Manzardo 1

Mitchell Manzardo

Professor Morean

English Composition II

30 July 2020

Middle Ground for Abortion

Abortion is a seriously touchy subject in The United States of America. It has remained

one of the most important debates in recent years and most likely will continue to remain that

way until there is a compromise made that each side can respect and somewhat support. For the

people that are opposed to abortion it is very important that when looking at abortion it should be

thought of from the woman’s perspective. But, for the people that are supportive of abortions it is

also important for them to look at it from another perspective than their own as well. Some

people only consider looking at it from one side of the argument and do not consider the other to

be valid. The two main angles found when looking at abortion are morals and individuals’

rights/freedoms. Most of the time people formulate their opinion on abortion based on what their

political party believes. Once they have their opinion, they hardly consider what it is like for the

other side. That goes both ways, for people against abortions and for people in favor of

abortions.

It has become increasingly difficult to make political change in the United States of

America because people have forgotten how to make compromises. For instance, if a person that

is against abortion sees that some pro-abortion law is passed, they might start to believe that it’s

the end of the world and that all types of abortions are going to be legal soon. But that is not the

case most of the time. People need to consider compromising in a middle ground for these
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situations. Women should be allowed to have abortions as long as there are some minor

limitations in order to prevent misuse, because if women were not allowed to have abortions at

all that would take away her right to choose what happens to her own body.

Overtime there have been many political controversies in The United States of America.

Some of these controversial topics can be solved swiftly. But, some of the topics that create great

political distancing between our two-party system in America take decades or even centuries to

find a proper solution to. Even after all that time there are still a few very important topics that

remain at the top of the political controversy. Some of these topics include racism, drugs, and

abortion, just to name a few. These topics typically have many layers to them. For instance, in

our fight against racism one of the first steps was to abolish slavery and Jim Crow laws. But,

even after that it is clear that racism has not stopped in the USA. Even today it can be seen that

people of color are still being oppressed. Overtime people have gradually seen why racism and

discrimination should be illegal and the USA has made major and minor adjustments in order to

try to stop this injustice all together. Racism is seen as a terrible thing by almost every single

person and that is why recently there have been some extremely important events in order to stop

it all together. But other topics are not as easily dealt with nowadays.

One of such topics is abortion. Abortion is defined as the deliberate termination of a

human pregnancy. This topic does not have a straightforward, “it is bad” or ‘it is okay”, answer.

There are many degrees that must be considered when talking about the topic of abortion. Some

people think that abortions should be completely legal, and nobody should be allowed to stop a

woman from getting one. Other people believe that no matter what the circumstance abortions

should be illegal and are considered murders. But most people are somewhere in between those

two extremes and want to make a compromise or agreement on what should and should not be
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legal. The topic of abortion has remained a very heated debate for many years now and the

question of “When should, and how should the government put limitations, if any, on abortion?”

has remained relevant and will remain relevant for years to come. There are many moral

questions asked when looking at the topic of abortion as well as questions on an individual’s

freedoms.

The fact of morality is very important when discussing abortion and topics like abortion.

Obviously, people have different morals and morals are extremely important to most, if not

everyone. If you try to make laws that go against someone's moral code it might make them

angry or irritated and that is what makes is so difficult to come to a compromise in instances like

this. In order to help persuade people to one side or another, many people have come up with

arguments for and against abortion overtime. The arguments against abortion that my sources

presented are mostly based on the moral codes that people have. Many people believe that

abortion is murder because they believe that life begins at conception. But other people do not

think the same. Other people think that life begins when the fetus gains consciousness, and some

people even think it begins when the fetus has a heartbeat. Another way that many pro-life

activists combat these statements is by saying that even if there is a chance for life then should

we not give the child a chance? There are many ideas on the topic of when life begins and there

is a very large spectrum in which people choice to put their morals.

