RUNNING HEAD: Critical Thinking Assignment: Pro-choice v.

Pro-life

Critical Thinking Assignment: Pro-life v. Pro-choice

Christy Morton
Salt Lake Community College
Friday, November 1, 2019
Criminal Justice 1010
RUNNING HEAD: Critical Thinking Assignment: Pro-choice v. Pro-life

Pro-choice v. Pro-life
Currently in the United States there are many heated debates but possibly not as heated as
Pro-life v. Pro-choice debate. There are many news stories, websites, and groups dedicated to
one side or the other. In the U.S. you’re either for or against one of them. There isn’t much in the
middle. Some of the major headlines include:
'It goes after Roe directly': Alabama's abortion bill heads to state senate.’
‘Abolishing Abortion: The History of the Pro-Life Movement in America.’
‘Abortion-rights activists rally across US against extreme new state bans.’
‘Defending the Defenseless: A Case Against Abortion.’
‘Calls for Attention on Reproductive Rights at Debate.’
‘Georgia's Governor Signs 'Fetal Heartbeat' Abortion Law.’
‘Missouri may lose its last abortion clinic this week. That's dark news for us all.’
The Pro-choice debate
A large majority of America citizens see themselves as pro-choice, in that they believe
everyone has the basic human right to decide for yourself what happens to your body. Whether
or not to have a family or if you do become pregnant that it is your right to choose abortion or
not. Most call themselves pro-reproductive rights, meaning you support laws that allow the full
range of reproductive health care, which includes safe, legal abortions. ("Can you explain what pro-
choice means and pro-life means?", 2019)

One of America’s most well-known cases on abortion is Roe v. Wade. In court room
documents the plaintiff known as “Jane Roe”, filed a lawsuit after trying unsuccessfully to get an
abortion. She was referred to attorneys Linda Coffee and Sarah Weddington, who were
interested in challenging anti-abortion laws. The History Channel goes on to say:
Roe v. Wade was a landmark legal decision issued on January 22, 1973, in a 7-2 decision,
the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas statute banning abortion, effectively
legalizing the procedure across the United States. The court held that a woman’s right to
an abortion was implicit in the right to privacy protected by the 14th Amendment to the
Constitution. Prior to Roe v. Wade, abortion had been illegal throughout much of the
country since the late 19th century. (History.com Editors, 2018)
The case changed America and the politics dividing much of the country into pro-life and
pro-choice groups, while initiating movements on both sides.
Utah abortion statistics:
 In 2017, 2,990 abortions were provided in Utah, though not all abortions that occurred in
Utah were provided to state residents: Some patients may have traveled from other states,
and some Utah residents may have traveled to another state for an abortion.
RUNNING HEAD: Critical Thinking Assignment: Pro-choice v. Pro-life

 There was a 4% decline in the abortion rate in Utah between 2014 and 2017, from 4.6 to
4.4 abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age.
 Abortions in Utah represent 0.3% of all abortions in the United States.
 There were 12 facilities providing abortion in Utah in 2017, and 3 of those were clinics.
These numbers represent a 50% increase in clinics from 2014, when there were six
abortion-providing facilities overall, of which two were clinics. ("State Facts About
Abortion: Utah", 2019)

Utah Abortion Laws state that an abortion is legal in Utah if:

o It’s done before viability or if the fetus is unable to live outside the womb,
o It’s necessary to save the woman’s life or health,
o The woman is a victim of rape or incest that resulted in the fetus,
o The fetus has a uniformly diagnosable and lethal defect. (legal team of writers, 2019)
The following restrictions on abortion were in effect as of September 1, 2019:
 A patient must receive state-directed counseling that includes information designed to
discourage the patient from having an abortion, and then wait 72 hours before the
procedure is provided. Counseling must be provided in person and must take place at any
medical facility before the waiting period begins, thereby necessitating two trips to the
facility.
 Private insurance policies and public funding cover abortion only in cases of life
endangerment, rape, incest, or if the woman's health is severely compromised or in cases
of fetal impairment.
 Health plans offered in the state’s health exchange under the Affordable Care Act can
only cover abortion in cases of life endangerment or severely compromised physical
health, or in cases of fetal impairment, rape or incest.
 The parent of a minor must consent and be notified before an abortion is provided.
 An abortion may be performed at or after viability only in cases of life endangerment,
severely compromised health, rape, incest or lethal fetal anomaly.
 The state requires abortion clinics to meet unnecessary and burdensome standards related
to their physical plant, equipment and staffing. Abortion providers are also required to
have admitting privileges at a local hospital. ("State Facts About Abortion: Utah", 2019)
(guttmacher.org)

