Dear Next President:

I am a student at West Albany High School who has a very strong opinion on abortion. Abortion laws affect many people in our nation. There are many people who feel differently when it comes to the topic of abortion; however, I feel it would best benefit everyone to take a harder look when it comes to the laws we have set into place for abortion. Right now women are allowed to get abortions as far along as 24 weeks; at that point the baby’s body has already started to develop. According to newhealthguide.org, after the 24 week cut off date a woman in the United States will be denied the right to an abortion because in our laws it says it is considered intent to murder. We need to change the laws when it comes to abortion because it has a negative effect on our world.

The biggest argument against abortion is that the fetus is alive and developing sooner than 24 weeks. After a week of having sexual relations with someone a woman can tell if she is pregnant or not and at that point the baby already has a heart beat, so abortion should be illegal even at this point. In the United States we have laws set into place stating that a person cannot go out a kill another human being just because they don’t feel they can handle or even want a child. With that being said why would we make it ok for a woman to walk into a health clinic and abort a child that, just like anyone else, already has a heart beat and is considered to be a human life at that point. “The Best Pro-Life Arguments for Secular Audiences” states that at just a mere six weeks a baby’s eyes, eyelids, nose, mouth, and tongue have formed. Also, at that point electrical brain activity can be detected during ultrasounds, and by the end of the eighth and tenth week the child’s organs and bodily structures have formed as well as their bodily movements. These reasons alone should be enough to stop and look at the bigger picture and see what it is going to take for you to stop and make abortion illegal.

I understand that perhaps women who are raped probably do not want to keep a daily reminder of that tragic event in their lives; however, there are other ways to handle the situations besides abortion and no matter what the circumstance, abortion should be made illegal. One option for women who do not feel they’re ready to be a mom or that do not want to ever become a mom is adoption. Giving a child up for adoption can be very hard for a woman to do, but in the case of being raped or taken advantage of and having an unwanted pregnancy it could be the best possible solution. Think of all of the families that could be made whole with just that one baby being put up for adoption.

For example, there are many women who would love to get pregnant and be  mothers, but their bodies don’t allow them to, or who have gotten pregnant and lost their baby and that is probably one of the hardest things in the world for them. I have personally watched a woman I know who would give anything to just be a mom go through the pain and suffering of not being able to get pregnant, and then when she finally did she lost the child. This experience has affected her tremendously, making their family's day to day life extremely hard. Because of the constant reminders of what they have gone through, for another woman to go and kill a baby that could be loved potentially by another, I feel, is wrong and heartbreaking.

Abortion is a very touchy subject nowadays, and I understand that many people have their own opinions on the matter. However, I feel that not one life should be worth more than another and allowing abortion to be legal in the United States we are pretty much saying that a baby’s life is not important enough to save until after they’re at least 24 weeks old. Babies should be looked at just as any other human life in that if it has a heartbeat it’s a human, and should have the same rights that we do. So I ask you for your help, President, let's stop the killing of innocent babies and let's make the change that we so desperately need in our world.

Sincerely,

Bailie B