Literary Allusion

The infamous King Oedipus was blind to the truth that he was married to his own mother, and once the startling truth was revealed to him, he was devastated, he blinded himself. Similarly often women who get abortions are blinded to the truth that they have taken a human life. They believe the child was merely tissue and a little blood. But when they do come to the realization that life begins at the moment of conception, like Oedipus, this is when the devastation and awesome burden of what they have done descend upon them. Abortion is never an answer.

Definition

If one consulted the dictionary for a definition of the word justifiable, one would see excusable as a synonym and reasonable as another. However, when one applies the term to the subject of abortion, the definitions seem very feeble. When is it excusable or reasonable to take another innocent human’s life?

Anecdote

Janice wasn’t popular. In fact most people didn’t even know she attended Larkin High. She did not make the cheerleading squad; she didn’t dare try. She was not super smart to be a “nerd” in the Science Club. She wasn’t even pretty or shapely enough to stand out for her looks, nor were her parents rich enough to buy her the latest designer clothes. She did not have much going for her, but she did have one thing. She had Bobby. He was the only ray of sunshine in her life. He was everything to her. She was everything to him, or so she thought until she told him she was pregnant. Bobby disappeared, wouldn’t call or return hers. Time was passing and she had to do something. She couldn’t tell her parents; she had no friends. She couldn’t take care of a baby. She felt abortion was her only answer. Many young girls find themselves in similar circumstances and make the same choice as Janice; most go on to live productive lives. They should continue to have the right and opportunity to choose what is the best option for them.

Statistical Data

In 1994, 106,838 married women had legal abortions. In that same year 436,633 unmarried women had abortions. Another 11,175 who had an abortion did not identify their marital status. These statistics, over 545,000, only reflect the reports of thirty-five states; fifteen never reported data to the federal government. The data can be also examined by race. In 1994, 349, 857 white women had an abortion while 205,442 black women aborted. 69,250 Latina women aborted. Including the women of other racial groups and those who did not identify their ethnicity, the number exceeded 605,000. Though these statistics were from the same year, the totals differ because more states reported abortions by ethnicity than marital status. In any case, a look at the staggering number of abortions performed in the United States reveal abortion is a serious topic, one that cannot be ignored.

Startling Statement

A human life is worth no more than sixty-seven cents worth of cheap chemicals. If one only examines the worth of a life in terms of chemical value, an abortion is not that big of a deal because a baby’s body probably would not even yield the sixty-seven cents. Yet if one examines life in its uniqueness, the fact that no other person can or will ever exist exactly like another, not even twins, the value of human life is priceless.

Quotation

Women, when faced with an unwanted pregnancy, sometimes say it is better to abort than to bring a child into the world who is unwanted, or it is cruel to subject a child to the potential abuse of a foster home or adoptive family. They see abortion as the compassionate act of sparing the child a life of misery. However, there is an alternative view best represented by the Greek philosopher Theocritus who wrote, “For the living there is hope, but for the dead there is none.” As long as the child is alive, no matter how difficult the current circumstances, there is always a chance that life can change for the better for him, but once the child is dead, his opportunity to improve his life or anyone else’s is over.

Question

What is the most controversial social question of the twentieth century that continues to plague society in the twenty-first? What issue provokes people to kill in opposition to it and eliminate life in defense of it? Abortion is the response for both of these questions. “The right to life” in whatever way people interpret the phrase was supposedly settled by the courts in “Roe v. Wade;” however, the controversy over abortion is as much in the news today as it was thirty years ago. Though abortion temporarily eliminates a problem in a woman’s life, it usually leads to a host of others. Thus abortion is not the answer.

State Thesis and List Points

Though abortion is an emotionally charged subject, rationality is the best way to approach this issue. There are various reasons why abortion should remain legal. The foremost reason is the pregnancy may endanger the mother’s life if she continues it. Equally important, the pregnancy may be the result of incest or rape.