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Persuasive Essay Guide

Persuasive Essay About Abortion

Crafting a Convincing Persuasive Essay About Abortion

How To Write a Persuasive Essay About Abortion?

Abortion is a controversial topic, with people having differing points of view and opinions on the matter. There are those who oppose abortion, while some people endorse pro-choice arguments.

It is also an emotionally charged subject, so you need to be extra careful when crafting your persuasive essay .

Before you start writing your persuasive essay, you need to understand the following steps.

Step 1: Choose Your Position

The first step to writing a persuasive essay on abortion is to decide your position. Do you support the practice or are you against it? You need to make sure that you have a clear opinion before you begin writing.

Once you have decided, research and find evidence that supports your position. This will help strengthen your argument.

Check out the video below to get more insights into this topic:

Step 2: Choose Your Audience

The next step is to decide who your audience will be. Will you write for pro-life or pro-choice individuals? Or both?

Knowing who you are writing for will guide your writing and help you include the most relevant facts and information.

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Step 3: Define Your Argument

Now that you have chosen your position and audience, it is time to craft your argument.

Start by defining what you believe and why, making sure to use evidence to support your claims. You also need to consider the opposing arguments and come up with counter arguments. This helps make your essay more balanced and convincing.

Step 4: Format Your Essay

Once you have the argument ready, it is time to craft your persuasive essay. Follow a standard format for the essay, with an introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion.

Make sure that each paragraph is organized and flows smoothly. Use clear and concise language, getting straight to the point.

Step 5: Proofread and Edit

The last step in writing your persuasive essay is to make sure that you proofread and edit it carefully. Look for spelling, grammar, punctuation, or factual errors and correct them. This will help make your essay more professional and convincing.

These are the steps you need to follow when writing a persuasive essay on abortion. It is a good idea to read some examples before you start so you can know how they should be written.

Continue reading to find helpful examples.

Persuasive Essay About Abortion Examples

To help you get started, here are some example persuasive essays on abortion that may be useful for your own paper.

Short Persuasive Essay About Abortion

Persuasive Essay About No To Abortion

What Is Abortion? - Essay Example

Persuasive Speech on Abortion

Legal Abortion Persuasive Essay

Persuasive Essay About Abortion in the Philippines

Persuasive Essay about legalizing abortion

You can also read m ore persuasive essay examples to imp rove your persuasive skills.

Examples of Argumentative Essay About Abortion

An argumentative essay is a type of essay that presents both sides of an argument. These essays rely heavily on logic and evidence.

Here are some examples of argumentative essay with introduction, body and conclusion that you can use as a reference in writing your own argumentative essay.

Abortion Persuasive Essay Introduction

Argumentative Essay About Abortion Conclusion

Argumentative Essay About Abortion Pdf

Argumentative Essay About Abortion in the Philippines

Argumentative Essay About Abortion - Introduction

Abortion Persuasive Essay Topics

If you are looking for some topics to write your persuasive essay on abortion, here are some examples:

Should abortion be legal in the United States?
Is it ethical to perform abortions, considering its pros and cons?
What should be done to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies that lead to abortions?
Is there a connection between abortion and psychological trauma?
What are the ethical implications of abortion on demand?
How has the debate over abortion changed over time?
Should there be legal restrictions on late-term abortions?
Does gender play a role in how people view abortion rights?
Is it possible to reduce poverty and unwanted pregnancies through better sex education?
How is the anti-abortion point of view affected by religious beliefs and values?

These are just some of the potential topics that you can use for your persuasive essay on abortion. Think carefully about the topic you want to write about and make sure it is something that interests you.

Check out m ore persuasive essay topics that will help you explore other things that you can write about!

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Facts About Abortion You Need to Know

Here are some facts about abortion that will help you formulate better arguments.

According to the Guttmacher Institute , 1 in 4 pregnancies end in abortion.
The majority of abortions are performed in the first trimester.
Abortion is one of the safest medical procedures, with less than a 0.5% risk of major complications.
In the United States, 14 states have laws that restrict or ban most forms of abortion after 20 weeks gestation.
Seven out of 198 nations allow elective abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
In places where abortion is illegal, more women die during childbirth and due to complications resulting from pregnancy.
A majority of pregnant women who opt for abortions do so for financial and social reasons.
According to estimates, 56 million abortions occur annually.

In conclusion, these are some of the examples, steps, and topics that you can use to write a persuasive essay. Make sure to do your research thoroughly and back up your arguments with evidence. This will make your essay more professional and convincing.

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MyPerfectWords.com that provides help to students in the form of professionally written essays. Our persuasive essay writer can craft quality persuasive essays on any topic, including abortion.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What should i talk about in an essay about abortion.

When writing an essay about abortion, it is important to cover all the aspects of the subject. This includes discussing both sides of the argument, providing facts and evidence to support your claims, and exploring potential solutions.

What is a good argument for abortion?

A good argument for abortion could be that it is a woman’s choice to choose whether or not to have an abortion. It is also important to consider the potential risks of carrying a pregnancy to term.

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Abortion Argumentative Essay: Definitive Guide

Academic writing

Abortion remains a debatable issue even today, especially in countries like the USA, where a controversial ban was upheld in 13 states at the point this article was written. That’s why an essay on abortion has become one of the most popular tasks in schools, colleges, and universities. When writing this kind of essay, students learn to express their opinion, find and draw arguments and examples, and conduct research.

It’s very easy to speculate on topics like this. However, this makes it harder to find credible and peer-reviewed information on the topic that isn’t merely someone’s opinion. If you were assigned this kind of academic task, do not lose heart. In this article, we will provide you with all the tips and tricks for writing about abortion.

Where to begin?

Conversations about abortion are always emotional. Complex stories, difficult decisions, bitter moments, and terrible diagnoses make this topic hard to cover. Some young people may be shocked by this assignment, while others would be happy to express their opinion on the matter.

One way or another, this topic doesn't leave anyone indifferent. However, it shouldn’t have an effect on the way you approach the research and writing process. What should you remember when working on an argumentative essay about abortion?

Don’t let your emotions take over. As this is an academic paper, you have to stay impartial and operate with facts. The topic is indeed sore and burning, causing thousands of scandals on the Internet, but you are writing it for school, not a Quora thread.
Try to balance your opinions. There are always two sides to one story, even if the story is so fragile. You need to present an issue from different angles. This is what your tutors seek to teach you.
Be tolerant and mind your language. It is very important not to hurt anybody with the choice of words in your essay. So make sure you avoid any possible rough words. It is important to respect people with polar opinions, especially when it comes to academic writing.
Use facts, not claims. Your essay cannot be based solely on your personal ideas – your conclusions should be derived from facts. Roe v. Wade case, WHO or Mayo Clinic information, and CDC are some of the sources you can rely on.

