Abortion and How the Rules of Life Dont Apply

The issue of voluntary induced abortion has become a permanent topic for
Americans across the nation. This issue engages both political parties and has
caused many to be on the fence when it comes to knowing what to do. Sadly,
many people don't consider abortion a moral issue but rather see it as an issue of
personal rights or liberties. Although I am all for individual or personal rights, I am
completely opposed to abortion and feel the need for the government to protect
the unborn. For some strange reason, many people don't see a fetus or an unborn
baby as a living thing. This is sad when at the same time, many would declare a
small germ on Mars to be a form of life that needs protection.
Carly Fiorina is one of the republican candidates running for president this term.
She spoke on the topic of abortion saying, That you do not have to be pro-life to
understand the hideous nature of what is going on here. This is about the moral
character of our nation (Meckler).
Consider this: one of the basic functions of the government is to protect its
citizens. Not only does it have the task of protecting its citizens from foreign
enemies but from criminal harm inside the country as well by issuing laws and
then enforcing those laws. One basic law is that no citizen in this country can use
their body to cause harm to another unless it is in self-defense. Taking the life of
another citizen is seen as one of the worst crimes one can make but when it
comes to abortion and whether or not a fetus is seen as a living person, there is a
lot of tension. This demonstrates a misunderstanding between the government
and the rights of an individual. You can say that government leaders are trying to
decide where to draw the line but the truth is that when it comes to murdering
another citizen or in other words, abortion, shouldn't the same laws apply?
I mentioned before that there may be times when taking the life of another person
may be permitted like in a case where you are acting in self-defense to save your
own life. My neighbor recently went through a pregnancy that ended in an
abortion. A couple weeks before the due date, she ended up having medical
issues herself. She was going into cardiac arrest and needed to be life-lighted to
the hospital. Upon arrival to the hospital, the doctors determined that in order to
save the mother's life, they were going to have to perform an emergency abortion
or else both mother and child would die. The abortion was performed and
miraculously my neighbor survived the operation. Although the circumstances are

rare when such an operation is needed, it should be the only option for abortion if
it can save the mothers life, other than that, other options should be considered.
Many people say that they are prochoice and that the mother should be able to
decide whether to abort the baby or not, but what they don't realize is that the
choice or chance to have a baby comes when they make that first decision to
become sexually active. Any outcome after that is a result or a consequence of
choosing to be sexually active. Abortion in my eyes is the second choice, not the
first on deciding whether it is a good time to bring new life into the world or not.
At this point any form of abortion should be considered as a crime unless it is
done for emergency reasons as discussed earlier.
I also understand that there are many cases where a women may become
pregnant by rape or incest but according to an article titled Abortions in
America, statistics show that less than 1% of abortions are performed because of
rape or incest each year (Abortion in America). This is such a small number when
you think about all of the abortions that are done across the U.S. each year. There
were 1.21 million last year in the U.S (Abortion in America). It appears there is a
very small percentage of women that have abortions performed for those reasons,
and in those cases, perhaps the morality of the decision should be examined more
closely, but the truth of the matter is, very few abortion cases fit within those
parameters.
There is a huge argument that abortion savings lives as well when it comes to all
of the research that is being done. In an article from the New York Times titled,
Nathalia Holt stated that To meet the demand for cells, researchers turned to a procedure
protected by federal law: abortions. The discarded tissue from terminated pregnancies, performed up to
26 weeks in California, is a rich source of stem cells. She later continued saying, But only certain
fetal cells are useful. While embryonic stem cells, derived from fertilized eggs, can give rise to any cell
that makes up the body, as fetal cells develop from the embryo they become committed to specific cell
lineages (Holt).
The use of these cells from abortions have helped with vaccinations, and as cures for many other
diseases. Although this is a positive outcome, its important to remember that only certain fetal cells are
useful like Nathalia said. The question we have to ask ourselves is if a human life is worth extracting a
few cells that may or may not benefit somebody in the future? Is it worth the risk?
Most religions and legal laws judge life to be sacred and worth saving. Today we
have paramedics and police officers who would give their own lives to save
another. Its safe to say that these men and women value human life more than
anyone else. If somebody like them was so willing to lose their life to save
another, how come the same mentality doesnt exist when it comes to abortion?
Are their lives any different?
There are many who are pro-life and who are doing all that they can to stop
abortion from ever being an option. I commend these people and their valiant
efforts. The statistics provided in this paper can be a great source of why abortion

should be against the law and to help people understand that all lives, whether
they are 1 week old or 100 years old, are important and should be valued as so.

Works Cited
1- Meckler, Laura, and Rebecca Ballhaus. "Candidates from Both Parties Take on Planned
Parenthood Controversy." Wall Street Journal Online. 18 Aug. 2015: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web.
14 Oct. 2015.
2-"Abortions in America." Operation Rescue. Web. <http://www.operationrescue.org/aboutabortion/abortions-in-america/>.
3-Holt, Nathalia. The Case for Fetal-Cell Research. New York Times 30 July 2013. Print.