There are many more special and specific scenarios that must be questioned as well. For

instance, if a woman is raped, is it really morally correct to tell her that she has to go through the

emotional and physical trauma of having a baby that she never wanted in the first place? If

abortion is completely illegal, then a woman in a situation like this one would not even have a

choice whether to give birth or not. It does not seem very morally correct to force that onto her.
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Another scenario would be if the woman that is going to give birth has a condition where she

might die during pregnancy or at childbirth. Maternal death can occur during pregnancy or even

up to 42 days following the birth of the child. As described in the article “Pregnancy and

Childbirth” by Sepsis Alliance, a U.S. organization created to prevent this very scenario, sepsis is

one of these rare and special cases that must be considered. Sepsis in an illness that can develop

in some pregnant women. Once developed it can be very dangerous. It can disable the woman

giving birth as well as even kill her if the case is dangerous and deadly enough. Sepsis alone kills

and disables more people than breast cancer, lung cancer, and stroke combined. It is truly a very

serious and deadly illness. There are a great many more ways that women can die from

maternity. The organization March of Dimes, which was created in order to prevent and save

women that are at risk or maternity death, reported that nearly 700 women die from

complications during and after pregnancy each year. If it can be predicted that a woman is going

to be one of these 700 deaths, then is it really morally correct to tell her she cannot have the

option to save her own life? Instances like this make the debate on abortion so difficult and what

makes compromise extremely difficult.

Another argument that many pro-abortion activists make is that if a woman is forced to

have a child she does not want and she puts it into foster care, will that child get a safe and happy

life? The question is very hard to answer. But a better question that pro-life activists ask is, even

if their life is not so great at all, is it still morally okay to terminate the pregnancy before the kid

is given a chance? Both these questions are extremely hard to answer. When some people look at

these questions, they find they disgusting and inappropriate, while others look at them and see a

justification for abortion. Maybe if the foster care system this argument and this problem would

not even be an issue at all. Nonetheless it is very important to weigh the pros and cons of putting
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a child into foster care just for argument’s sake. Firstly, Katie Dupere states in the article “6

problems with the foster care system — and what you can do to help,” that abuse and neglect are

some extremely important subjects to look at. Though a child may eventually find their way into

a foster home it may not be a completely safe house. Moving from family to family it might be

hard for a child to have to deal with the emotional trauma of being abused or neglected a few

times. It’s the harsh reality of foster care. There are a lot of families out there that just want to

take care of a kid and treat them as their own child. But there are also a few bad apples that could

negatively affect a child’s life forever. Another thing that Dupere points out is that a large

amount of the children that go into foster care are at an increased risk of having a poor education

and being unemployed, which would in the end result in homelessness or worse. On the other

side of the argument, many pro-life activists find themselves wondering if termination of a

pregnancy can really be justified with a few “what if?” questions. They have a very important

point when it comes down to it. Is it really morally okay to level give a kid a chance because

there is a chance, they will turn out having a terrible life? Maybe it is worth the risk because they

could have a great and overall “normal” life. But, is it not true that the kid should at least be

given a chance at a safe and happy life? It is the harsh reality of the situation.

Overall, it is extremely clear that morals play a key role in determining whether abortion

should be allowed or not. From adoption to maternal death to the question of when life begins,

these are all morally subjective topics that might change from person to person. Someone may

think that life begins starting at conception of the child, but then they might think that the mother

should be allowed to have an abortion if the pregnancy and birth could kill her also. It is

extremely hard for someone to morally be on one extreme of the argument or the other. It is clear

that there needs to be a compromise, a middle ground. Maybe that compromise could be that
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abortions should be allowed, but only if the mother is a rape victim or could experience maternal

death. Or maybe that middle ground is that abortions should be allowed as long as they are

before a certain stage in pregnancy. There are countless variations but it completely and utterly

clear that there needs to be some sort of compromise.

Not only is there morality in question when it comes to abortion but there are also

people’s, specifically women’s, individual freedoms that are called into question. Most of the

time, it can be seen that the people whom appose abortion do not like to stray far from the law

and most of the time follow them to a T. For instance, when it comes to their 2nd Amendment

right to bear arms conservatives are typically seen wanting to look at and interpret the law word

for word in order to keep as much freedom as they can when it comes to gun rights. But when it

comes to abortion, there is a Supreme Court case called Roe v. Wade that states it is

unconstitutional to ban abortions. In order to combat this fact people typically point to our

unalienable rights. In the constitution it is clear that all people are said to have the unalienable

right to life and according to pro-life activists that fact seriously combats abortion and makes the

act of terminating a pregnancy unconstitutional. But, that argument only works if, and only if,

the fetus inside of the mother is considered alive when the abortion happens. That is why there is

so much debate on whether or when a fetus stops being just a chunk of cells and is identified as a

living being. Many people have their own ideas on the topic and it is extremely difficult to

debate. There are many layers to this part of the discussion as well. It is constitutional to have an

abortion or not? Is it infringing on a women’s freedom of choice if abortions are illegal? These

questions are very important when discussing the topic of abortion and there are many arguments

for and against abortion when answering each of them.