Speaking of Outline

An argumentative essay on abortion outline is a must-have even for experienced writers. In general, each essay, irrespective of its kind or topic, has a strict outline. It may be brief or extended, but the major parts are always the same:

Introduction. This is a relatively short paragraph that starts with a hook and presents the background information on the topic. It should end with a thesis statement telling your reader what your main goal or idea is.
Body. This section usually consists of 2-4 paragraphs. Each one has its own structure: main argument + facts to support it + small conclusion and transition into the next paragraph.
Conclusion. In this part, your task is to summarize all your thoughts and come to a general conclusive idea. You may have to restate some info from the body and your thesis statement and add a couple of conclusive statements without introducing new facts.

Why is it important to create an outline?

You will structure your ideas. We bet you’ve got lots on your mind. Writing them down and seeing how one can flow logically into the other will help you create a consistent paper. Naturally, you will have to abandon some of the ideas if they don’t fit the overall narrative you’re building.
You can get some inspiration. While creating your outline, which usually consists of some brief ideas, you can come up with many more to research. Some will add to your current ones or replace them with better options.
You will find the most suitable sources. Argumentative essay writing requires you to use solid facts and trustworthy arguments built on them. When the topic is as controversial as abortion, these arguments should be taken from up-to-date, reliable sources. With an outline, you will see if you have enough to back up your ideas.
You will write your text as professionals do. Most expert writers start with outlines to write the text faster and make it generally better. As you will have your ideas structured, the general flow of thoughts will be clear. And, of course, it will influence your overall grade positively.

Abortion Essay Introduction

The introduction is perhaps the most important part of the whole essay. In this relatively small part, you will have to present the issue under consideration and state your opinion on it. Here is a typical introduction outline:

The first sentence is a hook grabbing readers' attention.
A few sentences that go after elaborate on the hook. They give your readers some background and explain your research.
The last sentence is a thesis statement showing the key idea you are building your text around.

Before writing an abortion essay intro, first thing first, you will need to define your position. If you are in favor of this procedure, what exactly made you think so? If you are an opponent of abortion, determine how to argue your position. In both cases, you may research the point of view in medicine, history, ethics, and other fields.

When writing an introduction, remember:

Never repeat your title. First of all, it looks too obvious; secondly, it may be boring for your reader right from the start. Your first sentence should be a well-crafted hook. The topic of abortion worries many people, so it’s your chance to catch your audience’s attention with some facts or shocking figures.
Do not make it too long. Your task here is to engage your audience and let them know what they are about to learn. The rest of the information will be disclosed in the main part. Nobody likes long introductions, so keep it short but informative.
Pay due attention to the thesis statement. This is the central sentence of your introduction. A thesis statement in your abortion intro paragraph should show that you have a well-supported position and are ready to argue it. Therefore, it has to be strong and convey your idea as clearly as possible. We advise you to make several options for the thesis statement and choose the strongest one.

Hooks for an Abortion Essay

Writing a hook is a good way to catch the attention of your audience, as this is usually the first sentence in an essay. How to start an essay about abortion? You can begin with some shocking fact, question, statistics, or even a quote. However, always make sure that this piece is taken from a trusted resource.

Here are some examples of hooks you can use in your paper:

As of July 1, 2022, 13 states banned abortion, depriving millions of women of control of their bodies.
According to WHO, 125,000 abortions take place every day worldwide.
Is abortion a woman’s right or a crime?
Since 1994, more than 40 countries have liberalized their abortion laws.
Around 48% of all abortions are unsafe, and 8% of them lead to women’s death.
The right to an abortion is one of the reproductive and basic rights of a woman.
Abortion is as old as the world itself – women have resorted to this method since ancient times.
Only 60% of women in the world live in countries where pregnancy termination is allowed.

Body Paragraphs: Pros and Cons of Abortion

The body is the biggest part of your paper. Here, you have a chance to make your voice concerning the abortion issue heard. Not sure where to start? Facts about abortion pros and cons should give you a basic understanding of which direction to move in.

First things first, let’s review some brief tips for you on how to write the best essay body if you have already made up your mind.

Make a draft

It’s always a good idea to have a rough draft of your writing. Follow the outline and don’t bother with the word choice, grammar, or sentence structure much at first. You can polish it all later, as the initial draft will not likely be your final. You may see some omissions in your arguments, lack of factual basis, or repetitiveness that can be eliminated in the next versions.

Trust only reliable sources

This part of an essay includes loads of factual information, and you should be very careful with it. Otherwise, your paper may look unprofessional and cost you precious points. Never rely on sources like Wikipedia or tabloids – they lack veracity and preciseness.

Edit rigorously

It’s best to do it the next day after you finish writing so that you can spot even the smallest mistakes. Remember, this is the most important part of your paper, so it has to be flawless. You can also use editing tools like Grammarly.

Determine your weak points

Since you are writing an argumentative essay, your ideas should be backed up by strong facts so that you sound convincing. Sometimes it happens that one argument looks weaker than the other. Your task is to find it and strengthen it with more or better facts.

Add an opposing view

Sometimes, it’s not enough to present only one side of the discussion. Showing one of the common views from the opposing side might actually help you strengthen your main idea. Besides, making an attempt at refuting it with alternative facts can show your teacher or professor that you’ve researched and analyzed all viewpoints, not just the one you stand by.

If you have chosen a side but are struggling to find the arguments for or against it, we have complied abortion pro and cons list for you. You can use both sets if you are writing an abortion summary essay covering all the stances.

