Bibat, Divine Mercy C.

BSBA-Legal Management

DEATH PENALTY
Affirmative:

1. A person who has committed a crime like killing or raping another person should
be given death penalty, which is as severe punishment as the act. It is said that
when a criminal is given a capital punishment, it dissuades others in the society
from committing such serious crimes. They would refrain from such crimes due
to fear of losing their lives. This would definitely help in reducing crime rate in
society.

[ Kartha,Deepa “10 Pros and Cons of Capital Punishment.”

@http://www.buzzle.com/articles/10-pros-and-cons-of-capital-punishment.html]

2. If a criminal is jailed, he may again commit the same crime after being released
from prison. Giving him capital punishment would make sure that the society is
safe from being attacked by criminals. It seems to be an appropriate punishment
for serial killers and for those who continue to commit crimes even after serving
imprisonment.
[ Kartha,Deepa “10 Pros and Cons of Capital Punishment.”
@http://www.buzzle.com/articles/10-pros-and-cons-of-capital-punishment.html]

3. Some believe that instead of announcing life imprisonment for the convicts,
where they would have to live a futile life behind closed bars, it is better to kill
them. It is said that imprisoning someone is more expensive than executing him.
Rather than spending on a person who may again commit terrifying crime, it is
better to put him to death.
[ Kartha,Deepa “10 Pros and Cons of Capital Punishment.”
@http://www.buzzle.com/articles/10-pros-and-cons-of-capital-punishment.html]

4. Capital punishment is equated as revenge for pain and suffering that the criminal
inflicted on the victim. Some people strongly believe that a person who has taken
the life of another person does not have a right to live. Sentencing such a criminal
can give relief to the family members of the victim that their loved one has
obtained justice.
[ Kartha,Deepa “10 Pros and Cons of Capital Punishment.”
@http://www.buzzle.com/articles/10-pros-and-cons-of-capital-punishment.html]

5. It is also important for the safety of fellow prison inmates and guards, as people
who commit horrifying crimes like murder are believed to have a violent
personality and may, in future, attack someone during imprisonment. These
reasons emphasize the importance of capital punishment for the betterment of
 human society. However, there is another section of people who believe that it is
an immoral and unethical act of violence.
[ Kartha,Deepa “10 Pros and Cons of Capital Punishment.”
@http://www.buzzle.com/articles/10-pros-and-cons-of-capital-punishment.html]

Negative:

6. If we execute a person, what is the difference between us and the criminal who
has committed the horrifying crime of killing another individual.
[ Kartha,Deepa “10 Pros and Cons of Capital Punishment.”
@http://www.buzzle.com/articles/10-pros-and-cons-of-capital-punishment.html]

7. Capital punishment is not always just and appropriate. Usually, it has been seen
that poor people have to succumb to death penalty as they cannot afford good
lawyers to defend their stance. There are very rare cases of rich people being
pronounced capital punishment. Also, an individual from minority communities
are more likely to be given death penalty.
[ Kartha,Deepa “10 Pros and Cons of Capital Punishment.”
@http://www.buzzle.com/articles/10-pros-and-cons-of-capital-punishment.html]

8. Every human being is entitled to receive a second chance in life. Putting a convict
behind bars is always a logical option than killing him, as there is a chance that he
may improve. People who have served life sentences are reported to have bettered
their earlier ways of living and have made worthwhile contribution to the society.

[ Kartha,Deepa “10 Pros and Cons of Capital Punishment.”

@http://www.buzzle.com/articles/10-pros-and-cons-of-capital-punishment.html]

9. There is also a chance that an individual is innocent and is wrongly charged for a
crime he has never committed. There have been cases where individuals were
released after being given death sentence, because they were proved innocent.
There are also cases where a person's innocence was proved after he was put to
death. Hence, it is best to avoid executing a person.

[ Kartha,Deepa “10 Pros and Cons of Capital Punishment.”

