Chandra Washington

FHS 1500
Santos
09/04/15

OPTION C: 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:

Abortion is a controversial topic that still remains at large to this day. There are many
people who believe it is up to the woman who is expecting while others believe abortion is a flat
out sinful act. According to Wikipedia the majority of abortions result in unintentional
pregnancies, but there is that small percentage of abortions that are performed due to genetic
abnormalities. My views are strongly focused on the rights of women. I believe that it is her
body and she should be the one to make that decision for herself.
There are many factors that come with the reasons behind abortion and it is just not
someone elses call to make; even if the reasons are careless and imprudent. In my past years I
have always thought that abortion was never the right choice for me, but this year I came pretty
close to getting one. My husband and I had three children at the time and wanted another baby,
but maybe in another year or two so I decided to get on birth control. Well little did I know, the
day I went in for my examination to discuss the different types of birth control methods I could
use I was already pregnant. This was very bad news for me. I do believe in everything
happening for a reason, however, this was such bad timing; expenses, my full time job, vacation
plans, and the big one is my husband was starting Med-school soon. I was thinking of the pros
and cons of this new baby and unfortunately the pros were overshadowed. I didnt discuss my
thoughts with my husband because he is VERY against abortion, but I thought to myself hey

this is my body, so my decision. It took me four months of thought processing if I wanted to go

through with it or not, and luckily the ultrasound brought the positivity to light for me. I have
three boys and this little miracle ended up being my first little princess. I look back from time to
time and feel that I was somewhat selfish. I do not believe that our busy lifestyles should
determine the fate of an unborn child; I knew what I was doing and I knew I wasnt careful. I
have learned my lesson and do believe that if this situation ever happened again I wouldnt
contemplate the same way as before.
Now in another sense, I am a believer in abortion if the circumstance was out of my
control. For instance, if I was raped and in the process became pregnant, I would abort the child.
I myself do not believe that I could learn to love something that was created out of such horror,
and I would not want to risk treating that child badly or different than my other children. I also
think that I would consider getting an abortion if the ultrasound showed genetic deformities
based on the severity of the type. For example, simple gene disorders like Tourette syndrome I
could possibly handle, but like abnormalities of the sex chromosomes seems a bit too much for
me. One condition in particular that frightens me is Turner Syndrome. If I had a daughter with
the disease she would have underdeveloped organs, be short in height, and unable to conceive
children. (Berger, 2014, p. 50). There are many children put in the hands of parents that break
easily when caring for a child in need and I think I may be one of those parents. I would never
want to put my child through the pain and suffering of my selfish acts.
Although my decisions may be frowned upon by others, I feel that these decisions should
be produced by myself; therefore I would NEVER approve for lawmakers to make the decision
of women aborting children. I believe these women are aware of their actions and if they are
terminating pregnancies for senseless reasons, they will suffer within themselves. There are few
reasons why abortion should be considered, but there are also many reasons abortion should not
take place. I do not think that abortion should be used as a strategy for gender selection; you get
what you get and you dont throw a fit. As long as the baby is healthy, parents should learn to be
happy.

Works Cited
Berger, Kathleen Stassen. Invitation to the Lifespan: With Dsm5 Update. S.l.: Worth Pub, 2014. Print.
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 05 Sept. 2015.