Why Should Abortion Be Legal

If you stick to the opinion that abortion is just a medical procedure, which should be a basic health care need for each woman, you will definitely want to write the pros of abortion essay. Here is some important information and a list of pros about abortion for you to use:

Since the fetus is a set of cells – not an individual, it’s up to a pregnant woman to make a decision concerning her body. Only she can decide whether she wants to keep the pregnancy or have an abortion. The abortion ban is a violation of a woman’s right to have control over her own body.
The fact that women and girls do not have access to effective contraception and safe abortion services has serious consequences for their own health and the health of their families.
The criminalization of abortion usually leads to an increase in the number of clandestine abortions. Many years ago, fetuses were disposed of with improvised means, which included knitting needles and half-straightened metal hangers. 13% of women’s deaths are the result of unsafe abortions.
Many women live in a difficult financial situation and cannot support their children financially. Having access to safe abortion takes this burden off their shoulders. This will also not decrease their quality of life as the birth and childcare would.
In countries where abortion is prohibited, there is a phenomenon of abortion tourism to other countries where it can be done without obstacles. Giving access to this procedure can make the lives of women much easier.
Women should not put their lives or health in danger because of the laws that were adopted by other people.
Girls and women who do not have proper sex education may not understand pregnancy as a concept or determine that they are pregnant early on. Instead of educating them and giving them a choice, an abortion ban forces them to become mothers and expects them to be fit parents despite not knowing much about reproduction.
There are women who have genetic disorders or severe mental health issues that will affect their children if they're born. Giving them an option to terminate ensures that there won't be a child with a low quality of life and that the woman will not have to suffer through pregnancy, birth, and raising a child with her condition.
Being pro-choice is about the freedom to make decisions about your body so that women who are for termination can do it safely, and those who are against it can choose not to do it. It is an inclusive option that caters to everyone.
Women and girls who were raped or abused by their partner, caregiver, or stranger and chose to terminate the pregnancy can now be imprisoned for longer than their abusers. This implies that the system values the life of a fetus with no or primitive brain function over the life of a living woman.
People who lived in times when artificial termination of pregnancy was scarcely available remember clandestine abortions and how traumatic they were, not only for the physical but also for the mental health of women. Indeed, traditionally, in many countries, large families were a norm. However, the times have changed, and supervised abortion is a safe and accessible procedure these days. A ban on abortion will simply push humanity away from the achievements of the civilized world.

Types of abortion

There are 2 main types of abortions that can be performed at different pregnancy stages and for different reasons:

Medical abortion. It is performed by taking a specially prescribed pill. It does not require any special manipulations and can even be done at home (however, after a doctor’s visit and under supervision). It is considered very safe and is usually done during the very first weeks of pregnancy.
Surgical abortion. This is a medical operation that is done with the help of a suction tube. It then removes the fetus and any related material. Anesthesia is used for this procedure, and therefore, it can only be done in a hospital. The maximum time allowed for surgical abortion is determined in each country specifically.

Cases when abortion is needed

Center for Reproductive Rights singles out the following situations when abortion is required:

When there is a risk to the life or physical/mental health of a pregnant woman.
When a pregnant woman has social or economic reasons for it.
Upon the woman's request.
If a pregnant woman is mentally or cognitively disabled.
In case of rape and/or incest.
If there were congenital anomalies detected in the fetus.

Countries and their abortion laws

Countries where abortion is legalized in any case: Australia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania, etc.
Countries where abortion is completely prohibited: Angola, Venezuela, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Lebanon, Nicaragua, Oman, Paraguay, Palau, Jamaica, Laos, Haiti, Honduras, Andorra, Aruba, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Sierra Leone, Senegal, etc.
Countries where abortion is allowed for medical reasons: Afghanistan, Israel, Argentina, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Ghana, Israel, Morocco, Mexico, Bahamas, Central African Republic, Ecuador, Ghana, Algeria, Monaco, Pakistan, Poland, etc.
Countries where abortion is allowed for both medical and socioeconomic reasons: England, India, Spain, Luxembourg, Japan, Finland, Taiwan, Zambia, Iceland, Fiji, Cyprus, Barbados, Belize, etc.

Why Abortion Should Be Banned

Essays against abortions are popular in educational institutions since we all know that many people – many minds. So if you don’t want to support this procedure in your essay, here are some facts that may help you to argument why abortion is wrong:

Abortion at an early age is especially dangerous because a young woman with an unstable hormonal system may no longer be able to have children throughout her life. Termination of pregnancy disrupts the hormonal development of the body.
Health complications caused by abortion can occur many years after the procedure. Even if a woman feels fine in the short run, the situation may change in the future.
Abortion clearly has a negative effect on reproductive function. Artificial dilation of the cervix during an abortion leads to weak uterus tonus, which can cause a miscarriage during the next pregnancy.
Evidence shows that surgical termination of pregnancy significantly increases the risk of breast cancer.
In December 1996, the session of the Council of Europe on bioethics concluded that a fetus is considered a human being on the 14th day after conception.

You are free to use each of these arguments for essays against abortions. Remember that each claim should not be supported by emotions but by facts, figures, and so on.

Health complications after abortion

One way or another, abortion is extremely stressful for a woman’s body. Apart from that, it can even lead to various health problems in the future. You can also cover them in your cons of an abortion essay:

Continuation of pregnancy. If the dose of the drug is calculated by the doctor in the wrong way, the pregnancy will progress.
Uterine bleeding, which requires immediate surgical intervention.
Severe nausea or even vomiting occurs as a result of a sharp change in the hormonal background.
Severe stomach pain. Medical abortion causes miscarriage and, as a result, strong contractions of the uterus.
High blood pressure and allergic reactions to medicines.
Depression or other mental problems after a difficult procedure.

Abortion Essay Conclusion

After you have finished working on the previous sections of your paper, you will have to end it with a strong conclusion. The last impression is no less important than the first one. Here is how you can make it perfect in your conclusion paragraph on abortion:

It should be concise. The conclusion cannot be as long as your essay body and should not add anything that cannot be derived from the main section. Reiterate the key ideas, combine some of them, and end the paragraph with something for the readers to think about.
It cannot repeat already stated information. Restate your thesis statement in completely other words and summarize your main points. Do not repeat anything word for word – rephrase and shorten the information instead.
It should include a call to action or a cliffhanger. Writing experts believe that a rhetorical question works really great for an argumentative essay. Another good strategy is to leave your readers with some curious ideas to ponder upon.

Abortion Facts for Essay

Abortion is a topic that concerns most modern women. Thousands of books, research papers, and articles on abortion are written across the world. Even though pregnancy termination has become much safer and less stigmatized with time, it still worries millions. What can you cover in your paper so that it can really stand out among others? You may want to add some shocking abortion statistics and facts:

40-50 million abortions are done in the world every year (approximately 125,000 per day).
According to UN statistics, women have 25 million unsafe abortions each year. Most of them (97%) are performed in the countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. 14% of them are especially unsafe because they are done by people without any medical knowledge.
Since 2017, the United States has shown the highest abortion rate in the last 30 years.
The biggest number of abortion procedures happen in the countries where they are officially banned. The lowest rate is demonstrated in the countries with high income and free access to contraception.
Women in low-income regions are three times more susceptible to unplanned pregnancies than those in developed countries.
In Argentina, more than 38,000 women face dreadful health consequences after unsafe abortions.
The highest teen abortion rates in the world are seen in 3 countries: England, Wales, and Sweden.
Only 31% of teenagers decide to terminate their pregnancy. However, the rate of early pregnancies is getting lower each year.
Approximately 13 million children are born to mothers under the age of 20 each year.
5% of women of reproductive age live in countries where abortions are prohibited.

