Dear Future President,

Abortion is a highly controversial topic in our country. People see it as an entirely black and white discussion: either you're pro-choice or pro-life. That should not be the case. It is an extremely hard decision for any woman to have to make, so it has been equally hard to come to a consensus on which laws should be passed on this topic. Both sides have set their primary focus on benefitting either the baby or the mother. As the president, it is important you know all of the facts and can perceive all angles of the argument.

People who are strictly pro-life view abortion as murder. They believe that because it is a living human, a part of our future generation, it would be wrong to eliminate their chance at life. After just 21 days, the baby's heart begins beating. Almost 54% of abortions happen between 7-12 weeks when the baby has already began developing its nose, mouth, ears, brain, and limbs (“Fetal Development” 5). Just because they have not been born yet, does not mean they are not humans. It is immoral to just kill them for convenience. They have done nothing to deserve such treatment. When approached with that mindset, abortion seems utterly horrible. Who would kill an innocent fetus?

Perhaps by considering other perspectives we can answer this question. Pro-choice people have the exact opposite mindset. They focus more on benefiting the mother than the fetus. The fetus has not experienced the world. The mother already has a life she has spent all of her time putting together. She faces and overcomes so many obstacles every day. Maybe her pregnancy is a new one. Imagine being 16, already struggling to raise yourself, you haven't even figured out what you want to do with the rest of your life yet, and now you have to make decisions about someone else's life based on a mistake you made. On top of that, your parents would disown you if they found out. Often times the father refuses to accept responsibility, and knowing him, you likely will not hear from him again. You're facing it alone. Consider how that obstacle becomes unbearable for victims of rape. It wasn't even a mistake they made. They were the victim of a horrid act and now they have to pay the price, take the blame, and be burdened with the choice between killing a baby or raising a child that would haunt them forever.

When you really think about some of the arguments for both sides, it's hard to stay black and white. Most people find themselves in a gray area. Yes, it is wrong to kill an innocent baby, but it is also terrible to force someone through something that would change their life so drastically. This gray area is the mindset we need to have in order to find a way to compromise. One solution could be to set up a system where abortions could be recorded and tracked--accompanied by the reasoning behind them. Everyone could be allowed one choice abortion and two emergency abortions. By providing the choice one, the mother is given her right to make the difficult decision if she truly feel it is right for her, but it eliminates avoiding responsibility for her actions. Someone could not just irresponsibly continue to use abortion as contraception, because they would be limited to only one safe, professionally performed one. This makes the choice harder by forcing them to consider their future, but is beneficial for teenagers who have made a mistake that they do not want to alter their life. The emergency abortions would be available for cases of rape or if keeping the baby would result in health problems for the mother. If we limit abortions, both the pro-life and pro-choice sides are satisfied. Unreasonable murder of a fetus will be prevented, but the choice will not be eliminated.

Thank you for your time,

Kathryn

Works Cited

2015, Last Updated: August. "Fetal Development Week by Week." BabyCenter. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2016.