Dear President,

Congratulations! You have won the presidential race and now comes the difficult part: using your knowledge and views to help make decisions that will affect the whole country. The issue I would like to present to you today is abortion. Abortion has been an ongoing debate for many years now, and now that there is a new president “in-charge”, I would like to address the matter and show you some of my findings on the subject. I believe abortion should be legal. With that said, it should have some limitations such as: it is to be done in the first trimester of pregnancy, it is to be mainly for medical (birth would dangerous for mother or baby’s health) or legal (rape, incest, etc.) reasons, and the woman requesting the abortion must be put on a waitlist and go to counseling/therapy, and if a women doesn’t “qualify”, they must carry to term and keep or put the baby up for adoption.

An abortion should have to take place in the first trimester. According to women’s issues expert, Linda Lowen, “a fetus cannot exist independent of the mother [in the first trimester]. As it is attached by the placenta and umbilical cord, its health is dependent on her health, and cannot be regarded as a separate entity as it cannot exist outside her womb” (Women’s Issues). This means that because the child could not survive without the mother at this point, so it should be up to the mother to decide if she wants to carry to term. Some people can argue that “life begins at conception”, but to be more technically correct, life cannot survive until later in the pregnancy.

Secondly, abortion should mainly be available for medical or legal reasons because it is unfair to the mother to carry a fetus that was conceived when she was raped or a baby that if she gave birth (or carried) it could result in death of her or the child. Journalist, Dana Hinders, states “there are some women who have medical conditions that make it difficult or dangerous to give birth (...) Examples of some of the conditions that can complicate a pregnancy include: cancer, heart disease, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, HIV, AIDS, certain other sexuall transmitted diseases” (Love to Know). The same factors go into deciding to terminate the pregnancy if the baby has some kind of medical condition including: Down Syndrome, Trisomy 18, Spina Bifida, Muscular Dystrophy, Cystic Fibrosis, Sickle Cell Disease, Tay-Sachs, and Anencephaly. Mothers who know their child will be born with a serious medical complication shouldn’t have to carry on with the pregnancy, and the same goes for if the mother knows that if she gives birth she could die.

Lastly, the reason why women should have to be on a waitlist and get counseling is because this is not a decision to be made lightly, you should have to wait, be given the proper learning materials and see a counselor to be sure you know you’re making the right decision. Linda Lowen wrote in her article on pros and cons of abortion, “Like any other difficult situation, abortion creates stress. Yet the American Psychological Association found that stress was greatest prior to an abortion, and that there was no evidence of post-abortion syndrome” (Women’s Issues). Obviously there are exceptions in this reason, such as if the abortion needs to be done immediately due to a medical issue. Overall, a wait time needs to be put in place so that abortion is not used as a type of birth control.

In conclusion, we need to keep abortions legal, while having some limitations of when you are allowed to have an abortion. This issue is a matter of civil rights and women should have the right to choose what happens to them and their body. The reason there should be some circumstances where abortion is not allowed is because people shouldn’t use it as a way out of a regular unwanted birth because once the child is born the mother can decide to put him or her up for adoption.

Arguments for Both Sides: http://womensissues.about.com/od/reproductiverights/a/AbortionArgumen.htm

Medical Reasons: http://pregnancy.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Medical_Reasons_for_Abortion