We hope that this abortion information was useful for you, and you can use some of these facts for your own argumentative essay. If you find some additional facts, make sure that they are not manipulative and are taken from official medical resources.

Abortion Essay Topics

Do you feel like you are lost in the abundance of information? Don’t know what topic to choose among the thousands available online? Check our short list of the best abortion argumentative essay topics:

Why should abortion be legalized essay
Abortion: a murder or a basic human right?
Why we should all support abortion rights
Is the abortion ban in the US a good initiative?
The moral aspect of teen abortions
Can the abortion ban solve birth control problems?
Should all countries allow abortion?
What consequences can abortion have in the long run?
Is denying abortion sexist?
Why is abortion a human right?
Are there any ethical implications of abortion?
Do you consider abortion a crime?
Should women face charges for terminating a pregnancy?

Want to come up with your own? Here is how to create good titles for abortion essays:

Write down the first associations. It can be something that swirls around in your head and comes to the surface when you think about the topic. These won’t necessarily be well-written headlines, but each word or phrase can be the first link in the chain of ideas that leads you to the best option.
Irony and puns are not always a good idea. Especially when it comes to such difficult topics as abortion. Therefore, in your efforts to be original, remain sensitive to the issue you want to discuss.
Never make a quote as your headline. First, a wordy quote makes the headline long. Secondly, readers do not understand whose words are given in the headline. Therefore, it may confuse them right from the start. If you have found a great quote, you can use it as your hook, but don’t forget to mention its author.
Try to briefly summarize what is said in the essay. What is the focus of your paper? If the essence of your argumentative essay can be reduced to one sentence, it can be used as a title, paraphrased, or shortened.
Write your title after you have finished your text. Before you just start writing, you might not yet have a catchy phrase in mind to use as a title. Don’t let it keep you from working on your essay – it might come along as you write.

Abortion Essay Example

We know that it is always easier to learn from a good example. For this reason, our writing experts have complied a detailed abortion essay outline for you. For your convenience, we have created two options with different opinions.

Topic: Why should abortion be legal?

Introduction – hook + thesis statement + short background information

Essay hook: More than 59% of women in the world do not have access to safe abortions, which leads to dreading health consequences or even death.

Thesis statement: Since banning abortions does not decrease their rates but only makes them unsafe, it is not logical to ban abortions.

Body – each paragraph should be devoted to one argument

Argument 1: Woman’s body – women’s rules. + example: basic human rights.

Argument 2: Banning abortion will only lead to more women’s death. + example: cases of Polish women.

Argument 3: Only women should decide on abortion. + example: many abortion laws are made by male politicians who lack knowledge and first-hand experience in pregnancies.

Conclusion – restated thesis statement + generalized conclusive statements + cliffhanger

Restated thesis: The abortion ban makes pregnancy terminations unsafe without decreasing the number of abortions, making it dangerous for women.

Cliffhanger: After all, who are we to decide a woman’s fate?

Topic: Why should abortion be banned?

Essay hook: Each year, over 40 million new babies are never born because their mothers decide to have an abortion.

Thesis statement: Abortions on request should be banned because we cannot decide for the baby whether it should live or die.

Argument 1: A fetus is considered a person almost as soon as it is conceived. Killing it should be regarded as murder. + example: Abortion bans in countries such as Poland, Egypt, etc.

Argument 2: Interrupting a baby’s life is morally wrong. + example: The Bible, the session of the Council of Europe on bioethics decision in 1996, etc.

Argument 3: Abortion may put the reproductive health of a woman at risk. + example: negative consequences of abortion.

Restated thesis: Women should not be allowed to have abortions without serious reason because a baby’s life is as priceless as their own.

Cliffhanger: Why is killing an adult considered a crime while killing an unborn baby is not?

Argumentative essay on pros and cons of abortion

Examples of Essays on Abortion

There are many great abortion essays examples on the Web. You can easily find an argumentative essay on abortion in pdf and save it as an example. Many students and scholars upload their pieces to specialized websites so that others can read them and continue the discussion in their own texts.

In a free argumentative essay on abortion, you can look at the structure of the paper, choice of the arguments, depth of research, and so on. Reading scientific papers on abortion or essays of famous activists is also a good idea. Here are the works of famous authors discussing abortion.

A Defense of Abortion by Judith Jarvis Thomson

Published in 1971, this essay by an American philosopher considers the moral permissibility of abortion. It is considered the most debated and famous essay on this topic, and it’s definitely worth reading no matter what your stance is.

Abortion and Infanticide by Michael Tooley

It was written in 1972 by an American philosopher known for his work in the field of metaphysics. In this essay, the author considers whether fetuses and infants have the same rights. Even though this work is quite complex, it presents some really interesting ideas on the matter.

Some Biological Insights into Abortion by Garret Hardin

This article by American ecologist Garret Hardin, who had focused on the issue of overpopulation during his scholarly activities, presents some insights into abortion from a scientific point of view. He also touches on non-biological issues, such as moral and economic. This essay will be of great interest to those who support the pro-choice stance.

H4 Hidden in Plain View: An Overview of Abortion in Rural Illinois and Around the Globe by Heather McIlvaine-Newsad

In this study, McIlvaine-Newsad has researched the phenomenon of abortion since prehistoric times. She also finds an obvious link between the rate of abortions and the specifics of each individual country. Overall, this scientific work published in 2014 is extremely interesting and useful for those who want to base their essay on factual information.

H4 Reproduction, Politics, and John Irving’s The Cider House Rules: Women’s Rights or “Fetal Rights”? by Helena Wahlström

In her article of 2013, Wahlström considers John Irving’s novel The Cider House Rules published in 1985 and is regarded as a revolutionary work for that time, as it acknowledges abortion mostly as a political problem. This article will be a great option for those who want to investigate the roots of the abortion debate.

FAQs On Abortion Argumentative Essay

Is abortion immoral?

This question is impossible to answer correctly because each person independently determines their own moral framework. One group of people will say that abortion is a woman’s right because only she has power over her body and can make decisions about it. Another group will argue that the embryo is also a person and has the right to birth and life.

