Chris Raines Eng. 111 November 24, 2009 Research: What the Public Doesn‟t Know About Abortion The issue of abortion has entered the lives of families all over the world; questions range from “is aborting a fetus murder?” to “should it be up to the mother to choose?”.
In today‟s
society, the issue seems to have been split into two distinct sides; one side takes the initiative to protect the life of the fetus and the other side fights to protect the dignity of women (pro life and pro choice, respectively). Recently, „pro lifers‟ have begun to attack abortion by using cases of „psychological distress‟ which, in some situations, develops after having an abortion. Through examining the background of psychological distress from abortion, and types of distress it can be seen that „pro lifers‟ have successfully refuted the pro choice claim „abortion protects women‟s health.‟(Chilsonholm)
Comment [C1]: “Did you know celery is a vegetable?” This is a pretty basic and well known fact and overview of the abortion topic. This could have been left out and a different approach could have been taken. There is too quick of a transition from these basic claims, to the upcoming thesis statement. Either spending more time to transition, or beginning with psychological distress would be a better plain of action.
Comment [C2]: This could be worded better.
Initially, it is imperative to understand the difference between the two types of abortions, miscarriage and induced abortion. They both are described as “the expulsion of a fetus from the uterus before it has reached the stage of viability” and they both are known to result in psychosomatic symptoms. A miscarriage is the unprompted death of the fetus in the mother‟s womb, which is due to illness, trauma, or the „biological incompatibility between the mother and fetus‟ (in layman‟s terms this means the baby was unable to sustain itself in the mother‟s womb). The modern method for an induced abortion is through taking a pill (up to 8 weeks after Overall I have to say this essay was strong apart from my change in audience, I mean my creativity and ideas definitely out way my ignorance this sense. Come on, you‟ve got to give me credit for trying to refute the claim that Pro Choice is the healthier option in terms of abortion…. Also I see that overall my writing is improving and ideas are flowing better now than they were in the beginning of the year. I am confident if I would have come to someone for revision on this paper, it would have been a sure fire A. My grades do not reflect it because the essays were getting harder and harder to write, but apart from my second essay I wrote two very solid essays, even though my ethnography was my favorite essay I have written out of the three, I believe you can see a positive change in my writing.
Comment [C3]: It is important to distinguish when only one type of abortion is being explored in the paper, but you cant say “ this paper will only talk about this idea so you can leave the other idea with your pager, fax machine, and dial up internet.
conception) mifepristone (also known as RU 486), which is an artificial steroid, or vacuumbased surgery (up to 12 weeks after conception).
The pill blocks the female hormone
progesterone (which supports fertilized egg development), and then prompts the menstrual cycle to clear the egg out of the uterus. With surgery, a specialized vacuum is inserted into the uterus of the female and the baby is removed within the womb. (Britannica) Induced abortion, as a whole, is more interesting than miscarriages in terms of psychosomatic symptoms. “Thousands of American women died and thousands more were maimed before abortion
Comment [C4]: The only way this could be more inconsiderately callous is if I asked an African American their thoughts on the slave trade because I wanted a firsthand opinion on the matter… I feel like a Douche
was legal. For this reason and others, women and men fought for and achieved women's legal right to make their own decisions about abortion.”(Planned Parenthood) This argument from pro choice advocates claims that the ability to choose abortion has improved women‟s health; however, due to the numbers of post abortion psychological problems, their claim is proven false as it has had the opposite effect. After studying a group of post abortion patients it was concluded that 44% of the patients were suffering from nervous disorders, and over one-third were suffering from sleeping disorders; there is a margin of error due to repression after abortion. Repression of emotion is a method of adjustment used by mothers after abortion; however, it is often overlooked or regarded, by physicians, as an unrelated symptom of the act. Also posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been a known consequence of abortion. Roughly two out of five women that have had an abortion suffer from high levels of stress, and even more shockingly, at least one out of five women whom have had an abortion have been diagnosed with
Overall I have to say this essay was strong apart from my change in audience, I mean my creativity and ideas definitely out way my ignorance this sense. Come on, you‟ve got to give me credit for trying to refute the claim that Pro Choice is the healthier option in terms of abortion…. Also I see that overall my writing is improving and ideas are flowing better now than they were in the beginning of the year. I am confident if I would have come to someone for revision on this paper, it would have been a sure fire A. My grades do not reflect it because the essays were getting harder and harder to write, but apart from my second essay I wrote two very solid essays, even though my ethnography was my favorite essay I have written out of the three, I believe you can see a positive change in my writing.
Comment [C5]: Same problem as the other essay, starting my paragraph with a quote takes away from the clarity of the essay and also takes away from the organization.
