...Avery Klemp English 105/106 Mrs. Pulis 10/13/14 Abortion Abortion has been a controversial topic in America for a very long time. Society believes that abortion is immoral and considers abortion to be murder. People that do not support, or “pro-lifersâ€, believe that if abortion were illegal there would not be any abortions performed. However, over 70,000 maternal deaths occur every year due to unsafe abortions (AboutNews). These women die making the idea of pro-life extremely contradictory. The government should not be able to make medical decisions for women in America. Pro-choice is necessary in America so women who have life threatening conditions due to their pregnancy or are victims of sexual crimes are given reproductive freedom. Women who are victims of rape or incest should not be forced to carry out a pregnancy. Pro-choice means that all women should have the right to make their own choice when it comes to their body. If a woman is raped and becomes pregnant, the idea of keeping the child may or may not be too much for her to psychologically deal with. People who believe in Pro-choice have sympathy for this woman, whereas Pro-life supporters call her a murderer. Society must accept that women who are victims of these crimes deal with the issue differently and regardless of your own opinion, it is simply not right for the government to take away a woman’s choice to terminate a pregnancy if she so chooses. Survey taken by Gallup Politics from American citizens...
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...Abortion Is Ethical Problems with Death, 2006 "A woman deciding whether to continue a pregnancy stands on moral ground. She is entitled to make her decision....No one else...should decide whether she will use her body to bring new life into the world." In the following viewpoint Caitlin Borgmann argues that abortion is ethical for many reasons. First, women have the right to decide what to do with their own bodies, she contends. Second, abortion allows women to participate equally in society by enabling them to postpone childbearing until they finish school or establish their careers. Borgmann also maintains that abortion allows women to have children only when they are ready to take care of them, and protects their health by allowing women to terminate pregnancies at legal clinics. At the time this article was written, Caitlin Borgmann was state strategies coordinator for the American Civil Liberties Union Reproductive Freedom Project in New York. As you read, consider the following questions: What two groups of women does the author suggest suffer the most due to restrictions on abortion rights? In the author's view, in addition to a woman's right to choose, what else does the pro-choice movement stand for? What examples does the author use to support her argument that institutional opposition to abortion rights is part of a campaign to undermine women's autonomy and equality? The movement to preserve and advance reproductive freedom is suffering the consequences of...
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...Civil Liberties and Rights in America Connie Palmer POL: American National Government Instructor: Sara Rogers 4-29-2013 The right to privacy is a civil liberty every American enjoys. The right to privacy is an important freedom for everyone everywhere not just in certain states. Women in America should have the right to do whatever she feels is best for her. The street law website states, “The fourteenth amendment says not state shall deny to any person with in justification the equal protection of the laws.” Women in America are concerned states having different laws concerning abortion. Women have different reasons for wanting or needing an abortion. Some women may be restrictive to the laws and her life could be in danger. The law in Texas states women cannot receive an abortion unless her life could be in danger. This restriction on abortion infringes on the civil liberties of women in the United States. Personally, I believe women should have the right to receive an abortion under certain circumstances. I agree with the law in Texas to a point. I feel if the woman’s life is in jeopardy, if the pregnancy is a result of a rape, or if the fetus is not developing normally are the only reasons I think a woman should receive an abortion. This may be hypocritical of me, but I believe an abortion should not be a justification for birth control. I feel strongly about the right of a woman to choose life or to choose an abortion. Public policy protects the rights of women to choose...
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...ABORTION Abortion remains a divisive and contentious issue which conjures visceral emotions within our contemporary political landscape. The dominant political approach to abortion witnesses Queensland Government engaging in the rights-based realm asserting that foetal life is to be afforded liberal rights at the expense of a woman via the formulation of anti-abortion laws . However, the politics of abortion is patent in ways far beyond centralised government with the discursive framing of abortion often being left to non-governmental actors given the sensitivity and unwillingness of politicians to copiously address abortion. This has resulted in the emergence of a rigid debate between foetal rights and women's rights making liberal rights...
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...women need to enjoy similar rights like their male counterparts; however, this is not the case because their lack of access to abortion impairs their economic and social equality. * Following the case of Roe V. Wade in 1973, optional abortion was legalized in the U.S and restrictions were permitted in the individual states for the women pursuing abortion. * The court allowed women to undertake abortion provided the states did not create undue burdens for the women; however, the current public policy goes against this mandate. * The Current policy on abortion seeks to restrict access to abortion by incorporating techniques that create undue burdens on vulnerable women. * Several attempts to criminalize abortion have been unsuccessful resulting in the implementation of the repressive policy. * The repressive policy aims at fragmenting the rights of women to access abortion as well as limiting their accessibility to the procedure. These systems make the women resort to illegal and unsafe methods or are forced to bear children against their wish. * These efforts have limited the reproductive rights of vulnerable since upper-class white women can still access abortion procedures via their private doctors or through traveling to countries where it is legal and safe. Slide 1 * There are many groups of vulnerable women that fail to access abortion procedures. * Firstly, teenagers below the age of 18 years cannot access abortion due to the expensive cost...