In general, the attitude towards abortion is determined based on the political and religious views of each person. Religious people generally believe that abortion is immoral because it is murder, while secular people see it as a normal medical procedure. For example, in the US, the ban on abortion was introduced in red states where the vast majority have conservative views, while blue liberal states do not support this law. Overall, it’s up to a person to decide whether they consider abortion immoral based on their own values and beliefs.

Is abortion legal?

The answer to this question depends on the country in which you live. There are countries in which pregnancy termination is a common medical procedure and is performed at the woman's request. There are also states in which there must be a serious reason for abortion: medical, social, or economic. Finally, there are nations in which abortion is prohibited and criminalized. For example, in Jamaica, a woman can get life imprisonment for abortion, while in Kenya, a medical worker who volunteers to perform an abortion can be imprisoned for up to 14 years.

Is abortion safe?

In general, modern medicine has reached such a level that abortion has become a common (albeit difficult from various points of view) medical procedure. There are several types of abortion, as well as many medical devices and means that ensure the maximum safety of the pregnancy termination. Like all other medical procedures, abortion can have various consequences and complications.

Abortions – whether safe or not - exist in all countries of the world. The thing is that more than half of them are dangerous because women have them in unsuitable conditions and without professional help. Only universal access to abortion in all parts of the world can make it absolutely safe. In such a case, it will be performed only after a thorough assessment and under the control of a medical professional who can mitigate the potential risks.

How safe is abortion?

If we do not talk about the ethical side of the issue related to abortion, it still has some risks. In fact, any medical procedure has them to a greater or lesser extent.

The effectiveness of the safe method in a medical setting is 80-99%. An illegal abortion (for example, the one without special indications after 12 weeks) can lead to a patient’s death, and the person who performed it will be criminally liable in this case.

Doctors do not have universal advice for all pregnant women on whether it is worth making this decision or not. However, many of them still tend to believe that any contraception - even one that may have negative side effects - is better than abortion. That’s why spreading awareness on means of contraception and free access to it is vital.

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Abortion - List of Free Essay Examples And Topic Ideas

Abortion is a highly contentious issue with significant moral, legal, and social implications. Essays on abortion could explore the various aspects of the debate including the ethical dimensions, the legal frameworks governing abortion, and the social attitudes surrounding it. They might delve into historical changes in public opinion, the different arguments presented by pro-life and pro-choice advocates, and the impact of legal rulings on the accessibility and safety of abortion services. Discussions could also explore the intersection of abortion with issues like gender equality, religious freedom, and medical ethics. We have collected a large number of free essay examples about Abortion you can find at Papersowl. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

Issue of Sex-Selective Abortion

Sex-selective abortion is the practice of ending a pregnancy due to the predicted gender of the baby. It has been occurring for centeriues in many countries many people believe that males are more valuable than females. This practice has been happening in many Asian countries but even in the US many Asians still hold strong to those beliefs. Due to these beleifs there is a huge shift in sex ratio in Asian countries. People are using the technology to determine […]

Abortion and Women’s Rights

In spite of women's activist desires, the matter of conceptive decision in the United States was not settled in 1973 by the important Supreme Court choice on account of Roe v. Wade. From the beginning there was animal-like restriction by the Catholic Church. Anyway, in the course of at least the last 20 years, the too early or soon birth discussion has changed into a definitely spellbound, meaningful debate between two differentiating societal talks that are moored to the problems […]

Women’s Rights in the United States in the 1970s

In the 1940’s-1960’s, there was a blurred distinction between clinical and sexual exams within the medical field (Wendy Kline, She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry). For example, many male doctors would provide pelvic exams as a means to teach women sex instruction, and were taught to assert their power over their patients. This led to women instituting new training programs for proper examinations, creating a more gentle and greatly-respected method of examining women and their bodies. There was also an increase […]

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Abortion: a Woman’s Choice

Women have long been criticized in every aspect of their lives. They have even little to no choice about how to live their lives. Much like, abortion, which is the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus. It has been one of the most sensitive topics, society sees it as a murderous act. On, January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court ruled on making the availability of abortion […]

Abortion: the most Debated Topic

There is no question that abortion is one of the most debated topics of the last 50 years. Women all over the United States tend to feel passionately over one side or the other, either pro-choice or anti-abortion. Not one to shy away from controversial subjects, I chose this topic to shed light on both sides of the ethical and moral decision of this important issue surrounding a termination of pregnancy. There is no question the gravity of this decision, […]

Women’s Rights to Choose

Every person in the United States is granted inalienable rights, whether it be to practice their own religion or vote, which should include autonomy over their own bodies. A woman should have the right to choose what she does with her own body, and in 1973 that became a possibility for American women. In 1973 Roe v. Wade made it possible for women to legally choose to terminate unwanted pregnancies within their first two trimesters. The government finally took into […]

Don Marquis’s View on Abortion

Don Marquis begins his argument of abortion being immoral by mentioning the pro-choice premise, which was that the statement of a fetus is never a person being too narrow. It's too narrow because if the fetus is never a person, then what would be the difference of a 9-month-old fetus and a newborn baby? That would just mean that infanticide isn't considered murder because a 9-month-old fetus and newborn weren't ever considered to be a person. Marquis further mentions that […]

Effects of Abortion on Young Women

Abortion is defined as the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy. It is a controversial conversation that most people avoid having. Abortion is different than most issues in politics, because it directly impacts women, rather than men. Young women being targeted over the last forty-five years, has changed the way the public views abortion and what it does to women. A rise in physical complications, mental health problems, and the modern wave of feminism are the effects of legalized abortion […]

The Murder of Innocence

Abortion is a new generation's way of shrugging off accountability of their action at the cost of human life agreeing to the first revision to the structure that says we have the proper way to give of discourse. Me personally for one beyond any doubt that most of us would agree to the reality that ready to say and do what we need and select. For it is our choice to control of speech our conclusions. In connection, moms at […]

The History of Abortion

The history of abortion' is more complex than most people realize. There has been a lot of debate in the past few years about abortion being murder/not murder. Abortion has become illegal in most states. There are several women who believe in "pro-choice" which means they want to have a choice taking care of the baby. I, personally, believe abortion is murder. You are killing a fetus that is going to be born within months and they don't have a […]

Abortion: Go or no Go

Premature birth ends a pregnancy by killing an actual existence yet the mother isn't accused of homicide. Is this right? Shockingly, this has happened roughly twenty million times in the previous twenty years. Tragically, in South Africa, an unborn human has been slaughtered lawfully because of the nation's insufficient laws! The enemy of a honest unprotected human is a killer, accordingly, the individual merits the discipline proportional to a killer by law. Premature birth on interest just gives a mother […]

