Name:_________________________________ Date:________________
Abortion Pros and Cons
Pro-Life
1.
Since life begins at
conception, abortion is akin to murder as it is the act of taking human life.
Abortion is in direct defiance of the commonly accepted idea of the sanctity of
human life
2.
No civilized society
permits one human to intentionally harm or take the life of another human
without punishment, and abortion is no different.
3.
Adoption is a viable
alternative to abortion and accomplishes the same result. And with 1.5 million
American families wanting to adopt a child, there is no such thing as an
unwanted child.
4.
An abortion can result
in medical complications later in life; the risk of ectopic pregnancies doubles, and
the chance of a miscarriage and pelvic inflammatory disease also
increases.
5.
In the instance of
rape and incest, proper medical care can ensure that a woman will not get
pregnant. Abortion punishes the unborn child who committed no crime; instead,
it is the perpetrator who should be punished.
6.
Abortion should not be
used as another form of contraception.
7.
For women who demand
complete control of their body, control should include preventing the risk of
unwanted pregnancy through the responsible use of contraception or, if that is
not possible, through abstinence.
8.
Many Americans who pay
taxes are opposed to abortion, therefore it's morally
wrong to use tax dollars to fund abortion.
9.
Those who choose
abortions are often minors or young women with insufficient life experience to
understand fully what they are doing. Many have lifelong regrets afterwards.
10.
Abortion frequently causes
intense psychological pain and stress.
Pro-Choice
1.
Nearly all abortions
take place in the first trimester, when a fetus cannot exist independent of the
mother. As it is attached by the placenta and umbilical cord, its health is
dependent on her health, and cannot be regarded as a separate entity as it
cannot exist outside her womb.
2.
The concept of
personhood is different from the concept of human life. Human life occurs at
conception, but fertilized eggs used for in vitro fertilization are also human
lives and those not implanted are routinely thrown away. Is this murder, and if
not, then how is abortion murder?
3.
Adoption is not an
alternative to abortion, because it remains the woman's choice whether or not
to give her child up for adoption. Statistics show that very few women who give
birth choose to give up their babies - less than 3% of white unmarried women
and less than 2% of black unmarried women.
4.
Abortion is a safe
medical procedure. The vast majority of women - 88% - who have an abortion do
so in their first trimester. Medical abortions have less than 0.5% risk of
serious complications and do not affect a woman's health or future ability to
become pregnant or give birth.
5.
In the case of rape or
incest, forcing a woman made pregnant by this violent act would cause further
psychological harm to the victim. Often a woman is too afraid to speak up or is
unaware she is pregnant, thus the morning after pill is ineffective in these
situations.
6.
Abortion is not used
as a form of contraception. Pregnancy can occur even with responsible
contraceptive use. Only 8% of women who have abortions do not use any form of
birth control, and that is due more to individual
carelessness than to the availability of abortion.
7.
The ability of a woman
to have control of her body is critical to civil rights. Take away her
reproductive choice and you step onto a slippery slope. If the government can
force a woman to continue a pregnancy, what about forcing a woman to use
contraception or undergo sterilization?
8.
Taxpayer dollars are
used to enable poor women to access the same medical services as rich women,
and abortion is one of these services. Funding abortion is no different from
funding a war in the
9.
Teenagers who become
mothers have grim prospects for the future. They are much more likely to leave
of school; receive inadequate prenatal care; rely on public assistance to raise
a child; develop health problems; or end up divorced.
10.
Like any other
difficult situation, abortion creates stress. Yet the American Psychological
Association found that stress was greatest prior to an abortion, and that there
was no evidence of post-abortion syndrome.