Clarissa Quigley

Dr. Haslam

English 1010 (period 6)

23 October 2021

Rhetorical Analysis on “ How abortion laws in the U.S. compare to those in other countries”

While the article “How abortion laws in the U.S. compare to those in other countries”

provides reliable statistics, towards the end of the article, it felt very biased towards pro-abortion.

Which should not be what a statistical article should be about. I will show you how instead of

seeing abortion being right or wrong it can overall be prevented, using this article. First we will

talk about what abortion is so we can understand what the article is referring to. Following that

will be the discussion of sexual education and effective contraceptives and how that can turn the

tables and prevent abortion. Next we will explore the beliefs of different countries and what their

laws are according to this article. Then we will discuss Texas (who has the most strict abortion

laws) compared to countries like Australia, China, Canada, South Korea, and Vietnam (who have

the most lenient abortion laws). Finally, we will discuss the use of Rhetorical Appeals used by

the authors. This article was published September 27, 2021 and was written by Daniela

Santamarina, Youjin Shin, Sammy Westfall, and Ruby Mellen. They all work for the Washington

Post, Daniela specializes in politics newsletters at the Washington Post, Youjin Shin is a graphics

reporter, Sammy Westfall is reporting on The Washington Post’s Foreign desk, and Ruby Mellen

reports on foreign affairs. The intended audience is people who are interested in the statistics

behind abortion laws, to what length, and how different countries are addressing it.

First, this article does not define what abortion is, which is important if you want to

attract an audience that does not know anything about abortion. While reading this article, I
found many words or phrases that I did not know the meaning of and had to look up to

understand. The author could start by explaining what abortion is. To provide a brief explanation

of what abortion is; it is the forced termination, during any point, of a human pregnancy. Another

word that I did not understand was Viability. Viability, biologically, means able to survive or live

successfully. In the context of this article, in many countries, abortion is legal until the baby has a

high viability rate, which, according to the article, “...typically ranges from 24 to 26 weeks.”

Now that we have defined important terms in this article, we can now assess the article and its

effectiveness of data.

This article argues that as the restrictions are lifted on abortion, the abortion rates are

actually going down. “...because those same countries often also have more widespread access to

contraceptive services and sexual education.” While on the other side of this, if you provide

more sexual education and more effective contraceptives without lifting the abortion laws, this

number could also go down. Instead of focusing on making abortions more legal, we should be

focusing on educating people on sexual education or finding ways to make contraceptives more

effective. Also in the article they say, “...many Latin American countries, contraception can be

easier to access than in the United States. Brazil, Colombia and Nicaragua, where abortion is

either banned or only allowed under some circumstances, have some of the highest contraception

prevalence rates in the world.” While this doesn’t necessarily say that abortion rates can go down

if you make contraceptives more effective, it proves that the system of banning abortion and

providing effective contraceptives provides peace in countries as well.

While abortion is decriminalized in countries like Italy, for example, it can still be very

hard to comeby. “...in Italy, where abortion is legal, access can still be limited because over 70

percent of gynecologists are registered as conscientious objectors,” the article reads.

Conscientious objectors means that in any situation, a gynecologist is able to refuse to perform

abortions because of moral or religious beliefs. I agree with this statement, doctors should have

the choice to say no to operating in any case, especially when the life of a baby is involved. In

Germany, abortion is legal, but they are required to “...receive counseling and wait three days to

get an abortion.” I think this is a great idea because the soon-to-be mother could change her

mind, or feel that she is doing it for the right reasons and will not regret it later in life.

In one of the tables, it shows how long into the pregnancy they allow abortions. They

only include countries that have a population above four million people; Texas is included in this

list, with a population of nearly 30 million, and is the most strict when compared to the other

countries on this list. While on the other side, Canada, China, South Korea, Vietnam, and

Australia are the most flexible when it comes to abortion laws. Texas allows abortion within the

first trimester, if it is in response to a medical emergency, though it isn’t specified what medical

emergencies are included. If in the case of rape, the life of the mother, the life of the child, or any

other health conditions, I believe abortion is acceptable but should still be the very last solution

thought of. Texas also has a law that encourages people to “...report and sue those who are

breaking it, with the possibility of a $10,000 reward,” the article states. The countries that are the

most flexible allow abortions during any point of the pregnancy, up until the due date.

Lastly, the use of rhetorical appeals in this article. The author uses Logos by providing

many statistics that help back up their writing. For example, a table is provided that shows

different countries and how long they will perform abortions legally. The table is divided into

trimesters and has a dot to how far the countries allow abortions to be performed. As for pathos,

in this article, they provide a picture of an anti-abortion protest, and later on they show a picture

of a pro-abortion protest. Whichever side you are on, these pictures can either get you to feel
anger towards the people in the picture, or feel proud of the people in the picture. Then finally,

the use of Ethos. We can see ethos in this article when they say, “the combination of widespread

availability of effective contraceptives, like birth control pills, and a culture that openly talks

about sex and provides sexual education. ‘If you really want to ban abortion, the one thing that

you can do is provide contraceptives freely and openly, and be open about it,’” When saying this,

they are trying to appeal to people’s ethical side and uses this claim as a call-to-action.

In conclusion, abortion is the termination during any part of a human pregnancy.

Abortion laws differ depending on the country or state.With Texas being the most strict state, we

discussed their laws surrounding abortion, and also showed the different side with more flexible

countries. The authors of this article believe that if you lift abortion restrictive laws, then the

number of abortions will go down. But the numbers could also go down without changing the

laws at all and just providing more sexual education and better performing contraceptives.

Overall, the article, in question, provided a lot of information that is useful when trying to

understand abortion laws and how they differ between countries.