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I apologize for this being long, but I'm including a paper I have written for English. It is a persuasive piece about abortion. Being that almost every person on my Xanga list is Christian (with a majority being very fundamentally so), and further, almost every person on my list is conservitive, there is a safe bet that I know what the majority of you think on the issue. I myself am very 'pro-life', believing conception is begining of life and that abortion is thus murder. In my own fundy days, I was quite extreme about this. When I learned that someone I cared for very deeply had one, long before I knew her, it threw a wrench in my thoughts- she was not the 'enemy' I had been presented by both sides of the issue, the uncaring woman who wrecklessly got pregnant and just conviently got rid of it. She was a very young, confused, and abandoned person. Don't get me wrong, I am not going to try and convince anyone what she did was right- I do not think so, nor have I lied to her to try and make her feel better with false support. But I began to realize there was more to the issue. This paper gives my conclusion on the solution to the issue of abortion.

I would greatly appreciate feedback. Any arguments you have against my logic, please present, but remember- use logic. That includes (but is not limited to) don't say 'that is wrong, because the Bible says X'. While your argument may be pertainable to someone who believes in the inerrancy of the Bible, it is ineffective in a general view, since not everyone agrees or believes in it. I myself base none of my abortion views on my religious views, since I don't think the Bible (especially not Jesus) ever refers or implies a stance of disaproval- in fact, I know of multiple verses that are effective arguments for abortion. If you can make an argument based on Biblical princables, that is awesome, and greatly appreciated- but if you have to quote scripture to make the point, don't.

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            One of the most controversial and emotionally tied issues in American politics today is abortion. The issue is deeply and emotionally charged, as the need for human safety of both the pregnant and unborn are not only important societal goals, but are natural goals of mammalian life. The only effective solution to the abortion issue is the complete elimination of its cause.

            In thought, it should be fairly safe to assume that all people, to lesser or greater degree, do not like abortion. While the ‘pro-life’ stance is quite adamant that it hates it, it would take a most dramatic example of the other end of the spectrum to find someone who ‘loved’ abortion. Even those that completely depersonalize the fetus to tissue would not say removing a good portion of ‘tissue’ from within an extremely complicated and delicate organ, with risks and costs associated with it is a ‘good thing’. Surgeons with OBGYN skills are unlikely to have limited job opportunities if abortions declined or ended. To make this point another way, just look at the nomenclature of ‘pro-choice’, it is worded specifically to show their fight is not for ‘anti-life’ or more abortions, but more choices, and ultimately, more safety for pregnant mothers. What can be concluded by all this is that it can be assumed that while many would be quite upset if a woman could no longer obtain an abortion, few if any would weep when the last clinic shut down because there was no longer a need for them.

            Of course, to further the need of the middle ground solution, it must be made clear that the current ‘life’ solution will not be effective to its goal. The current overriding solution to the abortion problem from the life platform is create and enforce laws that would limit and eliminate medical procedures that would terminate fetuses. If such laws would be imposed it would not be capable of ending abortion. For example, Chile, Peru, Nigeria and the Philippines all have higher abortion rates than America despite having laws against abortion. Many of the lowest abortion rates are in Western Europe, where not only are pregnant women legally able to have an abortion, but it is either partially or fully covered by national health care. Abortion rate internationally are more closely related to rates of unintended pregnancy, not legal access to abortions. The creation of tight laws against abortion will only produce two major results: the criminalization of those seeking abortion and an increase in their mortality rate.

            The most efficient solution to decreasing and eliminating abortion is to decrease unwanted pregnancies. At current, the greatest way to decrease unwanted pregnancies is by helping to increase availability and use of contraceptives. To illustrate how effective this is, between 1995 and 2002, 86% of the continued decrease in teenage pregnancy was due to improved contraceptive use. Funding needs to be moved from failed abstinence campaigns and be put into education on correct use of contraceptives for maximum effectiveness. Many contraceptive failure rates are 8 times as likely in typical use over perfect use. Encouragement needs to be placed on the use of multiple contraceptive use as well, since this dramatically increases success in most combinations. With this of course comes a need to increase availability of contraceptives, especially medical contraceptives (such as hormone and surgical). The ultimate benefit from less unwanted pregnancies is clearly worth the cost, and the highest difficulty is to overcome the stigmatism associated with contraceptives. Ultimately, it will simply have to be justified that while contraceptive may be ethically disagreeable to some people, the prevention of abortion is worth it, since the majority of those that ethically dislike contraceptives, believe abortion is the end of a life, far worse than just a disagreement of what is right.

            Another key to resolving the core of the issue is to discourage males from irresponsible sex, mostly by increasing responsibility. The largest portion of this is increasing child support requirements, increasing penalties for dead-beat dads, and giving DNA assistance to finding the father. Making these increased penalties aware to the public is important. In addition, vasectomy and possible physical castration should be considered for sex offenders. Those who attacked multiple victims, used forethought and planning, or involved children. While this will be effective for such offences from happening again, more importantly, this vivid punishment aimed, in appropriate term, to ‘hit them where it hurts’ should create a good deterrent.

            More broadly, social changes are needed to prevent abortion. The most obvious is to make the topic of sexual activity and contraceptives less taboo, to make it so a woman on contraceptive medication is not considered less for it, where children both male and female discuss with their parents about their sexual behavior without fear of rejection. These are of course much more difficult goals that are unlikely to be solved by mere government action. Ultimately, there needs to be a goal set by all of America to remove abortion by removing all need for it.

 

It is official. I am returning to Ohio. I was thinking, finally getting a bit of clear headedness, and a thought occured... 'What am I doing in New Jersey'. I followed this thought, and realized nothing important to my life was going to happen out here. For a moment, I hesitated- the other option is school... and that didn't seem any more hopeful. But, thanks to some inspiration from one of my best friends, I decided maybe I am doing this wrong... and I've decided to try art again. This time, I am going to go to an actual art school. Right now, I'm looking at Art Institute of Chicago, because they have a good animation program there. It's a scary thought though- I've neglected my skills for years, save for some doodles (though, I do keep somewhat up to date on the graphic scene...). I have to get some sketchbook work done to get into the school, so we'll see how that goes. But man... none of you know this (except my brother Aaron) but being an animator was a dream of mine as a kid. When I hit highschool I kept bouncing from one thing to another... but now, the thought of actually getting into it... it's amazing. Anywho- I'm planing on joining winter quarter (even if I don't go to Chicago, which is possible, I aim to be somewhere for winter), and I'm leaving Jersey the day after black Friday (a week and a day). That means I'll have a good month and I should be making a visit, if not multiple, to see my old friends. I don't know how many of you this effects... but, I'll be there all the same.