@http://www.buzzle.com/articles/10-pros-and-cons-of-capital-punishment.html]

10. It is reported that there is no relation between capital punishment and crime rate
i.e giving death penalty does not decrease crime rate in the society. Crimes are
prevalent in countries where capital punishment exists and also where it has been
abolished.
 [ Kartha,Deepa “10 Pros and Cons of Capital Punishment.”
@http://www.buzzle.com/articles/10-pros-and-cons-of-capital-punishment.html]

CLONING
Affirmative:

11. The possibility of creating a human repair kit. This could also mean elimination of
donor organ rejection and regeneration of damaged tissues. [ “Arguments for
Cloning.”
@http://www.questacon.edu.au/indepth/cloning/arguments_for_cloning.html]

12. The cloning of endangered species. The first semi–successful effort was made at
this with a gaur (a large wild ox from India and south–east Asia), with a baby bull
gaur being born in January of 2001. The animal only survived for 48 hours.
[ “Arguments for Cloning.”
@http://www.questacon.edu.au/indepth/cloning/arguments_for_cloning.html]

13. Nature is already cloning organisms. Examples of this are the strawberry plant,
potatoes, grass, onions and bacteria. [ “Arguments for Cloning.”
@http://www.questacon.edu.au/indepth/cloning/arguments_for_cloning.html]

14. It could enable people to raise an identical child after an unfortunate death.
[ “Arguments for Cloning.”
@http://www.questacon.edu.au/indepth/cloning/arguments_for_cloning.html]

15. Cloning naturally occurs in some animals such as insects and frogs in a process
called parthenogenesis. This is where an egg develops without fertilisation. If this
ever happened naturally in humans (which it doesn’t), then an egg would grow
into a baby without needing any sperm. [ “Arguments for Cloning.”
@http://www.questacon.edu.au/indepth/cloning/arguments_for_cloning.html]

Negative:
16. A very large percentage of cloning efforts end in failure. For example, it took 277
attempts to clone Dolly the sheep. [ “Arguments Against Cloning.”
@http://www.questacon.edu.au/indepth/cloning/arguments_against_cloning.html]

17. Clones that do survive often have fatal or problem causing issues in their genes.
[ “Arguments Against Cloning.”
@http://www.questacon.edu.au/indepth/cloning/arguments_against_cloning.html]

18. Cloning will create a black market for stolen or discarded embryos.
 [ “Arguments Against Cloning.”
@http://www.questacon.edu.au/indepth/cloning/arguments_against_cloning.html]

19. Cloning will stop genetic improvements to a species. This is because genetic
improvements usually occur through sexual reproduction, which result in a
mixing of the genes of the mother and father. [ “Arguments Against Cloning.”
@http://www.questacon.edu.au/indepth/cloning/arguments_against_cloning.html]

20. If we try to clone endangered species, then we will put at risk the females of that
species. [ “Arguments Against Cloning.”
@http://www.questacon.edu.au/indepth/cloning/arguments_against_cloning.html]

ABORTION
Affirmative:

21. Nearly all abortions take place in the first trimester, when a fetus cannot exist
independent of the mother. As it is attached by the placenta and umbilical cord, its
health is dependent on her health, and cannot be regarded as a separate entity as it
cannot exist outside her womb.

[ Lowen,Linda ”Ten Arguments for Abortion and Against Abortion.”@

http://womensissues.about.com/od/reproductiverights/a/AbortionArgumen.htm]

22. Adoption is not an alternative to abortion, because it remains the woman's choice
whether or not to give her child up for adoption. Statistics show that very few
women who give birth choose to give up their babies - less than 3% of white
unmarried women and less than 2% of black unmarried women.
[ Lowen,Linda ”Ten Arguments for Abortion and Against Abortion.”@
http://womensissues.about.com/od/reproductiverights/a/AbortionArgumen.htm]

