303 Ashe Ave Raleigh,

NC 27606

10/24/2016

Dear Next President,

Did you know that abortions are killing the next generation? I would appreciate it if you would take a look at the letter my partner and I are writing about abortions that are performed legally and illegally. My partner and I did tons of research on abortions and a staff member at a local Planned Parenthood Health Center stated that in some states women under 18 are able to have abortions without a legal guardian. There are many risk factors that come with having an abortion that can result in death. We believe this is a serious matter to discuss because young women are killing innocent children and are not aware that what they’re doing is a crime that has to be punished. Women who get pregnant and don’t want their babies have the choice of putting their babies up for adoption so the child has a family that will love and care about him/her. Please take a moment to read this and think about how you can prevent abortions that aren’t medically necessary.

My partner and I have spent a lot of time trying to come up with a solution that will decrease the number of abortions. The U.S has one of the highest rates of abortions and most of them are from women who don’t want a baby at the time. Over one million abortions happen each year. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, more than 50% of women who have abortions are under 25 and four out of ten women who get pregnant end up having an abortion which is a pretty high rate of abortions. A woman named Linda Lowen wrote an article that stated that fifty-two percent of the women who decide to not carry on with the pregnancy are usually under 25. Nineteen percent of them are teenagers and thirty-three percent of them are women from ages 20-24. She also states that two out of one hundred women from ages 15-44 usually have abortions and out of those, forty-eight percent of them have had one or more previous abortions.

Having an abortion is not a form of birth control. In fact, on June 30, 2016 a man named Bernard N. Nathanson performed an abortion on a twelve week old fetus and as he looked at the ultrasound the fetus opened it’s mouth in a silent scream. This meant that the fetus was feeling excruciating pain when it was being torn apart. The "Unborn Victims Act" states that unborn babies are still human beings and should be protected from anyone who tries to intentionally kill them. The U.S Abortions Statistics calculated the number of abortions that are performed daily, monthly, and each year. The statistics state that in the year 2000 there were 1.36 million abortions, in 2002 there were 1.31 million, in 2005 there were 1.2 million, in 2008 there were 1.21 million abortions, in 2011 there were 1.06 million, in 2012 there were 1.02 million, in 2013 there were 983,000, and in 2014 there were 954,000 abortions. Since 1973 until 2011, nearly 53 million abortions occurred. This not only harms the fetus, but it also affects our society because what will the world be like if the people that make-up the next generation are being killed?

Women are not aware that abortions come with multiple risk factors, here are a few examples. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, when you get an abortion most people will deal with the emotional risks while they are going through the physical risks. After a woman has received an abortion she will go through guilt because a human being has been lost and while you are dealing with guilt you would be experiencing heavy bleeding. If you get an illegal abortion most likely you would not be getting the full abortion, you could possibly still have some parts of the fetus inside of your uterus. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute women could also experience damage to their internal organs including the cervix and scarring of the uterine lining. If you have gotten multiple abortions, you could possibly have breast cancer or cervical, ovarian and liver cancer. My partner and I believe that if you have to go through such huge risks because of an abortion than what is the point of having one?

In conclusion, my partner and I have brainstormed a few ideas to come up with a solution to this topic. I had this one idea where you should create a U.S law that states that you can not have an abortion unless it’s medically necessary. Meaning that you know it’s life threatening if you carry on with the pregnancy. Adding to that, my partner came up with having to have a doctor’s form/note that says that you are eligible to have an abortion because it’s medically necessary and not just because you don’t want a baby at that time. Abortions should not be an option for an unwanted pregnancy.

Sincerely,

Janely and Mattie

Wake Young Women's Leadership Academy