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...In the United States, reproductive rights continue to be an extremely controversial issue as heated debates over abortion and contraceptives are on the rise. With regards to current events including the 2016 presidential election and the newly appointed Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, the Court’s role of reproductive rights has been examined closely. Federal and state legislature have honed in on women’s right to abortion through compelling state interests to protect women’s health. Additionally, access of contraceptives and the role of health care are issues that the Court has decided on. Over the years, the Court’s opinions on these issues have evolved even though reproductive rights are still very controversial. To better understand...
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...Abortion: A History of Controversy, Court Cases, and Contention Abortion: A History of Controversy, Court Cases, and Contention By: Carla Phillips Pol-210 Submitted July 28, 2014 “Abortion: A History of Controversy, Court Cases, and Contention” Carla Phillips, POL-210 This research is a chronology of abortion not only from a legislative aspect, but also a social one. The goal is to show both sides of the abortion debate through court decisions, social activism, and well-known opponents and proponents. This will be an objective look at the topic without regards to my personal opinion. Abortion is a widely disputed topic within the United States. Whether politically inclined or not, most people have an opinion on abortion. Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines abortion as “the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus”. ("Abortion - Medical Definition and More from Merriam-Webster", n.d) Even the basic definition invokes a debate. Proponents of abortion argue that life does not begin at conception, making the phrase “death of the embryo or fetus” inaccurate. Something cannot die if it hasn’t yet lived. Opponents of abortion, on the other hand, argue that life does begin with conception, making abortion tantamount to murder. The American Medical Association first condemned any abortion with the exception of ones performed to preserve the life of the mother or child...
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...reason why a woman should have to face all the consequences from something she did not do alone. If a guy can get a woman pregnant and then run away, there is no reason why she should be the one responsible for everything. Having more options puts a woman on more equal footing with men, instead of being someone of whom they can take advantage. In addition, I believe that it is best for a child to not be born at all than to be born hated, to a mother who is forced to have him because she has no choice, and not because she wants the child. The single most important factor for women's advancement in society is our ability to control our fertility. Without that, we are trapped by the realities of pregnancy, childbirth and childrearing; rather than a privilege and a gift, these aspects of being female become an unbearable burden. Attempts to limit women's reproductive freedom are no more than a gambit to keep women "in their place"-- a gambit in the guise of religious moralism. True, the guise can run deep, and many so-called "pro-lifers" genuinely believe that killing a fetus is equivalent to killing a human being. But such religious feeling has no place in the public policies of a country that claims to separate church and state. In the words of Supreme Court justices O'Connor, Kennedy and Souter: "At the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life." No one wants to plan an abortion. But the best...
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...Are Individual Rights More Important Than Human Life? By Talha Sajjad English 161: Academic II Dr. William Ford University of Illinois at Chicago May 3rd, 2010 There are protests and demonstrations held every day, yet somehow abortion is still legal in the United States. In the decision of the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, it was ruled that women have the right, given to them by the Constitution, to have an abortion in the early stages of pregnancy (Infoplease). Hundreds of protesters gather outside clinics that offer abortions and try to present their position on the issue, but it seems as though their cries and complains are never heard. The main question that we must decide on is this: is it just to take away human life before it even has the chance to be lived? Several countries around the world have outlawed the practice of abortion. When deciding the abortion issue, its women’s rights as citizens of the United States versus the religious beliefs of a majority of citizens. What is more important, the sanctity of life or allowing murder on the basis of one’s right to choose? Given the abortion procedure allows women sexual and reproductive freedom, it has unconsciously led to a trend where abortion is being used as a method of contraception. In the United States, 49% of the pregnancies are unintended and American women used abortion as a tool to terminate almost half of these pregnancies (Infoplease). Abortion was not meant to be used in accidental...
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...who had received abortions, going so far as to suggest they should face some kind of punishment for their actions. If made president, he vowed to overturn Roe v. Wade, commonly recognized as the Supreme Court ruling that gave women the right to an abortion, regardless of circumstance. (Vitali, 2016) Additionally, Trump threatened to end the funding of Planned Parenthood, due to their association with abortion and disregarding all other important services the organization provides. (“Planned Parenthood funding,” 2015) With his triumph and the triumph of many Republicans in the recent election, it’s important for all Americans, but especially American women, to consider...
