Dear Future President,

I would like to turn your attention to the topic of abortion. Abortion is a very real issue in the United States. It is something that is both misunderstood and misrepresented to the public. In all the chaos of controversy and debate the facts get lost and the lines become blurred. You, as the President of the United States, will have the opportunity and power to change this unfortunate reality for the better. There are two choices when deciding what stance you will take on abortion, pro-choice or pro-life. Pro-choice is deciding that women should retain all rights to do with their bodies as they please. Or, you can take a pro-life approach. Pro-life declares that women don't have free reign when their decisions negatively impact others, even to the point of death. It is my personal belief that abortion should be banned by the United States Federal government, saving millions of babies.

To begin, I believe that women’s rights should not be the topic of discussion when abortion is involved. You can argue about equality all you want, but there is one fundamental difference between men and women, that you cannot debate. Men don't give birth to the future generation. Because of this difference, much consideration needs to be done on what the standards pertaining to this issue in our country are. The first problem we need to correct is the idea of women's rights versus babies’ rights, for that is not what is at stake here. It is in fact, a woman's lifestyle versus a baby’s life. A survey was taken regarding the reasoning of women who had abortions in the past. This was the result of that survey: twenty one percent of women said that they had inadequate finances, meaning that they felt they didn't have the resources to properly care for the baby. Another twenty one percent claimed that they were not ready for the responsibility. Sixteen percent of the women said their lifestyle would change too much. Twelve percent said it was due to relationship issues or the lack of being in a marriage. Eleven percent of women who chose to abort did so because they claimed they were too young or immature. Eight percent said the rest of their children were already grown or that they simply didn't want any more children. Three percent aborted because the baby had possible health issues, and less than one percent were because of rape or incest. That leaves four percent of women who aborted their babies for other reasons. This is raw data showing the real reasoning of real women who had real abortions. Most people who support abortion either haven't been correctly informed or choose to ignore the facts. For the overwhelming majority of women do not use abortions for “morally correct” reasons. Such a thing does not exist. Of course, many will disagree with me, people who are adamant that the issue here is in fact equality. Therefore, this is my response. If the issue here is equality then it is an easy fix. Women get the right to live and therefore so should their babies. But again many skeptics say that this is way too simple. Life is not black and white, that this is oversimplifying the issue at hand. So, let us dive a little deeper. One of the constitutional rights that we as American citizens enjoy is the pursuit of happiness. That is an automatic right that everyone receives. But, abortion goes against this. Abortion says that unborn babies don't get to even live, let alone pursue happiness. How can something that so directly opposes one of America's fundamental ideals be permitted?

But, there is yet another two faced dilemma regarding abortion. If women are allowed to do whatever they want with their bodies (like aborting children) then why is there an age requirement regarding sex. If a woman is capable enough to make decisions regarding a human life, then why are they not old enough to decide when they want to have sex and take a chance on creating that life in the first place? Our country believes that a person should not have sex until sixteen to eighteen years, depending on which state you are in. If intercourse occurs before this time it is considered rape and therefore a punishable crime. The government of this country and therefore its people have decided that a woman, or any person for that matter, is not capable of making the right decision regarding sex until they reach that age. This law is in place to protect minors from abuse, pressure, or their own impulsive decisions. Why is it okay that a woman as young as thirteen is allowed to make the decision of terminating a human life? Two percent of women having abortions are fifteen and under. These girls are not even supposed to be having sex and yet they are having abortions! Girls from ages fifteen to seventeen make up 3.4 percent of abortions, while girls ages eighteen to nineteen make up 8.2 percent. Who is protecting them from making a decision that will stick with them for the rest of their life? The age at which you can decide to have sex is a big deal, I am not trying to undermine that or say that the age should be lowered. But, if these teenage girls aren't even supposed to have sex (which leads to their pregnancies), how are they capable of deciding whether the results of their actions (little baby humans), live or die?