The Pro-life Debate

While there is a great deal of Pro-choice supporters, there are probably an equal number
of Pro-life advocates as well. Pro-life simply means “support for life”. Prolife of Utah goes on to
explain:
This is such a deep and complex question, but at the same time it is very simple. We want
to live in a society that rejoices in life and holds the protection of life as the first and most
basic right. When this societal belief fails, our world fails. Because the truth is that life is
RUNNING HEAD: Critical Thinking Assignment: Pro-choice v. Pro-life

precious. It is not always easy, fair, or understandable, but it is still a gift in all of its
messy, hard, incomprehensible glory.
At the very core of the abortion debate is the argument that a fetal human life is not really
a life until it is born. The truth is, that when an egg becomes fertilized, a genetically
unique human being is formed. We have to stop letting the soundbites guide our thoughts,
because in ALL other aspects of science, nature, and society, we recognize life at its very
smallest and simplest forms. A fetus is a baby. That word merely describes the stage of
development of a human child. A child who wants the chance at life. (Utah, 2019)
Future Female Leaders says there are “20 Facts About Abortion that will make you Pro-Life.”
* The following facts are pulled from all sorts of sources, including medical papers, newspapers, interviews, polls,
and case studies. Every fact is cited and covers areas of fetal development, the health of the mother, prevalence of
abortion, and more.

1. Planned Parenthood performs over 900 abortions a day. 900! That’s over 300,000 a year
and that is only Planned Parenthood.
2. Over half of abortions are performed on women under the age of 25.
3. D&C Abortions (Dilation and Curettage) involve cutting the baby’s body into pieces and
extracting it, often through suction.
4. Having an abortion can cause health issues later in life, especially if a woman attempts to
become pregnant again. Such a complication includes ectopic pregnancy.
5. A study of nearly 200,000 American women found that in the eight years following their
abortion, they had a 154% higher rate of suicide than women who carried to term.
6. One study found that women who have had an abortion are 144% more likely to abuse
their children in the future.
7. Women who have had multiple abortions are more likely to become single parents and
use public assistance programs.
8. Since Roe v Wade was enacted, over 53 million abortions have occurred.
9. By the eighth week of pregnancy, a baby’s eyes are visible.
10. A baby’s heart begins to beat during the third week of pregnancy.
11. The baby in the womb can feel pain at 20 weeks. This is the usual cutoff date for
abortion. Nociceptors, pain receptors, are linked to the fetal thalamus by 20 weeks.
12. Fetal DNA is distinctly different from the DNA of any other creature on earth, including
the mother.
13. Even the earliest human embryo meets the qualifications for biological life: metabolism,
growth, reaction to stimuli, and reproduction. It is alive.
14. How can you argue that a baby in utero is not a distinct person when we are so medically
advanced that we can do fetal surgery in utero?
15. Abortion is the number one killer of African Americans. African American women are
disproportionately affected by abortion.
16. Less than .5% of women who have abortions became pregnant because of rape.
17. Sex selective abortion has led to a missing 100 million women in the world.
RUNNING HEAD: Critical Thinking Assignment: Pro-choice v. Pro-life

18. Susan B Anthony, one of the first and most prominent feminists and leader of the
women’s suffrage movement, was outspoken against abortion and called it “child
murder”
19. Jane Roe of Roe v Wade fame never actually had an abortion. Her daughter, now in her
40s, was given up for adoption and is living a happy life. Roe, real name Norma
McCorvey, is now an outspoken pro-life activist who admitted that much of the Roe v
Wade case was based on lies.
20. 81% of Americans support “substantial abortion restrictions” (D., 2019)

Conclusion
I have been so blessed with 3 beautiful children and I cannot imagine life without them.
Being a mother has definitely made me more emotional connected to children and I’ve always
loved children. Even before having my own, I always knew that I wanted to be a mother. I
always adored children and their sweet innocents. They’re truly heaven-sent!
I’m a huge advocate for adoption. I do believe women have a choice whether to keep
their child or not but through adoption. My own sister and her husband struggled for 12 years
before they were blessed with a baby through adoption. Had the birthmother chose abortion
instead, I wouldn’t have my beautiful niece. She’s almost 6 years old and has changed our entire
family for the better. Her birthmother sacrificed so much for her to be with us. She’s a true hero.
I’m also a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I fully believe in
the gospel of Jesus Christ and the sanctity of life. I believe there is life after death and that I will
be with my family forever. I do believe that Christ has paid the price for our sins but that we will
still have to face the consequences for some of them, abortion being one of them. I don’t judge
anyone that has made that decision as I know it didn’t come lightly. I do believe they will be
forgiven if they ask to be.
Required Questions
Researching for this assignment was harder than I anticipated. I’ve always been 100%
pro-life and after finishing my research, I can say that I’m still 100% pro-life. I began my
research by watching the movie, Unplanned. It was extremely hard to watch. The movie is based
on the book of the same name and true story of Abby Johnson:
Abby quit her job in October 2009. That simple act became a national news story because
Abby was the director of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Texas who, after participating in
an actual abortion procedure for the first time, walked down the street to join the
Coalition for Life.
Unplanned is a heart-stopping personal drama of life-and-death encounters, a courtroom
battle, and spiritual transformation that speaks hope and compassion into the political
controversy that surrounds this issue. Telling Abby’s story from both sides of the
abortion clinic property line, this book is a must-read for anyone who cares about the life
RUNNING HEAD: Critical Thinking Assignment: Pro-choice v. Pro-life