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As of now abortions cannot be exactly banned because of the U.S. Supreme Court case

Roe v. Wade. This is a good thing because all the reasons I already stated, women would be in

danger if it were banned. But there are nine states that have a “trigger ban” in place on abortion.

Meaning if Roe v, Wade is overturned they will immediately ban any use of it. According to the

Guttmacher Institute these states include Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi,

North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Utah. Also, Indiana and North Dakota have banned

a specific method, the standard method for surgical abortion, after the first trimester. A complete

ban on abortion would be very unsafe, but if States were to instead of ban abortion completely

just ban abortions after the first trimester, or something like that, that could be a great step

towards compromise. It is very important that instead of constantly fighting against each other

the two groups, pro-life and pro-choice, should work with each other and find a compromise in a

levelheaded way.

Some states, such as Alabama, are taking their ban on abortions to the extreme.

According to BBC News, a judge had to recently put a temporary block on a complete abortion

ban in Alabama. This ban would block any procedure at any state of pregnancy, basically

completely ignoring Roe v. Wade, which would be extremely unsafe for a lot of women going

through maternity. Also, other some states are enacting laws that make abortions illegal even

before the first trimester, even before six weeks of pregnancy. The states that have this kind of

law in place include Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, and obviously Alabama.

A specific case from Alabama caught the eye of News 5. A woman, Dina Zirlott, was a rape

victim when she was only 17. She found out that she was pregnant a few weeks after the

horrendous act, but it was already too late. According to Alabama law at the time she was

already passed the deadline to get an abortion and had no choice but to stick with the pregnancy.
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Being a 17-year-old, she was most likely still in high school. The stress of going to high school

with a pregnant belly plus the emotional trauma from being raped was a lot for her. On top of all

that the baby she was forced to give birth to have a condition called Hydranencephaly. This

meant that the baby would live an extremely short and extremely painful life. The baby ended up

dying at only one year old a normal life expectancy age for a child with Hydranencephaly. Cases

like is could emotionally scare a person for their entire life. It is extremely unfair to put someone

through something like this, especially after they were raped at the age of just 17. So where

should the line be drawn? There is no telling what each state will settle on but laws such as the

ones placed in Alabama are extremely unethical and should be declared unconstitutional for sure.

Even Trump spoke out and declared that the abortion laws in some states, Alabama included, are

too extreme and should be adjusted.

It can be seen that a lot of states in America, like Alabama, have made some very radical

laws that prohibit most, if not any, use of abortion. But it does seem that in situations where

abortions is legal and there are no restrictions on it at all people are beginning to misuse it.

Abortion is an operation done in order to terminate a pregnancy. It is important that we have

them in order to protect woman who may be seriously injured during maternity or other special

cases. Whether it is justifiable to terminate a pregnancy because the woman just does not want to

deal with a child or has no way to support it is up to someone’s own personal morals. But when

someone is having about one abortion a year it is clear that it has become more than just

something that woman use in order to protect a themselves against maternal death. That is

exactly what Irene Vilar stated she did in her book titled “Impossible Motherhood”. ABC News

reported on this case in their article titled “Abortion Addict Confesses 15 Procedures in 16

Years”. The author of this article, Susan D James, reported on this case and tells Vilar’s story.
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This type of behavior is what leads people to think that if abortion is legal then people will just

use it as a new type of birth control instead of a last resort. There are many ways to prevent

pregnancy before it happens, and people need to be educated much more thoroughly on how that

is done. It is understandable if there was an accident once, or even twice, and a woman gets

pregnant without wanting to be. But, after a certain point it is clear that there needs to be some

kind of limitation on abortions in order to prevent misuse.

When debating political topics there are many ways that information can be misconstrued

and misinterpreted. This can cause a lot of problems in politics and can affect whether the

government actually decides to make changes or not. Lots of people believe that abortions can

occur whenever the mother wants to during pregnancy. That is simply not the truth though. As it

stands today, abortions are only legal in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. There are only very few

extremely rare cases where women are allowed to get abortions past that 24-week mark and

those cases, for the most part, have already been stated previously.

Abortion is an extremely important topic because it deals with both morals and

constitutional rights. Morally it cannot just be simply answered that abortion is right or wrong.

