Elisa K.

Pierce
Essay on Abortion
Question: ABORTION
The topic of abortion is very controversial, but nothing has ever been learned by avoiding tough
subjects. What are your views on abortion? Under what circumstances, if any, would you
consider it? If you were a lawmaker, what would be your stand on this issue? (*In India, boys
are valued more than girls and amniocentesis has become widespread. In one province, only one
in thousands of abortions following: amniocentesis was that of a male fetus, the rest were
females. How do you feel about abortion as a tool for gender selection? Suppose that one of the
female fetuses in the previous example was also identified as having suffered severe mental and
physical damage to the point that, after birth, the resulting child would mentally and physically
be unable to care for itself. Would this information influence (change) your decision?)
Answer:
The decision to have an abortion is an incredibly personal choice that no one person or
government should be able to make for any particular individual, even if it conflicts with
personal experiences that provide a moral compass. It is critical to separate personal response
from lawmaking action. Freedom of individual choice often clashes with social values,
expressed by governments, religious groups, and many individuals. Balancing personal freedom
and community needs has never been easy. (Berger, 2014, p. 53).
Personal experience shaped my views of abortion. My youngest son was born with a rare
genetic condition that can often be mild. However, in my sons extreme case, heart failure
resulted in the decision to undertake brain surgery. We were faced with losing our son without
the procedure, but also accepted the possibility of having a child that was mentally handicapped,
physically disabled, or worse. While my son survived healthy, the impact on my personal
feelings towards abortion evolved. Had I known about this gene mutation prior to having any
children, I may have chosen used genetic testing to determine its impact on each pregnancy.
While I cant fathom life without without my youngest son, if his quality of life had been
severely impacted, I would likely have chosen to abort. If a child has no chance at a functional
life, I would choose to abort. Thats not to say that normal life couldnt be someone with a
disability, a child with Down syndrome, or a number of other conditions. My SES allows me to
be able to provide for a child with special needs. However, abortion would be likely if more
severe long-term medical problems (and the lack of means to provide for that child) were
present.
While personal experience shapes circumstances that would make me consider the difficult
decision to abort, one circumstance where I do not support abortion as an option is when its used
as a tool for gender selection. The Chinese have traditionally preferred sons because of their
potential to financially support their parents, carry on the family name, and lead ancestor
worship, population experts say, and this holds particularly true for rural areas where sons
provide much-needed labor. This cultural preference has led many women under the one-child
rule to seek abortions, which are legal in China, if they discovered a fetus was a budding girl.
The advent of abortion technology has largely replaced the practice of abandoning baby girls
which was more widespread when the one-child rule was first adopted. (Hsu, 2008) Yet, while I

believe that choosing an abortion for the purpose of gender selection, even when the government
restricts the amount of children you can have or if society holds one gender higher then another
is wrong, this is a personal belief, not one that should govern all women. Community needs
can, in fact, negatively impact an already difficult situation.
For example, In Utah, one restriction on abortion is that a woman must receive state-directed
counseling designed to discourage her from having an abortion and then wait 72 hours before the
procedure is provided.(State Center, State Facts About Abortion: Utah, 2014) While the States
requirement to receive counseling prior to the abortion is absolutely necessary, I do not believe
that that counseling should be designed to discourage her from having the abortion. Counseling
should help the woman understand her reasoning for the abortion and help with a decision that
fits her situation best. There are many reasons that a woman may seek an abortion. Whether
those reasons are respectable in their society or not, it is still her choice. I do not believe that as
a lawmaker I could support those restrictions. If a woman is in a situation that she may deem
unhealthy for her unborn child, she should be given the option to abort the child and she should
be given counseling to help her make the decision that is right for her. Yes, even in the case of
gender selection.
No single persons personal beliefs match all of society. Thus, if I were a lawmaker, laws would
support womens choice. If we provide them the opportunity to get pregnant, they also choose
the result of that pregnancy.

Reference List
Berger, K. S. (2014). Invitation to the life span (Second ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.
Hsu, J. (2008, August 4). There Are More Boys Than Girls in China and India. Retrieved June
15, 2015, from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/there-are-more-boys-than-girls/
State Facts About Abortion: Utah. (2014). Retrieved June 15, 2015, from
https://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/sfaa/utah.html