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Persuasive Research Report

In every eight minutes, a woman in a developing country will die due to complications from

unsafe abortions according to the World Helath Organization (Haddad and Nour). There is an

approximation of 68,000 women who die of unsafe abortions yearly, which makes it one of the

leading causes of maternal mortality with a thirteen percent according to the article, “Unsafe

Abortion: Unecessary Maternal Mortality” by Lisa B Haddad and Neawal M Nour. It is for the

reason that abortion should be accessible to all women around the world because it will produce

more safer procedures, a healthy mental and emotional state, and a victory to women’s rights and

equality, despite the alleged theories of fetal pain and the moral issues with the Christian’s

religion.

In many cases unsafe abortion has become the end of a woman’s life. Simply due to the lack

of safe procedures. Women who are in search of aborting a baby for personal reasons are having

trouble searching for safe places because of the strict banning in certain states and countries. The

Roe v. Wade's case improved the life of many women and brought safety to them. In the article

“Abortion: Should Women in the United States Have Access to Abortion?” The article touches

on the topic about the time before Roe v. Wade case, how women had to visit these “unregulated

and potentially dangerous practitioners” and the benefits of Roe which provided reproductive and

health care services, including abortion (“Abortion: Should Women in the United States Have

Access to Abortion?”). The passing of Roe v. Wade’s decision had supposedly “marked the end

of an era with those money-driven and unsafe performers'' who caused the injuries and deaths of

many women, but due to current events, it appears to be the near future once again. In the article

“Abortion Can Be Defended on Religious Grounds,” they provide a statistic of seventeen percent

of all deaths in pregnancy and childbirth were the result of illegal abortion in the pre-Roe year in
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1965 (“Abortion Can Be Defended on Religious Grounds”). Even before the Roe v. Wade case in

1973, women still practiced abortion wheter it was safe or not. This goes to prove that even if

there was a ban in abortion, the situation would become much worse than it is now. Providing

legal and safe clinics for women to abort everywhere would bring a guarantee of protection to all

women in search of one.

Abortion, for many women, can be a hard decision to make because of the surrounding values

and beliefs they have. Women in general do not expect to have an abortion, it is a situation that

just happens at times. Having the full liberty to choose what they plan on doing would be a great

help to their mental and emotional state. In the article “Christians Should Support Abortion

Rights” by Roselyn Smith-Withers talks about the ignored effects of having unintended children.

There are huge consequences to women, children and families that arise such as the mother

having lower quality relationships with their children and in effect affecting the children’s

development, self-esteem, personality, educational and occupational attainment, and mental

health, and future marital relationships (Smith-Withers). Not only does it affect the children but it

also affects the mother by being more substantially depressed and less happy than mothers with

wanted births (Smith-Withers). As the majority of groups that oppose abortion state that women

will feel guilt, regret, and sadness after having an abortion, many women state that it was

actually the most responsible and moral decision. In the same article, there are stories of

religious women who had an abortion and state positive feelings after. Elise Randall, an

evangelical Christian and graduate of Wheaton College, had an unwanted pregnancy and was

filled with resentment and fear that she might have taken her frustrations out on the baby

(Smith-Withers). They concluded that having an abortion was the most responsible alternative

for them at the time and had an “immediate sense of relief” (Smith-Withers). Christine Wilson
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became pregnant when she was sixteen years old after having an intimate relationship for the

first time with her boyfriend (Smith-Withers). She had not told her parents about her pregnancy

until she was five months because she was embarrassed and afraid, but when when she did, her

father took her to England for an abortion because at the time it was illegal (Smith-Withers).

Wilson says, “If I had (legal) access in 1969, I know it would not have taken twenty-five years to

attain the peace of mind I have today” (Smith-Withers). There are cases when having an abortion

could cause some peace distortion, but having legal access to abortion not only would save

woman from a lifelong depression and negative effects to children, it would also help woman

attain peace faster if there is guilt or resentment like in Christine Wilson’s case. As explained, the

access to legal abortion would bring many positive alternatives rather than having an unwanted

baby if there is no safe places to abort.

