During move in day for the Annex across the street my roommate's grandfather talked to my roommates and I about college. He described us as a band of brothers and that we are starting our lives here in college. That we are here to find ourselves and earn a degree in whatever field we are passionate about. Why this struck me as hard as it did was due to the fact that I was, at the time, very open to absorbing information. I had heard this many times before, but the situation just felt special. Almost as if the speech that he gave us prepared me for the storm that college can ensue if not handled properly.
We define the Issues of Evaluation as "Questions about whether something is good or bad, wrong or right, desirable or undesirable, effective of ineffective, valuable or worthless". Which to put simply is the way we judge some thing. Daily people evaluate situations, readings, sayings and more to allow another form of understanding what is being taken in. This also allows us to make a decision on how we feel and respond to a situation.
The most important state issue is the legalization of abortion. I will admit, I am a strong Catholic and that may have affected my opinion on the whole situation, but as I grow I have learned that I am not strongly against abortion just because of my background. I started to realize this when I met Armon Tavakoli. Armon always pit against me because he knew I have strong feelings for many things and I am not afraid to fight for my opinions. So when he learned about my rejection of abortion he wanted to know why, then he gave the opposing view points. I fought hard with him saying, "I have morals," and "I'm Catholic". Then he told me I wasn't allowed to use my religion, and I thought about it and agreed. I only fought harder and learned that it wasn't my religion that was my passion for this topic, my passion was my love for human life and taking that away before a child can be born is just wrong in my eyes. He agrees with me that abortion is bad, but he believes that if a woman is raped that she should have the decision to rid herself of the, "Burden of a child". Alas I stand strong with my opinion and I am happy to hear his, but he knows he is not going to sway me like a boat.
*Illegalization* For sake of argument I am going to take the opposite view. I respect your opinions and beliefs but do not agree.The issue of abortion boils down to the right of choice. Specifically whether or not women have the right to chose to have a child or not. Regardless of the hypothetical situation a woman has the right to chose whether than child lives or dies. Until that child is born, he or she has no rights and as a part of that woman and is subject to her conscious decisions. As that child has no rights, neither does the government . The illegalization of abortion takes away this right of choice, conceivably forcing a woman to be pregnant and give birth regardless of her social and economical situation. How would you feel if you were not allowed to freely practice religion. From the stance of human rights it is no different than abortion, it is a right of all people. Choice should be free regardless of who you are or what you believe.
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I am for the most part against abortion as well. However, I somewhat agree with Armon. I believe that abortion should be illegal in most situations, but not all. In my opinion, there are two instances where I think abortion would be okay. One of them is rape like Armon believes. I don't think it's right for a woman to have to have a baby by rape. That baby would then be a lifelong reminder of what the woman went through, and I don't think she should have to suffer through that. The baby itself wouldn't be a burden in my eyes, but the constant reminder of what happened would be. Also, what if the girl was in school? Having a baby, she would have to miss a lot of school. That could potentially cause her to fall behind. I don't think her future should have to suffer because she was raped and had to keep the baby. I think that isn't right. The second case I believe should allow for abortion is if the pregnancy or birth would cause physical harm to the mother. Sometimes pregnancy and childbirth cause problems for the mother that could even result in death. I don't think the mother should have to lose her life.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same as you Alan. If you are unwilling to raise a child you need to make better choices before you create one. I believe that the second that the child is concieved it is now a living orgnaism. Abortion is such a controversial topic when the topic of rape and or incest come into the mix. In those cases, I believe is the only time that abortion is ever an acceptable choice. I also come from a religious background but same as you, it is not one of the defining factors on why I believe that abortion should be outlawed.
ReplyDeleteI’ll admit, the science surrounding when exactly a fetus (clump of cells) becomes a baby (human person) is still ambiguous. At what point you consider a fetus a person depends on your beliefs regarding personhood and morality. The human rights of a fetus (if any) is a subjective opinion. But that’s exactly why abortion should be legal. Belief is not a universal constant. Some people don’t believe a fetus becomes a baby until it can support itself outside the womb. Some people believe life begins at conception. Either way, because the choice is based on belief and beliefs vary from person to person, the choice should be legal to accommodate for everyone.
ReplyDelete(Even if you believe life begins at conception, by arguing a fetus’ “right to live” you’re arguing for the rights of something that hasn’t even taken its first breath yet over the rights of a fully-fledged human being that’s been alive for much longer, is almost infinitely more cognizant, and has an established existence in this world)
In addition, what kind of life are you condemning an unwanted fetus to if you make abortion illegal? You’re forcing a women to carry and raise a child she does not want, which negatively affects her. You’re forcing a child to grow up feeling unwanted, adversely affecting it in a variety of ways. One study showed that when abortion is denied, even to adult women who weren’t in any adverse circumstance (all women were healthy, had intact marriages, and were well supported financially), the resulting children were more likely to have social and psychological problems.[1]
This doesn’t even begin to account for the morality of denying abortion in the case of rape, incest, and life of the mother.
Would you really want to force a rape/incest victim to have to have a child who's mere existence reminds them of the most traumatic thing to ever happen to them?
Would you want a child to grow up knowing it was the product of an act as heinous as rape or incest? Would you want it to grow up knowing it was a constant reminder of pain and suffering to its own mother?
Would you want to force a woman to carry a child that would kill her? Would you want a child to grow up motherless, knowing they killed their own mother?
Plus, above everything else, abortion being illegal isn’t going to stop women from having abortions. Women who want abortions are going to find ways to get them, whether they have to resort to illegal, self-injurious methods or not. For the sake of the health of the women in this country, wouldn’t you rather provide abortions to those who want them in a safe, clean, legal environment?
Source:
[1] David, H. P. (1992), Born Unwanted: Long-Term Developmental Effects of Denied Abortion. Journal of Social Issues, 48: 163–181. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1992.tb00902.x
I also agree with you on your stance about abortion. Some people believe that in the case of rape, then the baby should not be born. I don't look at it that way. The baby did nothing wrong. The baby should have a chance at life. If the mom wants to give the baby up for adoption after it being born, then so be it.
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