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The abortion topic is a big issue, one that’s been shown in the media more and more recently. Many on both sides have very strong opinions on this issue with good reasons. The pro-choice side of the debate believes that abortion is a human right and women should be able to control their own bodies while the pro-life side believes that it’s an issue with a life and that having an abortion is murder. These are hugely different opinions and both sides have strong arguments for their cause. On the Advocate we have a great article which I highly recommend reading after this one, “Abortions Should be Legal.” The article lists some reasons why abortion should be legal. While Gladys Garcia Vasquez, the author, makes great points with statistical evidence backing it, she misses important points and arguments for why it should be illegal. With those points included, I believe that the consensus would be against abortions. I hope to provide the other side to the abortion debate.

This issue is so important to me because last year I went to a Christian youth summit in Bend where a bunch of youth groups go and have a conference for God. One of the breakout sessions they had was on abortion. From that session, I learned about this issue and both sides. Our teacher for this lesson was Makyra Williamson, a community outreach director for Oregon Right to Life. She was an English major which she turned into an English teaching job for freshman composition. Her lesson went over some main points which I will be using too. Those points are the equal right to life claim and that abortions tend to have more complications than having a child.

The equal right to life claim argues that the unborn have the same rights as the born babies and every living child, adult, elderly, and so on. When looking at this claim, you can see it has three parts: The unborn is living, the unborn is human, and the unborn is a whole organism. Let’s take a look at each of those points. The unborn is living. This refers to the characteristics of living: To respire, grow, excrete, reproduce, metabolize, move, and be responsive to the environment. When you look at a fetus, you can see that the little baby has all the features or will grow to have the features of a living person. The unborn has the same features of living that a born baby has. The unborn is human. All humans should have the right to live and if you look at the unborn, they have to be human. A male human and a female human make a human just like a male chicken and a female chicken make a chicken. There should be no denying that the unborn is a human being. The unborn is a whole organism. It has all the requirements and ability to become a grown adult. If all humans should have the right to life, then human existence gives a being the right to life. Unborn babies share that existence, which gives them the same right to life as any person. 

When talking about abortions, a lot of pro-choice defendants will bring into question the safety of the mother. If you take a look at the available statistics, you can see that the action of having an abortion has the same or higher complication rate as giving birth. Around 50% of abortions that will happen are chemical abortions. The drugs that they use are Mifepristone or Misoprostol. These drugs can be very dangerous. Chemical abortions work by blocking the chemicals that tell a mother to keep feeding the baby which in turn causes the baby to lose food and starve which is where a doctor will give another pill that detaches the baby from the uterine lining. The other type is surgical abortion. These are invasive procedures and tend to run more complications simply because of that fact. So the claim that giving birth is more dangerous than an abortion is usually not the truth.

The abortion issue is a heavy topic. When discussing it, you have to remember that everyone has different opinions. My personal opinion is that abortions should not be legal, but I know that not everyone holds my opinion. After looking at the arguments brought up by me and Gladys Garcia Vasquez, I would say that I make more compelling arguments, but that is only my personal opinion. The next time this issue is brought up, you should truly figure out where you stand and why. 

I encourage everyone to do research on this topic and every topic that’s as important as this one. I’ll give some links that I used to understand the arguments. Oregon Right to Life is a good one for understanding the general pro-life side. Equal Right Institute is also a great place to understand where pro-life individuals are coming from. Students for Life helped me a lot because it has a very student-friendly understanding. 40 Days for Life, I like this one but it’s more of a march and activism site for the pro-life side. Abortion Pill Reversal can help you if you considered abortion or are considering it. Finally for the readers out there, What to Say When by Shawn Carney and Steve Karlen, Pro-Choice or Pro-Life? By Randy Alcorn, and The Case for Life by Scott Klusendorf are some books that are great for the case and are generally just good books. Research is great and everyone needs to do it. Don’t just take my words and my side, go out and learn for yourself.