Mandy Bringhurst

POLS 1100

Final Paper: Abortion

The topic of abortion has been one that’s controversial for close to one hundred years in

the United States. Abortion means to end a pregnancy before it comes to term. There are two

main sides to this argument, abortion should be banned (Pro-life) or it should be allowed (Pro-

Choice). Many people fall somewhere in the middle meaning they only think it should be

allowed up to a certain time in the pregnancy. In Texas they are trying to pass a law that will

outlaw abortion but the opponents of the law have delayed it a couple times. There are two

different articles that argue opposite sides of this issue that will be discussed in this paper.

Marco Rubio who is a US Senator gives a talk about why abortion is bad for America. He

starts out by saying how looked down upon people who are pro-life are in the United States.

Next, he talks about how life is a right for anyone and everyone that was given to us by our

creator or “God” as he later refers to him as. The main part of his argument is bringing up the

reasons that people who are pro-choice use to back up their argument and states why they are

wrong. The three main arguments he brings up are the fact that the child is unwanted, woman

have the right to do what they want with their bodies, and whether the child is viable or not

outside of the womb.

Wendy Davis who is a representative of the state of Texas presents her case as to why

abortion should be legal. She starts out by talking about what different bills were proposed in

the past that were similar to the current one and how they failed. There were six other bills that

were before SB 23 that tried to limit abortion in the state of Texas but never made it to the final
step. Then she goes on to talk about why the different aspects of this bill aren’t about the

medical safety of woman but are more about political agenda. The four main aspects that she

talks about are the 20-week abortion ban, the abortion drugs provision, the ambulatory surgical

center standards, and the hospital admitting privileges.

For arguments sake Marco Rubio made the most effective argument because he talked

about the opposing side and then stated why their arguments were wrong. Even though he did

bring religion into the argument a couple of times he did bring up some good points. The fact

that he brought religion and God into his argument does weaken his speech because it plays on

the assumption that everyone reading or listening to him are religious. There were some other

parts of his speech where he sounded like he was attacking the people who are pro-choice. He

does do a good job of getting his point across and telling people his belief that abortion should

be banned.

Wendy Davis did a good job of pointing out what was wrong with different aspects of

the bill and why it wasn’t necessary or good for society. She doesn’t bring much up about being

pro-choice, just why this certain bill wasn’t right. The reasonings for why the different aspects of

the bill weren’t good were well said and well backed up. Using reasoning and facts was a much

better approach than using religion and emotions. Both people made good arguments but

Rubio talked more on the actual topic of abortion than Davis did.

My personal opinion on this issue is that abortion should not be banned. Regardless of

whether people think abortion is right or not they shouldn’t have the power to take that

decision away from other women. I think abortion after halfway through the second trimester

shouldn’t be allowed unless there are serious medical reasons for why the women can’t carry
the baby to term. I would be classified as someone who is pro-choice because I don’t think

anyone should have the right to decide what is right for another woman in their life. People

should have the decision to end an unwanted pregnancy early on if they decide it’s not what

they want in their life at that time.

In Utah one of the biggest parts of the conversation about abortion is Planned

Parenthood and whether or not we should defund them. Only about 2 or 3% of the people that

go into one of their clinics are wanting to get an abortion. They provide birth control, STD

testing, fertility help, pregnancy screenings, and many other reproductive health options.

Abortions should also be done in places that are safe and are done by people who are trained in

them. If a government were to take away the right to have an abortion in a clinic by a doctor

than women would find other more dangerous ways to end their pregnancies.