Abortion_Controversy

The Abortion Controversy Introduction to Communications Persuasive Speech There is a lot of controversy over abortion. Is it okay or not' This is the biggest question that seems to get people in a real tailspin. Each side of this controversy believes that they are absolutely correct, and a lot of people believe their point to be so correct that they will stop at nothing to make sure others follow their beliefs, even if that means going against their wishes. Recent statistics showed that approximately 1,370,000 abortions are performed annually in the U.S., and of those 88% are performed during the first 6 to 12 weeks of the pregnancy. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, 43% of women will have had at least one abortion by the time they are 45 years old. The abortion rate is highest for those women aged 18 to 19, despite that 90% of women who are at risk for unplanned pregnancies are using some type of contraception. There may be different reasons why a woman would consider an abortion. Some of the reasons are birth defects, health reasons, wrong time, or financial reasons. There are more reasons that women have an abortion, but that gives you some of the reasons. Some people believe that it doesn’t matter what the reason is for the abortion it is still wrong and should not happen and should not be legal. Each side of this controversy has their own wording for everything to make it sound the way they want it to. For example, for those that think abortion should be generally illegal typically use terms such as “unborn baby”. While, those who think abortion should be generally legal typically use the word “fetus”. The way you state your facts or beliefs can influence others in different ways. Both sides are using people’s emotions to influence how they view abortion. Maybe if they would give all of the facts and try to be honest on all aspects of abortion then people could make their own conclusion on how they view abortion. There is also great controversy on the types or procedures for the abortions that are performed. One of the controversies is over the “abortion pill” called RU-486. The reason for the controversy over this pill is because some of the side effects are hemorrhaging and infection, so they have been trying to get the FDA to pull this drug off the market, but as today this still had not happened. Another controversy is the partial birth abortion, which is a gruesome procedures that has the physician deliver the baby up until only the head remains in the womb and then punctures the back of the skull and removes the brain before completing the delivery. Many pro-life individuals have wanted to get this type of abortion outlawed because of the violent manner that goes into this abortion. But this abortion is only allowed in the first trimester of a woman’s pregnancy, and since most women that have this done is due to birth defects and most women don’t have their ultrasound done until 18-20 weeks into the pregnancy, that is what limits this procedure from being performed. Some women will experience Post Abortion Syndrome (PAS), which is a wide range of symptoms that are intimately related to a previous abortion experience. Symptoms that women my experience with PAS are guilt, regret, remorse, shame lowered self-esteem, insomnia, dreams and nightmares, re-experiencing the abortion, flash backs, hostility, and even hatred, toward men. Other symptoms that women may experience are crying, despair, and may be come sexually dysfunctional. Women need to work through these symptoms on their own and learn to forgive themselves for their actions. Women may need to see a professional to work through these emotions and thinking, but when you can talk about the whole experience, you will find it easier to deal with the emotions and thoughts that go with having an abortion. Whenever, anyone goes through a traumatic experience you need a support group, so find your support from people around you that you can trust and talk to. My personal opinion on the whole abortion controversy is that every woman should have a say in whether or not they want to have an abortion. I personally could never have an abortion, but that doesn’t mean that I will say no one could ever have an abortion. There are so many things that could influence your thinking behind abortion and then you have to live with yourself once you have had an abortion. So, I don’t believe that anyone can say that either it is totally right or totally wrong because no one can know exactly what is going on in each other’s head when they are contemplating abortion, or no one has the same thinking on this issue either. If you can learn to live with yourself after having an abortion, because just like post pardon depression each women is different and will experience this differently. Some women have even been known to go into such a deep depression that they commit suicide. I believe we need to educate society today as to what is actually involved in an abortion. We may even need to look at safer or more humane ways of abortion, so that there are no negative images when people think of abortion. We also need to educate our youth as far as abortion, so that they may have safer ways of obtaining an abortion, if necessary, or give them other options that are available. Work Cited Katz, Nikki. www.womensissues.about.com. December 9th, 2004, Primedia. No Fear Media, Inc. www.abortiontv.com. December 10th, 2004. American Portrait Films. Campus Crusade for Christ, International. www.everystudent.com. Unknown. Intro to Communication Heather Lique Persuasive Speech 03/10/2006