Abotion: Right or Wrong

When does a person learn right from wrong? Is someone that knows right from wrong, different from someone who does not? These questions bring up the topic of the difference between a "Human" and a "Person". A human would be of human genetics and have a certain build. On the other hand, a human can also not be a person at certain points in the stage of life. If you can distinguish right from wrong, and are able to make […]

Let’s Talk about my Abortion Article

Why is something that requires two people, almost always considered the woman's problem? Every answer to this question is different, more aggressive in some cases, but it narrows down to basic human rights. Now you may be asking "What the hell is she talking about?" and I can assure you, we will get to that. I'd like for you to first put yourself in a situation: You're given a puppy, yet you're allergic to dogs and absolutely do not have […]

Debates on Abortion Theme

Abortion has proved to be a highly controversial topic in religion, politics, and even ethics. Its debate has caused division between factions with some supporting and others opposing its practice. This issue has also landed in the realm of philosophy where several ethicists have tried to explain why they think the method should either be supported or opposed. This essay looks at the works of Judith Thomson and Don Marquis as a representation of both sides of arguments (advocates and […]

Abortion on Teens should be Abolished

Am sure we have all heard of the girl meets boy story, where the girl falls in love with the boy despite receiving plenty of warnings and criticism from any person who has ever mattered in the girl's life. Everything is merry and life is good for the girl until one day she realizes she has missed her period and rushes to her man's home telling herself that everything will be okay. Reality checks in, hard, when the boy declines […]

The Mother and Abortion

For Gwendolyn Brooks, writing poetry that would be considered out of the ordinary and frowned upon was a common theme for her. Her widespread knowledge on subjects like race, ethnicity, gender, and even abortion placed this African American poet apart from many others. Like many poets, Brooks based many of her works on her own life experiences. Although it's unclear whether or not Brooks had an abortion herself, she creates hints and provokes strong feelings towards the issue, revealing the […]

An Issue of Women’s Reproductive Rights

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that men and women are created equal (Elizabeth Cady Stanton). In America this has been the basis of what our nation stands for. It is stated that every citizen has the right to equality that shall not be stripped away, in many cases that is not true. Whether man or women you should possess the same rights, but more often than not the women's rights are taken away. There are many instances in […]

What is Abortion

Every year, approximately 40-50 million abortions are conducted. That's about 125,000 little human beings being vacuumed, sucked out, and dissolved, everyday. That's 1 baby being aborted every 26 seconds. As of 58% of Americans think abortion should be legal.. Only 37% thinks it should be illegal in all, Or most cases. Abortion should be eliminated because it is murder, gives women mental health issues, and can cause high risks in the mother's future baby's health. There are two different types […]

The Complex Debate: Exploring Abortion Laws and their Implications

There has been a disputed discussion in history among religious, political, ethical, moral and practical grounds when it comes to the case about abortion. Abortion law forbids, allows, limits and governs the availability of abortion. Abortion laws alter to a high degree by country. For example, three countries in Latin America and two others in Europe ban the act of abortion altogether. In other countries like the United Kingdom contains the abortion act of 1967 that clarifies and prescribes abortion […]

My Beliefs on Abortion

Society today condones the killing of a life, they call it abortion, but I will try to show you why this is wrong. Life begins at conception. The Bible provides proof that God knew us before we were even formed. This provides truth that what is inside a woman's body is a human life. I believe that when you decide to have an abortion, you are deciding to kill an innocent baby. Whether you're doing it because the baby may […]

Research on Abortion Issues

The raging battle for women's rights can be found in almost every avenue of American culture. Whether it be in the workplace, in the government, in churches, or within families, females are fighting for their freedom to control their own lives. They want to work in whichever field they desire, to love whomever they want, and to make decisions for themselves. One of the biggest cases in the quarrel for feminism is the legalization of abortion. Women argue that it […]

Reasons the Constitution of Texas should be Rewritten

The constitution of Texas was written in 1876 but this constitution is not successful in this modern time. Rules and set of protocols which are written in this constitution are not valid for urban Texas these rules need to be amended. From the time of the adoption of this constitution, a total number of 653 amendments were proposed and out of these 653 a total of 474 amendments were approved by the voters and 179 were rejected. Some ?urrent political […]

Get Rid of Abortion or Not?

The world includes a huge variety of people who share different beliefs and morals, however, the Bible states that no one should judge others. One is supposed to respect another for whom they are as a person. The people in this world are beginning to divide because of the debate concerning if abortion is right, or if it is wrong. People identifying themselves to be pro-choice are in support of abortion because they believe a woman should be allowed to […]

Abortion Issues in Modern World

Premature birth alludes to the end of a pregnancy by evacuating or removing the baby or fetus from the uterus before it is prepared for birth. There are two noteworthy types of premature birth: unconstrained, which is regularly alluded to as an unsuccessful labor or the intentional fetus removal, which is frequently instigated fetus removal. The term fetus removal is normally used to allude to the prompted premature birth, and this is the premature birth, which has been loaded up […]

My Understanding of Abortion

Life has a beginning and an end and every individual knows this, as much as they may not want to know or understand it. An abortion, however, brings a thought to many people within our modern society: Is a baby alive before it is born? There are many ways to look at this but scientist have found out that there is an age of viability, where a baby is considered alive after a certain period of a woman's pregnancy. Before […]

Potential Factors that Influence Abortion

When it comes to women and unplanned pregnancies, there are alternatives other than abortions that a woman can use who and go for who isn't interested in having a child. Adoptions could be one of those alternatives; however, some women can't bear the thought of actually carrying a child. Therefore, they turn to their only option which is the abortion. For women, there are several reasons that may lead to them wanting to have an abortion. According to Stacey (2018), […]

The Status of Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Rights

The consequences of sexual behaviour between women and men have driven a desire and determination of women to control their fertility, yet in an environment in which anti-choice legislators and organizations do not protect women's reproductive rights, there is an ongoing dispute on who decides the fate of such rights. The status of women's sexual and reproductive rights remains controversial and while there have been many attempts to gain such basic human right, the fight for reproductive freedoms remains intense. […]

Abortion and Fathers Rights

In this section I will be focusing on the fathers' situation before and after conception, and bring out arguments how he could effectively avoid becoming a parent in any way (biological, bearer of financial costs, emotional). The father after conception has no alternatives left, unlike the mother has. She is in a position that can terminate the pregnancy by opting for an abortion, or she can carry out (or at least try to) the pregnancy until the end. The father […]

Abstinence only Vs. Abortion Rates

If an individual decides to have premarital sex and becomes pregnant it is likely that they will be shamed by someone no matter what decision they make. If they decide to keep the baby they will be shamed. If they decided to put the baby up for adoption they will be shamed. If they decide to get an abortion they will be shamed. Although the United States of America was founded on the ideas of freedom of religion and the […]

Why Abortion should be Illegal

Abortion is an issue in today’s society, people that agree or disagree about taking an innocent life away. Even though women now have the legal right to decide what to do with their bodies and to decide whether to end a baby’s life, there are options other than abortions. Each and every life is valuable, and babies should be able to experience a future ahead of them. Abortions should be illegal. Making abortion illegal could allow children to live a […]

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why abortion is legal.