When you think about maternal death and rape victims alone it should be clear to anyone that a

complete ban on abortion is wrong and immoral. Considering there are so many advocates on

both sides of the argument it is clear that one side will not win completely and get everything

they want. So, after that is determined, the middle ground should be decided. Most of this comes

down to when life begins. One side believes that life begins at conception while the other side

believes it happens much later in pregnancy. A good middle ground for this situation would most

likely be somewhere around the first trimester of pregnancy. This allows the woman to have

enough time to realize that they are in fact pregnant. The line has to be drawn somewhere in
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order to please both sides so if a woman were to realize that she were pregnant after the deadline

then that would be a very tricky situation. There are still a few instances where abortion past the

deadline of about 13-14 weeks should be allowed. One of these instances includes if the woman

giving birth is going to be killed or seriously injured. Another main instance and example could

be if the woman wanting the abortion is a rape victim. It is simple immoral for someone to be

asked to give birth when they know they will die or if the baby they will give birth to is a

constant reminder of their traumatic experience as a rape victim. These are not the only special

cases where abortion should be allowed no matter what, but they are some of the main ones.

Obviously, it is hard to predict every single case of when a woman might want an abortion so

maybe if there is a situation that is not addressed in a law then there should be a special hearing

of some sort in order to declare whether it should be allowed or not. It does not sound very

pleasant, but in order to make compromise and positive change there has to be some lines drawn

or restrictions put in place. Legal abortion with some limitations such as these are a good middle

ground to start at for debate. But, special instances of rape victims and maternal death cases

should never be made illegal in any state in The United States of America. Overall, abortion will

continue to remain a very touchy yet important topic in politics for years to come. Hopefully

sometime in the future there can be a compromise that most citizens will be satisfied with.
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Works Cited

Dupere, Katie. “6 Problems with the Foster Care System -- and What You Can Do to Help.” 23

Aug. 2018, mashable.com/article/foster-care-problems/.

Heymann, Thomas. Pregnancy & Childbirth. 2017, www.sepsis.org/sepsisand/pregnancy-

childbirth/.

James, Susan. “Abortion Addict Confesses 15 Procedures in 16 Years.” ABC News, ABC News

Network, 2009, abcnews.go.com/Health/ReproductiveHealth/abortion-addict-admits-

multiple-abortions-suicide-attempts/story?id=8594347.

Löwy, Ilana, and Marilena Cordeiro Dias Villela Corrêa. “The ‘Abortion Pill’ Misoprostol in

Brazil: Women’s Empowerment in a Conservative and Repressive Political

Environment.” American Journal of Public Health, vol. 110, no. 5, May 2020, pp. 677–

684. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2105/AJPH.2019.305562.

Moon, David S., et al. “Lost in the Process? The Impact of Devolution on Abortion Law in the

United Kingdom.” British Journal of Politics & International Relations, vol. 21, no. 4,

Nov. 2019, pp. 728–745. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1177/1369148119857591.

Nash, Elizabeth, et al. “State Policy Trends 2019: A Wave of Abortion Bans, But Some States

Are Fighting Back.” Guttmacher Institute, 19 Dec. 2019,

www.guttmacher.org/article/2019/12/state-policy-trends-2019-wave-abortion-bans-some-

states-are-fighting-back.
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Nolan, Kevin G. Abortion Legislative and Legal Issues. Nova Science Publishers,

2010. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=cat01128a&AN=scc.b1750843&site=eds-live.

Qadir, Hemin Ibrahim. “Limitations on Government: A Comparative Constitutional Analysis of

American and Iraqi Efforts to Preserve Liberty and to Protect Against

Arbitrariness.” ValpoScholar, Dec. 2012, scholar.valpo.edu/law_stu_pubs/1/.

Qadir, Hemin Ibrahim. “What's Going on in the Fight over US Abortion Rights?” BBC, 2019,

www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47940659.

Stewart, Stacey. Maternal Death and Pregnancy-Related Death. 2019,

www.marchofdimes.org/complications/pregnancy-related-death-maternal-death-and-

maternal-mortality.aspx.

Winter, Dana. “Local Rape Victim Speaks out against Alabama Abortion Bill.” WKRG News 5,

WKRG News 5, 21 May 2019, www.wkrg.com/mobile-county/local-rape-victim-speaks-

out-against-alabama-abortion-bill/.