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Pro Choice or Pro Life?

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RUNNING HEAD: PRO CHOICE 1

Pro Choice or Pro Life?
Richard W. Emmendorfer
PHI 103
Dr. Stephen Carter
28 October 2013

Abortion, sometimes viewed as a permanent solution to a temporary problem, should be or remain legal for specific cases involving victims of rape, significant medical conditions that would jeopardize the safety of the birth or guarantee severe birth deformities. Unwed adolescent parents are who are deemed unfit or who would not be able to provide adequate care should also be determined as a qualifying circumstances. Victims of rape would have a constant reminder of the experience weighing heavily on their mental health and would hold prejudice toward this child versus other children. An article from The Nation (2009) details that Regina Alves, a psychologist at a domestic violence center in Brazil, insists that when it comes to working with a victim of violence, “what matters is what she says.” (Sokoloff-Rubin, 2009) A testimony from a woman who was made pregnant from a rape when she was 15 accounts how different the child resulting from the rape is compared to her other children. "My first husband verbally abused her. I never have had, and still don't have, the maternal feelings for her that I have for my other kids. We're good friends and I so love her, but it's like we're sisters. I wish she could have had a more normal life.” (Meehan, 2013, p. 33) The mental stability of the victim and how the victim sees the child is through the scope of the violent act that was experienced which has a direct effect on the development of a child. Children need love and affection to develop into healthy adults; the environment that surrounds a child will determine a positive or negative development. (Witt, 2010) It is easy to say that abortion following a rape that led to pregnancy is a violent act followed by a violent act.

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