Another reason I think that abortion should be banned in the United States is because I believe that it is murder. During the year 2011 it was recorded that twenty percent of all pregnancies in the U.S. resulted in an abortion. Twenty percent. That is thousands and thousands of babies, dead. Of that twenty percent, ninety two percent occurred in the first trimester around thirteen weeks. When these babies were aborted, their heart was already beating. Their organs, nervous system, and bones were already beginning to develop. They had a head, face, eyes, ears, arms, fingers, legs, and toes. Their hair was beginning to grow and teeth buds appearing. Another seven percent of all abortions occurred during the gestational age of fourteen to twenty weeks. When these babies were aborted, they had eyebrows, eyelashes, and fingernails. Their organs were developed and beginning to function. The baby was moving and kicking, sleeping and waking. They could swallow, pass urine, and even suck on their thumb. Finally, one percent of all abortions occur during the final trimester at twenty four weeks and up. During this time the babies could stretch and kick very strongly. All of their major developments were finished so their bones hardened and they gained a lot of weight. This is also the time when the babies shifted head down preparing for their delivery into the world. Or so they thought. At what point in time do we start calling abortions murder? When a child is brought into the world they are virtually no different than they were in the womb. The only difference is that now we can hear them cry. We could already feel them, kicking in the mother's womb. We could already see them through a monitor on the computer screen. The baby still can't speak or see, same as in the womb. However, the difference is astounding. If this newborn baby was killed it would be considered murder. However, if the unborn child were to die from someone's hand it would be called abortion and the case set aside

Adding to the aspect of murder and abortion, I would like to bring up one of the federal laws our great country voted on and passed in 2004. This law is called the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. Many people who support abortion claim that the infant in the womb is in fact not a person at all but simply a cluster of cells. However, written federal law disproves this perspective, section 1841 paragraph (C) states, “If the person engaging in the conduct thereby intentionally kills or attempts to kill the unborn child, that person shall instead of being punished under subparagraph (A), be punished as provided under sections 1111, 1112, and 1113 of this title for intentionally killing or attempting to kill a human being. “ Federal law describes the intent to kill or harm an unborn child “attempting to kill a human being.” They classify the so-called cluster of cells as a human being! So, when the pro-choice advocates base their decisions on the perspective that the unborn child is in fact not a child at all, their claim is against the view of public law. But that is not the only issue that this law addresses. The Unborn Victims of Violence Act also speaks to the situation where a pregnant woman is either injured or killed. It is written that, ‘‘Any person subject to this chapter who engages in conduct that violates any of the provisions of law listed in subsection (b) and thereby causes the death of, or bodily injury to, a child, who is in utero at the time the conduct takes place, is guilty of a separate offense under this section and shall, upon conviction, be punished by such punishment, other than death, as a court-martial may direct, which shall be consistent with the punishments prescribed by the President for that conduct had that injury or death occurred to the unborn child’s mother” This paragraph is saying that the crime committed against the unborn child is a completely separate offense to the crime committed to the baby's mother. Thus saying, when a pregnant woman is killed, the person responsible is accountable for two deaths instead of just the mother’s. But, if this law holds true then how is it that unborn babies are still dying? The answer to that is abortion. The Unborn Victims of Violence Act addresses this issue of abortion by very clearly stating that abortion is exempted from this law. Here is what it reads in paragraph (c)‘‘Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit the prosecution— ‘‘(1) of any person for conduct relating to an abortion for which the consent of the pregnant woman, or a person authorized by law to act on her behalf, has been obtained or for which such consent is implied by law”. To summarize, this law cannot be interpreted or manipulated so that a woman who has agreed to an abortion, past or present, can be criminally prosecuted for killing her child and thus breaking this law. This law protects all unborn children, but conveniently leaves out the unborn children who are killed by abortion. According to this law, if any unborn child that is wanted by the mother is killed or harmed, it is a federal offense. But, if an unborn child is killed or harmed by way of abortion, it is considered legal and perfectly within the law. The double standard is undeniable. These children's lives are catastrophically different and the only difference is whether or not they are wanted by their mothers.

This injustice in our country has been overlooked and cast aside for too long. Abortion is an enemy of America butting head to head with the constitution our great nation was built on. It threatens human life and the very basis of our moral compass. It needs to be given a swift kick in the posterior out the door of the United States never to return; so that it may no longer poison our beloved nation. I hope you Mr/s. President will be the one to deliver that kick.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Kelsie

"I've noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born."         - Ronald Reagan