versus rights debate and helping women who face crisis pregnancies. (Konzelman &
Solomon, 2019)

Maybe starting with the movie was a bad idea because when I started reading stories and
articles, I became an emotional wreck which made it hard to research the other side.
I used many different websites and sources for my research; Planned Parenthood, History
Channel, Utah State abortions laws, Future Female Leaders, ProCon.org, Prolife Utah, ehd.org,
and Unplanned. Even though I don’t site Unplanned in my report above, I feel it was my best
source of information. Abby Johnson worked in the abortion field and truly believed in her work
there. It wasn’t until she actually witnessed an abortion and seeing it on the ultrasound. Seeing
the fetus fight for its life completely shook her to her core. She then and there chose to change
and that’s when her advocacy for life began.
All my sources are good sources, I just don’t agree with all of them, but I believe they’re
each relevant to my paper. I mostly struggled with the information found on the Planned
Parenthood website. I once believe that Planned Parenthood was a place a woman could go to
find help and reproductive education. I even went there as a teen to get birth control and checked
out. While they do still offer these services, I feel their main goal is abortion. On their home
page, left side, it says services offered – abortion, that’s it, not birth control or sex education, but
abortion.

My beliefs on pro-choice and abortion have not wavered and are even stronger than ever
before. I believe that life at happens at conceivement and the heartbeat begins around 3 weeks.
“Doctors use several different methods to listen to the fetal heartbeat. About 3 weeks, one day
after fertilization, when the heart first begins to beat, the sound of the little heart is too soft to
hear. Very soon thereafter, they can see the motion using ultrasound technology.” ("3 to 4 Weeks |
Prenatal Overview", 2019)

I don’t feel more research on facts and data will change anything for me. I’m very
passionate about this cause and I’m not going to change my mind on the issue, no matter how
much more I research. I did ask the right questions and enough of them. And, for me, there isn’t
another conclusion. I know I’m biased. I did try really hard to see the other side. I honestly
researched pro-choice more than pro-life, I looked up clinics around the country and Utah as
though I was needing it for myself. I feel that some of the clinics are truly advocating for the
women’s health and well-being and that many have greater goals than being pro-abortion. But I
stand by my feelings of Planned Parenthood and believe they’re all about abortions and the
bottom-line, meaning making money. Planned Parenthood is a 50-billion-dollar industry and that
says it enough to me.
 RUNNING HEAD: Critical Thinking Assignment: Pro-choice v. Pro-life

References

3 to 4 Weeks | Prenatal Overview. (2019). Retrieved 1 November 2019, from

https://www.ehd.org/dev_article_unit4.php

Can you explain what pro-choice means and pro-life means? (2019). Retrieved 1 November 2019,
from https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/teens/ask-experts/can-you-explain-what-
pro-choice-means-and-pro-life-means-im-supposed-to-do-it-for-a-class-thanks

D., A. (2019). 20 Facts About Abortion That Will Make You Pro-Life. Retrieved 1 November
2019, from https://futurefemaleleader.com/20-facts-will-make-pro-life/

History.com Editors. (2018). Roe v. Wade. Retrieved 1 November 2019, from

https://www.history.com/topics/womens-rights/roe-v-wade

Konzelman, C., & Solomon, C. (2019). Unplanned [DVD]. Burbank, California: Unplanned
Movie.

Legal Team of Writers, (2019). Utah Abortion Laws - FindLaw. Retrieved 1 November 2019,
from https://statelaws.findlaw.com/utah-law/utah-abortion-laws.html

State Facts About Abortion: Utah. (2019). Retrieved 1 November 2019, from
https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/state-facts-about-abortion-utah

Utah, P. (2019). Why Choose Life? Retrieved 1 November 2019, from

http://www.prolifeutah.org/why-choose-life/
RUNNING HEAD: Critical Thinking Assignment: Pro-choice v. Pro-life