PTSD. (Reardon) These figures raise the question „is abortion worth the psychological distress that accompanies it?‟ “For tens of thousands of women with heart disease, kidney disease, severe hypertension, sickle-cell anemia and severe diabetes and other illnesses that can be life-threatening, the availability of legal abortion has helped avert serious medical complications that could have resulted from childbirth.” (Planned Parenthood) This statement by Planned Parenthood states that abortion is an aid to women with health problems; however, studies show that only 3% of abortions are performed to preserve the mother‟s health. (Reardon) The remaining 96% of women that perform abortions for social reasons are subjecting themselves to potential psychological illness (a residual 1% is unrelated to the topic of this paper). Is exposing the vast majority of women to psychological strain really the best alternative in order to protect a minuet sample of the population? Now it is not to be said that any woman‟s life should ever be sacrificed for the well-being of others; however, each time an abortion is performed, not only is a child‟s life taken for the supposed well-being of a woman, they now have the potential for psychological anguish as well. If the psychological symptoms given above are not enough to disprove your pro choice view that abortions maintain women‟s health, then perhaps the overwhelming continued growth in suicides due to abortions will cause you to reevaluate your claim. In 2005, a trend across America came about where women whom had an abortion were severely depressed. Their depression led to the attempted, and many times successful, suicide on the date or anniversary Overall I have to say this essay was strong apart from my change in audience, I mean my creativity and ideas definitely out way my ignorance this sense. Come on, you‟ve got to give me credit for trying to refute the claim that Pro Choice is the healthier option in terms of abortion…. Also I see that overall my writing is improving and ideas are flowing better now than they were in the beginning of the year. I am confident if I would have come to someone for revision on this paper, it would have been a sure fire A. My grades do not reflect it because the essays were getting harder and harder to write, but apart from my second essay I wrote two very solid essays, even though my ethnography was my favorite essay I have written out of the three, I believe you can see a positive change in my writing.
Comment [C6]: Poor grammer
that their child would have been born. (Lebow) Obviously suicides are a tragic case, which makes finding examples of suicides after abortions even harder to find; however, there is a brief description of a failed suicide attempt. “A 17-year-old attempted to kill herself by crashing her car beyond repair while driving under the influence of alcohol and 29 Bufferin tablets. She walked away from the accident and was found sitting in a cemetery. During her abortion, she had calculated her baby's birth date, the exact date the accident occurred.” (Tischler) Not only is this an example of an attempted suicide, but it also shows the correlation between suicide and psychosomatic sickness due to past abortions. Through evaluating the psychological aspect of post abortion life, it becomes evident that abortions are not the social gift to pregnant women that they sometimes seem to be. “Those who
Comment [C7]: This paragraph starts to point the figure I can‟t tell if I failed at adding additional pathos to an already pathos full topic (like putting hot sauce on “atomic‟ buffalo wings, redundant huh?), or if I wasn‟t paying attention in my audience., and just lost focus. Comment [C8]: Pathos
have aborted are telling us they pay a psychological price. Their views of themselves, their relationships, their emotional stability and their ability to effectively cope with life are damaged, sometimes beyond repair. The emotional reactions are both immediate and long term. Psychologically, women are in states of crisis…” (Lebow) Therefore, ask yourself, evaluating everything you had known and now know about abortions, whether or not it accomplishes its main purpose…the preservation of women‟s well-being, taking into account both physical and mental health.
Overall I have to say this essay was strong apart from my change in audience, I mean my creativity and ideas definitely out way my ignorance this sense. Come on, you‟ve got to give me credit for trying to refute the claim that Pro Choice is the healthier option in terms of abortion…. Also I see that overall my writing is improving and ideas are flowing better now than they were in the beginning of the year. I am confident if I would have come to someone for revision on this paper, it would have been a sure fire A. My grades do not reflect it because the essays were getting harder and harder to write, but apart from my second essay I wrote two very solid essays, even though my ethnography was my favorite essay I have written out of the three, I believe you can see a positive change in my writing.
Comment [C9]: Another example of change in audience.
Works Cited Chilsonholm, Ken. Livestrong.com. Lance Armstrong Foundation. Web. July 16, 2009. November 22, 2009. Lebow, Barbera. Americanlifeleague.org. American Life League Inc. October 5, 2005. Web. November 22, 2009. n.p.. Encyclopedia Britannica. n.p.. n.d.. Encyclopedia. Web. November 22, 2009 n.p.. Planned Parenthood.org. Planned Parenthood Foundation of America Inc.. n.d.. Web. November 22, 2009. Reardon, David C.. Afterabortion.org. Elliot Institute. n.d.. Web. November 22, 2009. Tishler, C.L.. Abortion and Suicide. n.p.p.. Pediatrics. Nov. 1981. Independent.
Overall I have to say this essay was strong apart from my change in audience, I mean my creativity and ideas definitely out way my ignorance this sense. Come on, you‟ve got to give me credit for trying to refute the claim that Pro Choice is the healthier option in terms of abortion…. Also I see that overall my writing is improving and ideas are flowing better now than they were in the beginning of the year. I am confident if I would have come to someone for revision on this paper, it would have been a sure fire A. My grades do not reflect it because the essays were getting harder and harder to write, but apart from my second essay I wrote two very solid essays, even though my ethnography was my favorite essay I have written out of the three, I believe you can see a positive change in my writing.