23. Abortion is a safe medical procedure. The vast majority of women - 88% - who
have an abortion do so in their first trimester. Medical abortions have less than
0.5% risk of serious complications and do not affect a woman's health or future
ability to become pregnant or give birth.
[ Lowen,Linda ”Ten Arguments for Abortion and Against Abortion.”@
http://womensissues.about.com/od/reproductiverights/a/AbortionArgumen.htm]
 24. Abortion is not used as a form of contraception. Pregnancy can occur even with
responsible contraceptive use. Only 8% of women who have abortions do not use
any form of birth control, and that is due more to individual carelessness than to
the availability of abortion.
[ Lowen,Linda ”Ten Arguments for Abortion and Against Abortion.”@
http://womensissues.about.com/od/reproductiverights/a/AbortionArgumen.htm]

25. Teenagers who become mothers have grim prospects for the future. They are
much more likely to leave of school; receive inadequate prenatal care; rely on
public assistance to raise a child; develop health problems; or end up divorced.
[ Lowen,Linda ”Ten Arguments for Abortion and Against Abortion.”@
http://womensissues.about.com/od/reproductiverights/a/AbortionArgumen.htm]

Negative:

26. Since life begins at conception, abortion is akin to murder as it is the act of taking
human life. Abortion is in direct defiance of the commonly accepted idea of the
sanctity of human life.
[ Lowen,Linda ”Ten Arguments for Abortion and Against Abortion.”@
http://womensissues.about.com/od/reproductiverights/a/AbortionArgumen.htm]

27. No civilized society permits one human to intentionally harm or take the life of
another human without punishment, and abortion is no different. [ Lowen,Linda
”Ten Arguments for Abortion and Against Abortion.”@
http://womensissues.about.com/od/reproductiverights/a/AbortionArgumen.htm]

28. An abortion can result in medical complications later in life; the risk of ectopic
pregnancies doubles, and the chance of a miscarriage and pelvic inflammatory
disease also increases. [ Lowen,Linda ”Ten Arguments for Abortion and Against
Abortion.”@
http://womensissues.about.com/od/reproductiverights/a/AbortionArgumen.htm]

29. In the instance of rape and incest, proper medical care can ensure that a woman
will not get pregnant. Abortion punishes the unborn child who committed no
crime; instead, it is the perpetrator who should be punished.[ Lowen,Linda ”Ten
Arguments for Abortion and Against Abortion.”@
http://womensissues.about.com/od/reproductiverights/a/AbortionArgumen.htm]

30. Abortion should not be used as another form of contraception.[ Lowen,Linda

”Ten Arguments for Abortion and Against Abortion.”@
http://womensissues.about.com/od/reproductiverights/a/AbortionArgumen.htm]
 12-year Basic Education Program
Affirmative:

31. “Enhancing the quality of basic education in the Philippines is urgent and
critical.”[ Padre, Joe “Pros and Cons of the K+12 Basic Education
Debate.”@http://mlephil.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/pros-cons-of-the-k12-
debate/]

32. “The poor quality of basic education is reflected in the low achievement scores of
Filipino students. One reason is that students do not get adequate instructional
time or time on task.” [ Padre, Joe “Pros and Cons of the K+12 Basic Education
Debate.”@http://mlephil.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/pros-cons-of-the-k12-
debate/]

33. International test results consistently show Filipino students lagging way behind
practically everybody else in the world. In the 2008 mathematics exam, for
example, we came in dead last. [ Padre, Joe “Pros and Cons of the K+12 Basic
Education Debate.”@http://mlephil.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/pros-cons-of-the-
k12-debate/]

34. “The congested curriculum partly explains the present state of education.” Twelve
years of content are crammed into ten years. [ Padre, Joe “Pros and Cons of the
K+12 Basic Education Debate.”@http://mlephil.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/pros-
cons-of-the-k12-debate/]
 35. “The short duration of the basic education program also puts the millions of
overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), especially the professionals, and those who
intend to study abroad, at a disadvantage. Our graduates are not automatically
recognized as professionals abroad.” The best examples are our engineering
graduates, who are condemned to international jobs not befitting their
professional status due to our not having a 12-year basic education cycle. [ Padre,
Joe “Pros and Cons of the K+12 Basic Education
Debate.”@http://mlephil.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/pros-cons-of-the-k12-
debate/]

Negative:

