identity cannot exist in a vacuum, but must be shaped in response to others. To live outside history is to be invisible, ignored by the writers of history: “For history records the patterns of men’s lives…who fought and who won and who lived to lie about it afterwards” (439). Invisibility is the central trait of the protagonist’s identity, embodied by the idea of living outside history. Ellison uses the idea of living outside the scope of history as way to illustrate the main character’s process of self-awakening, to show that identity is contradictory and to mimic the structural movement of the novel.
Throughout Ralph Ellison’s novel, Invisible Man, the main character dealt with collisions and contradictions, which at first glance presented as negative influences, but in retrospect, they positively influenced his life, ultimately resulting in the narrator developing a sense of independence. The narrator, invisible man, began the novel as gullible, dependent, and self-centered. During the course of the book, he developed into a self-determining and assured character. The characters and circumstances invisible man came across allowed for this growth.
Invisibility serves as a large umbrella from which other critical discussion, including that of sight, stems. Sight and Invisibility are interconnected when viewing Invisible Man. Essentially, it is because of the lack of sight exhibited by the narrator, that he is considered invisible. Author Alice Bloch’s article published in The English Journal, is a brief yet intricate exploration of the theme of sight in Ellison’s Invisible Man. By interpreting some of the signifying imagery, (i.e. the statue on campus, Reverend Bledsoe’s blindness, Brother Jack’s false eye) within the novel, Bloch vividly portrays how sight is a major part of Ellison’s text. The author contends that Ellison’s protagonist possesses sightfulness which he is unaware of until the end of the book; however, once aware, he tries to live more insightfully by coming out of his hole to shed his invisibility and expose the white man’s subjugation. What is interesting in Bloch’s article is how she uses the imagery of sight in the novel as a means to display how it is equated to invisibility
Abortion continues to be a controversial topic now forty years after the U.S. Supreme Court found it to be a fundamental right in the historic Roe vs. Wade decision. Much of the debate claims to be founded upon scientific or constitutional issues. When examined closely this is just not true.
In Ralph Ellison’s novel, Invisible Man, the narrator who is the main character goes through many trials and tribulations.
On January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court, made decisions of Roe vs. Wade and declared all state abortion statutes to be morally wrong. The majority of the Court first found that Jane Roe, had challenged the Texas abortion statute, even though she already had given birth. The Court then later found that women and doctors had a right to privacy and it interfered with meaningful state regulation of abortion. The majority saw this and studied this for the history of abortion and ...
“Here 's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.
On January 22, 1973 the court issued its opinion with a 7-2 majority voting to strike down the Texas law. State laws outlawing abortion were set aside by the court, permitting abortions during the first three months of pregnancy and setting standards for regulations after that time to safeguard the women's health. The Supreme Court declared all but the least restrictive state statues unconstitutional. Noting that early abortions had become safer than childbirth and reasoning that the word "person" in the constitution "does not include the unborn." The Court
Therefore, many women are still going to keep on with the abortions. They feel that they should have the right to terminate their unborn baby because it?s no one else?s business. Many issues about abortions are is there any short and long term effects, parental protection with their children having to decide to terminate a child, churches issues on how it is a sin to kill a child which according to the church should have happen unless they are married. The research about abortions, many people still needs a lot to learn.
In the beginning of Douglass’ life, his only knowledge is the slave world and their duties. He knows the land, the families, and the brutal ways of life as a slave. When Douglass is sent to Baltimore to babysit, Mrs. Auld, his mistress, teaches him the alphabets. Mr. Auld tells her that she cannot teach a “nigger” no more because he thinks that ones they learn, they will be uncontrollable. This changes Douglass’s whole perception of slavery. He realizes that the only thing that stands between a slave and freedom is education. After Mrs. Auld stops teaching him, Douglass starts to read newspapers and books to teach himself how to read and write. The more Douglass learned, the more he starts to realize the ugliest side of slavery. This helps Douglass to be determined to put an end to slavery and eventually helps him escape. For Frederick Douglass, it was knowledge that freed him and changed his life so completely, and that he later uses to help other slaves. Knowledge was what gave Douglass a new life and determination to accomplish something instead of struggling his whole
Those who adamantly oppose abortion are regarded as pro-life and those who are supporters of abortion are considered pro-choice by contemporary standards. Even among those who advocate abortion, there are discrepancies in their views such as up until what point in the pregnancy is abortion morally permissible. In my opinion, abortion is morally permissible at any stage in a woman’s pregnancy. This is ethically acceptable because a woman should have the right to control what goes on within her body. Along with this, fetuses are still far from personhood (having the qualities of a human being); therefore, we cannot liken abortion to any variety of murderous activity.
.... The Roe v. Wade case basically said that a woman could choose abortion in earlier months of pregnancy without restriction, and with restrictions in later months, based on the right to privacy. All state laws limiting women's access to abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy were invalidated by Roe v. Wade. This case alone supports the pro-choice argument.