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...National Abortion Federation: Abortion is about a Women’s Right. | | | 3/8/2011 | | National Abortion Federation: Abortion is about a women’s right. The controversy of Pro Choice vs. Pro Life plays a strong role in society. This has further drawn attention from the National Abortion Federation (NAF). The NAF interest group favors Pro Choice taking pride in educating women on abortion as well as allowing them the freedom of choice. There are two kinds of abortion options that the National Abortion Federation supports in the U.S. – in – clinic abortion and the abortion pill. Statistically more than one million women choose abortion each year. Abortions are so common that 1 out of 3 women in the U.S. participate in the termination of a child before the age of 45. Each woman has a different case with a unique story, and due to this a women has the freedom to choose depending on their personal situation. Due to this, approximately 20 to 30 legal abortions are performed each year. The National Abortion Federation provides women strength, information, safe procedures and a referral program to put each woman in front of the right doctor. The federal judiciary is the most crucial battlefield in the current fight to preserve women’s reproductive choices The National Abortion Federation is fiercely fighting for what they believe in, Pro Choice; Freedom of Choice. As of February 18, 2011 the newly elected leaders in the House of Representatives voted 240 to 185 in favor...
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...Women and Equal Rights Sharon Edick Kaplan University Women and Equal Rights On August 26, 2011 women celebrated the 91st anniversary of a victory that took more than 70 years of political struggle to achieve, the right to vote. After this victory was achieved, socialist feminist Crystal Eastman stated “that although suffrage was an important first step what women really wanted was freedom” and she actually laid out a plan that is still relevant today. She outlined a four point program of what women need to achieve in order to have the same freedoms and equality as men. 1. Economic independence for women, including the freedom to choose an occupation and receive pay equal to a man. 2. Gender equality at home, men in the home sharing the responsibilities of family life. 3. Reproductive freedom, the ability to choose when, if and how many children they would have. 4. Financial support for homemaking and child raising (Ellen Carol DuBois; Lynn Dumenil, 2012). Since 1920 women have won many rights and opportunities in areas like education, professional sports and in some states same sex marriages. However, if we look at the “priorities” that Eastman identified how far have we actually come when the U.S. Constitution does not even guarantee women the same rights as men? With ground already broken in the workplace due to women’s participation in various professions, trades and unions, women believed that equality in the workplace would be the easiest part...
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...11/02/2014 Taboo of Abortion: Who is right? The life of an embryo depends on differences in societies and cultures, along with morals and beliefs. However, these alone cannot prove when an embryo is actually a person. With a mixture of all, people determine how and when an embryo develops into a human being. Although the variety provides different insights, it also cause controversy amongst opponents. Thus the birth of pro-choice and pro-life is born, both competing on each side of the controversy of abortion. The taboo of abortion has gained national attention due to the nature and processes. Generally abortion is performed before twelve weeks gestation, or three months along in the pregnancy, but some do occur later in the pregnancy. The processes include removing the embryo from the uterus through a expansion of methods. These methods include: RU-486 which is a drug given to a woman after a missed menstrual period to deplete the nutrients of the uterine walls, and then again to allow the uterus to contract. Suction Aspiration acts as a vacuum cleaner to the uterus by breaking down and removing pieces of an embryo as well as the placenta. Dilation and Curettage formally known as D&C is similar to Suction Aspiration, but instead of suction the embryo and placenta are scrapped from the body and tossed. These are commonly performed by the twelve weeks stated earlier, however late term abortions are performed as well. These include: Prostaglandin abortion and Dilation Extraction...
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...is known for the lack of professional performed abortions. Women are often denied the procedure and sent to clinics outside of Prince Edward Island to receive proper care. This province is very Catholic, therefore majority of the citizens are in favour of the government not funding abortions. Nearly all hospitals in any Maritime Provinces will not perform abortions on women from outside of the province. Women who get this of news are left “confused and scared about what was happening inside”(Harrowing Experiences of Medical Abortions on Canada's Prince Edward Island Renews Criticism) their bodies. As a result, close to 200 women from Prince Edward Island will travel to Nova Scotia or New Brunswick...
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...A woman is sexually assualted by a man she knows nothing about a complete stranger! A few weeks later she discovers that she is pregnant. What should she do? She has two options: either have the child or abort the child. To an advocate or pro-choice, this would be considered an aggravating circumstance and a reasonable excuse to abort the child since it was not conceived out of love or by the woman’s choice. To an advocate of pro-life, although this is an unfortunate occurrence, aborting this child would be morally wrong and considered murder. Abortion is touchy subject that has essentially divided the nation. On one side people believe that is a woman’s choice regardless of the circumstances. On the other side, there are people who believe that the unborn child is a human being at conception and has the right to a life. Abortion is a very controversial public issue, which highlight two opposing views in regards to abortion and support both views with research. We must first get the full meaning of the word “abortion” before we can talk about it. According to the book “Introduction to Abortion,” it is any procedure that removes a fetus from a woman’s womb” (Roleff). Abortion end’s a pregnancy and terminates a fetus’s life. For most people this very harsh thing to do, but to the women who were sexually assaulted, they feel it is the best decision for them. Who is right? The debate over abortion has divided people in two groups: pro-life and pro-choice. Pro-life group...
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