36. Parentshave to shell out more money (for transportation and food) for the
education of their children. [ Padre, Joe “Pros and Cons of the K+12 Basic
Education Debate.”@http://mlephil.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/pros-cons-of-the-
k12-debate/]

37. The government does not have the money to pay for two more years of free
education, since it does not even have the money to fully support today’s ten
years. DepEd must first solve the lack of classrooms, furniture and equipment,
qualified teachers, and error-free textbooks. [ Padre, Joe “Pros and Cons of the
K+12 Basic Education Debate.”@http://mlephil.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/pros-
cons-of-the-k12-debate/]

38. We can do in ten years what everyone else in the world takes 12 years to do. Why
do we have to follow what the rest of the world is doing? We are better than all of
them. Filipinos right now are accepted in prestigious graduate schools in the
world, even with only ten years of basic education. [ Padre, Joe “Pros and Cons of
the K+12 Basic Education
Debate.”@http://mlephil.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/pros-cons-of-the-k12-
debate/]
 39. As far as the curriculum is concerned, DepEd should fix the current subjects
instead of adding new ones. The problem is the content, not the length, of basic
education. As an editorial put it, we need to have better education, not more
education. [ Padre, Joe “Pros and Cons of the K+12 Basic Education
Debate.”@http://mlephil.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/pros-cons-of-the-k12-
debate/]

40. A high school diploma will not get anybody anywhere, because business firms
will not hire fresh high school graduates. [ Padre, Joe “Pros and Cons of the K+12
Basic Education Debate.”@http://mlephil.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/pros-cons-
of-the-k12-debate/]

STEM CELL
Affirmative:

41. Stem cells may play a major role in cancer. [Experiment Resources. “Stem Cell
Research.” @http://www.experiment-resources.com/stem-cell-pros-and-
cons.html]

42. "The benefits of stem cell research have such a great outcome that they outweigh
the ethical issues." [Experiment Resources. “Stem Cell Research.”
@http://www.experiment-resources.com/stem-cell-pros-and-cons.html]

43. Itcan replace or repair damaged organs. [Experiment Resources. “Stem Cell
Research.” @http://www.experiment-resources.com/stem-cell-pros-and-
cons.html]
 44. Adultstem cells would not be that interesting because they do not have the same
properties as stem cells from a fetus. [Experiment Resources. “Stem Cell
Research.” @http://www.experiment-resources.com/stem-cell-pros-and-
cons.html]

45. The research would give great insights about the basics of the body. [Experiment
Resources. “Stem Cell Research.” @http://www.experiment-resources.com/stem-
cell-pros-and-cons.html]

Negative:

46. Some argue that stem cell research in the far future can lead to knowledge on how
to clone humans. It is hard to say whether this is true, but we have seen
devastating consequences of other research-programs, even with good intentions,
such as nuclear research. [Experiment Resources. “Stem Cell Research.”
@http://www.experiment-resources.com/stem-cell-pros-and-cons.html]

47. Critics
against stem cell research argued that the ethical issues of scientific work
on aborted fetuses did not justify the possible benefits. [Experiment Resources.
“Stem Cell Research.” @http://www.experiment-resources.com/stem-cell-pros-
and-cons.html]

48. "A life is a life and that should never be compromised. A fertilized egg should be
valued as a human life even if it is in its very first weeks. Destroying human life
in the hopes of saving human life is not ethical." [Experiment Resources. “Stem
Cell Research.” @http://www.experiment-resources.com/stem-cell-pros-and-
cons.html]

49. We should (and will) develop more ethical methods (such as using adult stem
cells) which will enable us to research ethically. We should wait until those
methods are available. [Experiment Resources. “Stem Cell Research.”
@http://www.experiment-resources.com/stem-cell-pros-and-cons.html]

50. The scientific value has been overstated or has flaws. E.g. we do not know for
sure that we can use stem cells to clone transplantable organs. [Experiment
Resources. “Stem Cell Research.” @http://www.experiment-resources.com/stem-
cell-pros-and-cons.html]