Abortion has been a battle for many decades and therefore the idea to controlling women’s

rights is still present. In the article, “Abortion Access” in Pro-Choice America, they talk about

the rights that are being taken away as women. The article says, “Roe v. Wade that affirmed

abortion as a constitutional right for all was supposed to be the beginning of the fight for

women’s equality and autonomy, not the end” (“Abortion Access”). Anti-choice politicians and

organization have been attacking by undermining and chipping away women’s rights until they

can do away with the legal abortion access completely. They say that there has been hundreds of

laws to restrict a woman’s ability to access abortion, by trying to outlaw abortion altogether,

shutting down clinics, restricting access based on icome level, and dictating which type of

medical procedures are available (“Abortion Access”). Women’s rights and equality has become

at high risk as the capacity of control laid out on women’s reproductive life increases. In the

article “Women’s Rights and Sexual Harassment: Are Further Steps Necessary to Ensure Gender
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Equality?” Advocates state that banning access to abortion and contraception present obstacles to

equality. Nancy Northup of the Center for Reproductive Rights argued, “Forcing women to travel

thousands of miles across state lines for basic health care… is not only unconstitutional, it’s

unconscionable” (“Women’s Rights and Sexual Harassment: Are Further Steps Necessary to

Ensure Gender Equality?”). In “The Roe v. Wade Decision Should Not Be Reconsidered” the

author, Sandra M. Alters, provides a speech made by President Barack Obama on the

thirty-eighth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade. Obama states his

support to commit to policies that support unintended pregnancies and pregnant women and

mothers. Obama says, “And on this anniversary, I hope that we will recommit ourselves more

broadly to ensuring that our daughters have the same rights, the same freedoms, and the same

opportunities as our sons to fulfill their dreams'' (Alters). The choice of words Obama uses are

important to view as they stress the importance of equality for women to be able to have the

same circumstances as men in order to go after their dream. In the article “Abortion: Should

Women in the United States Have Access to Abortion?” states that in the NARAL Pro-Choice

America website, they talk about how the “restrictive abortion laws narrowlly circcumscribe

women’s role into society and hinder women from defining their paths through life in the most

basic of ways” (“Abortion: Should Women in the United States Have Access to Abortion?”).

With the restriction of abortion, many women are being stolen from the decisions in their

personal life. A controlling government is progressively growing, and with the provided

evidence it goes to show that women’s rights and equality is still not attained in the twenty-first

century. Having legal access to abortion would be a great progress to the equality and the rights

for women.
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There are reasons as to why people decide to not support abortion, and one of them is that the

fetus can allegedly feel the pain when being aborted. In the article “State Abortion Laws: Should

States Pass Laws Restricting Access to Abortion?" in Nebraska there was law passed that banned

most abortions after twenty weeks of pregnancy based on the notion that at that stage the fetus

can feel pain (“State Abortion Laws: Should States Pass Laws Restricting Access to Abortion?").

Then consecutively, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, and Okhlahoma enacted laws with similar limits

(“State Abortion Laws: Should States Pass Laws Restricting Access to Abortion?"). According

to the same article, the concept of fetal pain has little to no credence among the medical and

scientific communities (“State Abortion Laws: Should States Pass Laws Restricting Access to

Abortion?"). The concept of fetal pain in anti-abortion legislation is what many of these states

used as a reason to limit abortions, but this reason has not been proven with facts. Therefore it

should not be used as a basis to limit abortion rights in any place nor a fully reliable reason to be

against abortion. Peace can still be attained, due to the concept not being a proven fact.