Due to the outcome of a Supreme Court hearing, abortion is completely legal. In 1973, the Supreme Court's ruling on Roe vs Wade provided people legal access to abortion across the entire country. While legal, some doctors will not perform abortions.

How Abortion Affects Economy?

Women who have access to legal abortion will have the ability to continue their education and careers. Women denied an abortion because of gestational limits are more than 80% more likely to experience bankruptcy or face eviction.

Where Abortion is Illegal?

Abortion is legal in the entire country of the US, but some states have restrictions based on gestational status, fetal fatal conditions, and even rape. Other countries around the world have different laws and some have completely outlawed abortion, including Honduras, the Dominican Republic, and El Salvador.

Will Abortion Affect Health?

Women who have an abortion by a medical professional are at no risk for future pregnancies and there are no risks to overall health. Abortions do not increase any risk of breast cancer or have any effect on fertility.

Is Abortion Morally Justifiable?

This will depend on the person and their beliefs. Many women find abortion to be moral and a choice they are allowed to make in regards to their own bodies. Some religions have a strict stance on abortion and deem it immoral, regardless of the reason.

How To Write an Essay About Abortion

Introduction to the topic of abortion.

Abortion is a deeply complex and often controversial topic, encompassing a range of ethical, legal, and social issues. In your essay's introduction, it is important to define abortion and the various viewpoints and ethical considerations surrounding it. This introduction should establish the scope of your essay, whether you are focusing on the moral arguments, the legal aspects, the impact on individuals and society, or a combination of these. Your introduction should set a respectful and scholarly tone, acknowledging the sensitivity of the topic and the diverse opinions held by different groups.

Developing a Balanced Argument

The body of your essay should be dedicated to presenting a balanced and well-reasoned argument. Whether your essay is persuasive, analytical, or exploratory in nature, each paragraph should focus on a specific aspect of the abortion debate. This could include the ethical implications of abortion, the legal history and current laws regarding abortion in different regions, the psychological and physical effects on individuals, or the societal impacts. It's crucial to back up your points with evidence, such as statistical data, legal texts, ethical theories, medical research, and sociological studies. Addressing counterarguments is also important to show that you have considered multiple viewpoints and to strengthen your own argument.

Exploring Ethical and Societal Implications

An essay on abortion should also delve into the ethical dilemmas and societal implications surrounding the topic. This might involve discussing the moral philosophies related to the right to life, bodily autonomy, and the definition of personhood. The societal perspective might include the impact of abortion laws on different socio-economic groups, public health considerations, and the role of education and family planning. This section of your essay should challenge readers to think critically about their own values and the role of societal norms and laws in shaping the abortion debate.

Concluding the Discussion

In your conclusion, bring together all the threads of your argument, emphasizing the complexity of the abortion debate. This is your final opportunity to reinforce your main points and leave a lasting impression on your readers. Reflect on the broader implications of the debate and the ongoing challenges in finding a consensus in such a polarized issue. You might also offer recommendations for future policy, research, or public discourse. Remember, a strong conclusion doesn't just restate what has been said; it provides closure and offers new insights, prompting readers to continue thinking about the topic long after they have finished reading your essay.

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Home — Essay Samples — Social Issues — Abortion — Argumentative Essay Outline On Abortion

Argumentative Essay Outline on Abortion

Categories: Abortion

About this sample

Words: 665 |

Published: Mar 13, 2024

Words: 665 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Introduction, thesis statement, paragraph 1: the right to bodily autonomy, paragraph 2: the health and safety of women, paragraph 3: reproductive freedom and economic justice.

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Abortion Essay Example

05 January, 2020

11 minutes read

Author: Elizabeth Brown

Composing essays is a must during your college studies. Sometimes, you might get a topic that you aren’t fully aware of. Or, you can fail to grasp the idea of what a particular essay topic requires you to reveal in your essay. An abortion essay, for example, has become one of the very on-going issues these days. Professors believe that elaborating an essay on such a topic can help a student learn how to develop appropriate arguments and ideas, even in the most sensitive essays. If you experience any difficulty with the abortion essay writing, you just need to take a few points into account. Regardless of your title, which can be either why abortion should be supported or why abortion should be illegal essay, you can master your writing just by acknowledging several essential facts about it.

Abortion Essay: Definitions, Goals & Topics

An abortion argumentative essay reveals the arguments for or against pregnancy termination. The main peculiarity of such an essay is that one can write it from different points of view. While one may strongly feel like composing an abortion arguments essay and advancing their positioning in terms of healthcare and research, others may think of this essay in terms of psychology and sociology. Regardless of the stance, it is necessary to carry out some preliminary research and make sure you operate on both your arguments and data accurately.

essay sample about abortion with introduction, body and conclusion

Abortion essays require the essay writer to stay tolerant and open-minded. The topic, the selection of arguments, vocabulary – all of these indicators should not offend people who are sensitive to the outlined topic.

All in all, the ultimate goal of an argumentative essay on abortion is to present the topic and provide arguments for and against it. It is likewise essential to give an insight into the subject, reveal its current state, and include most recent findings.

Abortion Essay Titles

When composing a title for an abortion essay, the first critical thing to keep in mind is transparency. The title should not create confusion or offend the reader. To select a title you would like to develop in your essay, decide whether you know why abortion is wrong essay, or if you favor supporting the topic. Here are some of the topics that will be easy to elaborate on in your essay about abortion:

Reasons why women in underdeveloped countries are inclined to abortions
Potential health hazard as a consequence of abortion
How different countries approach abortions
The reasons why calling abortion murder is inappropriate
Depriving a woman of the right to make an abortion is equal to depriving a woman of her freedom

Abortion Essay Structure

As you have already learned, a classical essay comprises three parts: an introduction, several body paragraphs (3-5), and concluding remarks. The abortion essay isn’t an exception. But a structure of an abortion essay should be very specific as it contains several fundamental points that differ from other essay types.

