Jordan Thomas

Mrs. Jankowski
English 12H
9 February 2016
Abortion
Famed author J.R.R. Tolkien once said, Even the smallest person can change the course of the
future. Of the 43.8 million babies that get aborted each year, any of them have the potential to be
influential to our society. Think about if Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, or even Martin Luther King Jr. would
have been aborted. Without these three men, every day life would be different. Since abortion is legal,
there are babies aborted every day that had the potential to change our country. This is why abortion laws
in our country should be strengthened to protect innocent babies from being killed every day.
Most citizens of the United States feel that abortion is validated because the baby is unaware of
what is happening and can feel no pain. During the second week of pregnancy, the life inside of the
woman has a rudimentary heart. No matter how tiny, this heart has the ability to start beating around the
sixth week of pregnancy. However, women may make the decision to abort their babies well after this
point. In just eight weeks, the blossoming life inside of the woman can feel the pain inflicted on it during
an abortion. The baby can feel not only physical pain, but psychological and organic pain as well. The
pain is a response from the already developing nervous system. If these insensitive women were aware of
the pain that the baby experiences during an abortion, then maybe they would think twice about their
decision.
The definition of murder is the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another,
while the definition of an abortion is the murder of a human being with a medical procedure being the
method. Personhood starts at conception when the sperm and egg join to form a zygote. The life is
considered a person; a person being killed by another person -- murder. Abortion is murder.

Abortion also reduces the amount of adoptable babies. Adoptions help the many women living in
fear of never being able to have a child of their own. Unfortunately, over 1.5 million american women
have the inability to reproduce. This means that 6% of women who desire children depend on adoption
agencies. If babies are being aborted rather than placed for adoption, it reduces the chance of an
unfortunate woman getting a child of her own. In fact, adoptions declined almost forty percent when
abortion was deemed legal (Bitler, Marianne and Zavodny, Madeline p3). Adoption is the best option;
one should not take an innocent life away that could be loved by someone else.
Finding accurate statistics on abortion can be challenging due to the fact that states are not
technically required to report domestic abortions. Abortion not only affects the lives of babies. This
atrocious law affects the decisions men and women make when it comes to sex and contraception. Many
couples have the mentality that if they were to get pregnant, it would be fine because abortion is legal and
they could just schedule an appointment. This is sickening. If our country had more regulated laws on
abortion, this problem would not occur.
Not only is abortion murder, it is also unlawful. The federal law prohibits death penalty for
pregnant women until they give birth because it would be taking two lives, rather than one. In the year
2011, a young, pregnant Muslim woman, named Meriam Yehya Ibrahim, married a Christian man. This
action sent her to death row in her country of Sudan. Although she was sentenced to death, the court did
not carry out the punishment until she gave birth (NY Daily News p3). Meriams case is an example of
why this law makes no sense. And yet, our country does not consider aborting faultless babies as murder.
But it is considered murder for both the mom and the baby if a pregnant woman were to be murdered. It is
murder both ways, whether the baby is professionally killed or not.
A common argument against this position is that abortion is necessary because of health,
financial, or other moral reasons. Regardless of the fact that the mother of the baby may be young,
uneducated, poor, or unfit to be a mother, she is still able to carry a life for someone who can not. Just
imagine giving a family a life that they cannot produce themselves. This is the only way they will be able
to have a family of their own. There is never a reason to not place an unwanted baby up for adoption.

Some pro-life advocates may argue that if abortion were illegal, women would just do it
themselves. While this may be true, consider this and just envision how many women would try to do this
procedure themselves and get injured and potentially die. Now, the life of the mother and the baby are
being lost. When illegal in the 1950s and 1960s, the number of abortions were from 200,000 to 1.2
million per year. This resulted in nearly 5,000 avoidable deaths (Our Bodies Ourselves p3). If women
tried this themselves, the country would lose women and children due simply to dangerous decisions.
It is easy to think that abortion is safe and legal, but many women experience complications
during and after the procedure. According to AfterAbortion.org, 10 percent of women who get abortions
experience immediate complications, and one fifth of these complications were listed as serious (Abortion
Complications p4). There are also constant issues with instruments not being sterile and cervical damage
being done. All of these dangerous issues are just the physical complications of abortion. Psychological
complications also occur, including negative reactions, sleep disturbances, guilt, and nervous disorders.
Imagine living everyday with the guilt and thought that a life was terminated inside of you.
Some critics argue that personhood begins at birth, rather than contraception because it is a
womans right over her own body. The fact that life begins at conception is why couples use
contraception to prevent it. When the fertilized egg is implanted into the uterus, life begins. Even shortly
after conception, the DNA code of the life is formed and remains the same the entire life. This event is
when scientists define human life. Through a religious perspective, there is a quote from Pope John Paul
II that deals with this topic. "...all human life -- from the moment of conception and through all
subsequent stages -- is sacred, because human life is created in the image and likeness of God." Pope John
Paul II (1979). This conveys the religious belief on human life and when it starts.
In conclusion, theres always an alternative to abortion. All unplanned pregnancies can be
beneficial to someone. Placing the baby up for adoption helps families in need. It also prevents mothers
and babies from the harmful effects of the procedure. At conception, a new life begins. Abortion is killing
a defenseless baby. This undeniable evidence is why abortion laws in our country should be strengthened
to protect innocent babies from being killed every day.

Works Cited
n.a. Abortion Complications. AfterAbortion.org. 1990. Web. 11 February 2016.
Bitler, Marianne and Zavodny, Madeline. Did Abortion Legalization Reduce the Number Of Unwanted
Children? Evidence from Adoptions. Guttmacher Institute. January/February 2002. Web. 11
Feb 2016.
n.a. Pregnant Sudanese woman on death row for Christian faith gives birth in jail. NY Daily News. 27
May 2014. Web. 1 Mar 2016.
n.a. The Impact of Illegal Abortion. Our Bodies Ourselves. 23 Mar 2014. Web. 11 February 2016.