Moral Issues with the Christian religion has also been a major cause for people to oppose

abortion. In the article “Abortion Can Be Defended on Religious Grounds,” horrified by the bad

outcomes of unsafe abortions there was a point where religious leaders actually worked towards

legalizing abortion for years before Roe v. Wade. The article says, “Reverend Howard Moody

and Arlene Carmen organized the first Clergy Consultation Service in New York City, a network

of clergy who agreed to help women gain access to safe abortion providers” (“Abortion Can Be

Defended on Religious Grounds”). This influenced similar services to develop throughout the

country, before the Roe v. wade decision. The example of Jesus in which the gospel narratives

show Jesus as compassionate, forgiving and healing to those in distress is another example as to

why Christian’s should also fight for the legalization of abortion (“Abortion Can Be Defended on
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Religious Grounds”). In the stories from the 5th chapter of Mark, Jesus healed a woman’s body

and her spirit as she had been bleeding for twelve years (“Abortion Can Be Defended on

Religious Grounds”). At the time, the laws and practices rightfully reasoned to ignore the woman

but, Jesus did the opposite. It is a Christian’s responsibility to follow in his footsteps, bringing

healing and wholeness to those in distress as said in the article (“Abortion Can Be Defended on

Religious Grounds”). Putting up a war and discriminating, judging women who have aborted,

and the war with cutting safe places to abort are all forms that only negatively affect women. As

said in the article, one woman may not get an abortion, but having the right for a woman to get a

safe abortion when needed is a right that everyone should care for. The article states, “Jesus' life

among us demonstrated God's compassion and love for every person, as well as God's deep

desire for justice and health to prevail (“Abortion Can Be Defended on Religious Grounds”). As

Christians who are followers of Jesus it is reasonable to be both compassionate and pro-choice

on the abortion topic. People, including religious people have protected and advocated this

movement because they have seen the vision, and goal that is to protect and help the ones in

distress, just as Jesus would have.

With the information provided, the full legalization of abortion has been a topic many have

fought over and have serious opposing views. Each person’s point of view and input on abortion

is reasonable to an extent. Some reasons provided to support abortion are not fully backed up

with factual information and there is so much more at risk if abortion is not fully legalized.

Therefore, the importance for abortion to be fully legalized and accessible to all women is the

best option because it will provide the safety to women aborting, a healthy mental and emotional

state, and a victory to women’s rights and equality, despite the elleged theories of fetal pain and

the moral issues with the Christian’s religion.

Works Cited

"Abortion Access". NARAL Pro-Choice America, 2021.

https://www.prochoiceamerica.org/issue/abortion-access/.

"Abortion Can Be Defended on Religious Grounds." Religion and Sexuality, edited by Kevin

Hillstrom, Greenhaven Press, 2008. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale In Context: Global

Issues,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010511218/GIC?u=txshracd2497&sid=GIC&xid=af11586b.

Originally published as "A Sermon for Christian Congregations," www.rcrc.org, 2007.

“Abortion: Should Women in the United States Have Access to Abortion?" Issues &

Controversies, Infobase, 4 Nov. 2020,

icof.infobaselearning.com/recordurl.aspx?ID=2489.

Alters, Sandra M. "The Roe v Wade Decision Should Not Be Reconsidered." Abortion: An

Eternal Social and Moral Issue, 2012 ed., Gale, 2012. Information Plus Reference Series.

Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ4189000314/OVIC?u=txshracd2497&sid=OVIC&xid=019504

f2.
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Haddad, Lisa B, and Nawal M Nour. “Unsafe abortion: unnecessary maternal mortality.”

Reviews in obstetrics & gynecology vol. 2,2 (2009): 122-6.

Smith-Withers, Roselyn. "Christians Should Support Abortion Rights." Religion and Sexuality,

edited by Kevin Hillstrom, Greenhaven Press, 2008. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale In

Context: Global Issues,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010511216/GIC?u=txshracd2497&sid=GIC&xid=19dfc020.

Originally published as "Testimony: Hearing on The Impact of Abortion on Women,"

Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space of the U.S. Senate Committee on

Commerce, Science, and Transportation, 2004.

“State Abortion Laws: Should States Pass Laws Restricting Access to Abortion?" Issues &

Controversies, Infobase, 4 Nov. 2020,

icof.infobaselearning.com/recordurl.aspx?ID=14678.

"Women's Rights and Sexual Harassment: Are Further Steps Necessary to Ensure Gender

Equality?" Issues & Controversies, Infobase, 12 Sept. 2019,

icof.infobaselearning.com/recordurl.aspx?ID=6344.