Creation and Terminatino

Creation and Termination

Abortion has always been a hot topic. An easy going discussion on abortion can quickly turn into a heated argument between people with different views. The argument over abortion is getting even hotter with South Dakota voting on some of the strictest abortion laws in the country. Monica Davey from the New York Times wrote an article giving an overview of what is going on in South Dakota as voting time nears, “NATIONAL BATTLE OVER ABORTION FOCUSES ON SOUTH DAKOTA VOTE.” Davey gives the readers an insight on what is going on in South Dakota and brings both sides of the story. In the article Davey presents how both sides feel about what the ban is going to do and how it can effect the rest of the country’s future decisions on abortion. Abortion should not be a right taken away from woman by South Dakota because it is their body, which they should have control over.

The ban being proposed by South Dakota would make it a felony for any doctor in the state to perform an abortion unless the life on the woman carrying the fetus is in a deadly situation, reports Davey (par. 8). Only when the mother’s life is in a fatal situation and treatment to the mother results in an accidental death of the fetus, it would not be considered a crime, explains Davey (par.25). “A month earlier, legislators had voted down amendments that would have allowed abortion in cases of incest, rape or in instance when the pregnant woman’s health would be jeopardized (though not fatally)”, (par. 22) states Davey. I was raised by my grandmother who was a very liberal woman. She taught me that I am my own person and just because I am a woman, it does not mean that other people can tell me what I can and can not do. From my grandmother’s teachings, I believe a woman has a right to be able to take care of herself first.

A good friend of mine experienced what it was like to put herself first. She had an abortion when we were near the end our junior year of high school. She had taken all the proper precautions of birth control so that should would not get pregnant with her long time boyfriend’s baby. Even with the precaution she had taken, she still ended up getting pregnant. I remember it being a very hard decision for her to have the abortion. She would have loved to have kept the child but it was just the wrong timing. My friend was a very bright girl, who was very involved in the community and excelled high in school. She was very goal orientated and was on the path of going to college. In her mind she knew that she would not be able to raise this child and still excel in school, as well as continue to be a leader in our community. Although the decision was very hard for my friend, if she had not had an abortion her life would be dramatically different. She probably would not have accomplished the many of the achievements she was able to, such as getting an outstanding award from the English department, graduate with high honors, and be recognized in our community as a positive leader. Having the abortion allowed her to continue on her successful path. She was able to have the choice of what her body went through which made a huge positive impact in her life.

Davey reports that South Dakota’s ban does not leave the option to have an abortion for women who are victims of rape or incest to have an abortion (par.22). Many pro life supporters have argued that the exception for rape and incest situations are insured to be taken care of by simply taking emergency contraception, more knows as the morning after pill, explains Davey (par. 26). A young woman I knew who was been raped at a very young age and into her teen years, had already faced many dramatic circumstances as a victim. Being pregnant with her attacker’s baby would have probably made her more dramatized than she already was. I can only imagine the feelings that the woman who was carrying a piece of her attacker in her own womb is going through. Little things would remind the young woman I knew of her attacker and just send her into hysteria, so having the child of the attacker would only be the most constant reminder. This could not be good for the child or mother.

There is a commercial advertising the “exception”. A group of doctors stand together and Dr. Mark Rectors says, “This measure does provide exception for the life and health of the mother” (par. 24). This advertising can be misleading to some audiences who are not sure what this exception is being defined as. One is likely to think that if the pregnant woman’s heath is being threatened, they would be able to have an abortion preformed. The advertisement does not give a clear indication of what exactly the “exception” is.

As reported in Davey’s article, the Mason-Dixon Polling & Research published a survey saying