Introduction

First, you need to define abortion as soon as you start writing an abortion essay. Even though almost everyone in the world knows what abortion is, it is essential to state its interpretation. Later, you can mention recent findings or events that fairly make an abortion a topic of heated debate. At the end of an introduction, your primary task is to demonstrate your attitude to the topic. Namely, you need to write a short thesis statement that will mention your opinion. For instance, a thesis statement can be: “Should society decide for women what to do with their lives and bodies?”.

If you decide to support abortion in the essay, you may write the body part in the following way: 2-3 paragraphs supporting abortion + one counter-argument against abortion. Remember to provide arguments and support them, not just admit that abortion is good or bad.

Conclusion

When writing a conclusion, briefly summarize everything you mentioned in the text. You should come back to the thesis you mentioned in the introduction while writing it. Don’t forget to mention your own vision and attitude to a problem.

Best Tips For Writing Abortion Essay

Research comes first.

First of all, explore what is already said and written on the topic of abortions. Namely, don’t just read what people say and don’t make conclusions based on what image abortion has in the media. Instead, you may refer to recent research, speeches, and scientific papers by people whose findings are objective and not based on their subjective, emotional perception. Afterward, try to figure out what your attitude on the topic of abortions is. Are you an opponent of the topic, or would you rather support it?

Pay attention to introduction

An introduction is the most fundamental part of the whole paper. If writing an introduction seems to be too complicated, just refer to scientific papers. Find an attention-grabbing statement and feel free to use it in your paper. If possible, try to paraphrase it.

Think of the implications

Suppose you decided to write an essay as an opponent of abortions. Think of some possible implications that termination of pregnancy may have. Also, consider the hazard of continuing an unwanted pregnancy. Doing so is essential if you want to strengthen your arguments.

Be flexible

Since such a topic might be extremely sensitive, it is vital not to be critical. It isn’t a good idea to get emotional or, what is worse, judgemental in your paper. Demonstrate that even though you support a particular argument, you don’t exclude that the opposite argument may also hold true.

Abortion Essay Examples

Abortion implies a termination of pregnancy by removing the embryo from a woman’s uterus prior to its birth. Uncountable controversies and criticism have increasingly surrounded the topic of abortion. Even though most developed countries officially carry out a lot of abortions annually, this medical procedure is actively discussed in many countries. Today, a lot of people believe that pregnancies are terminated by women who are either underaged, poor, or promiscuous. A woman who terminates her pregnancy can also be mature, having kids already, married, happy, and wealthy. Women make this step due to multiple reasons. Should society take control over a female body and decide her and her kid’s fate, and does the prohibition of abortion indeed decrease the abortion rate?

Official prohibition of abortions isn’t likely to reduce the abortion rate. For example, gambling and prostitution have long ago been prohibited in many countries in the world. However, this doesn’t mean that the people don’t gamble and that particular women don’t make their living by engaging in prostitution. The same concerns abortions. Once abortions are prohibited on a state level, women will be left with nothing but a decision to find a person who will carry out an abortion illegally. Or, what is worse, women might induce a miscarriage on their own if they can’t find a specialist. While a medical abortion procedure is a safe way to terminate pregnancy, the latter is not. The risk of terminating pregnancy elsewhere or even at home might be incompatible with life. A lot of women die because of an unsuccessful pregnancy termination, which is way worse than a safe abortion in a medical institution.

A lot of infants in the US die during the first years, months, if not days of their life. This happens as a result of an inborn pathology. Pathology is usually diagnosed during pregnancy screenings. Since such screenings are performed at an early pregnancy phase, a woman can terminate pregnancy once such pathology is identified. The fact of the matter is that many pathologies are incompatible with life too. For each mother, watching her kid dying and knowing that she cannot help, even if she had all the money in the world, is devastating. And that’s even worse for a suffering child. This leads to the conclusion that terminating a pregnancy is the most humane decision in such a situation.

Prohibiting abortions often equals to forcing a woman to give birth to a child she does not want. The reasons for such an unwillingness are uncountable. First, a woman might not be mature enough, she might have kids already and no money to afford this child. Besides, her pregnancy might be a mistake not because of her fault. Indeed, 2 in 1000 women in the US are raped annually. Why should a woman be judged by her decision to terminate pregnancy which is a result of a sexual assault? Even in cases when no sexual assault took place, it is still irrelevant to shame a woman and criticize her for knowing what will be better for her. It is better to terminate a pregnancy than to give life to a child who will never be loved and secure and be an unsuitable fit for a woman at the same time.

Terminating pregnancy, on the other hand, is not just depriving an unborn child of a right to live a life he or she deserves. Regardless of the woman’s motives, she imposes risks on her health. First of all, an abortion undermines a woman’s emotional and mental health. Additionally, it might set risks for her physical health. Indeed, she might reduce her chances of getting pregnant again or increase further pregnancy complications. Besides, 7 in every 100 women face a risk of having parts of a fetus remaining in her womb.

Overall, abortion is solely a woman’s issue. It should not have anything to do with politics, religion, and disgrace. Bringing a child to the world is the responsibility of a woman who has enough grounds for making an appropriate decision. Although terminating a pregnancy might bring severe health risks, it erases the problems that might be even more severe, such as watching a child suffer and not being able to give them a childhood they deserve.

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There Are More Than Two Sides to the Abortion Debate

Readers share their perspectives.

Police use metal barricades to keep protesters, demonstrators and activists apart in front of the U.S. Supreme Court

Earlier this week I curated some nuanced commentary on abortion and solicited your thoughts on the same subject. What follows includes perspectives from several different sides of the debate. I hope each one informs your thinking, even if only about how some other people think.

We begin with a personal reflection.

Cheryl was 16 when New York State passed a statute legalizing abortion and 19 when Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973. At the time she was opposed to the change, because “it just felt wrong.” Less than a year later, her mother got pregnant and announced she was getting an abortion.

She recalled:

My parents were still married to each other, and we were financially stable. Nonetheless, my mother’s announcement immediately made me a supporter of the legal right to abortion. My mother never loved me. My father was physically abusive and both parents were emotionally and psychologically abusive on a virtually daily basis. My home life was hellish. When my mother told me about the intended abortion, my first thought was, “Thank God that they won’t be given another life to destroy.” I don’t deny that there are reasons to oppose abortion. As a feminist and a lawyer, I can now articulate several reasons for my support of legal abortion: a woman’s right to privacy and autonomy and to the equal protection of the laws are near the top of the list. (I agree with Ruth Bader Ginsburg that equal protection is a better legal rationale for the right to abortion than privacy.) But my emotional reaction from 1971 still resonates with me. Most people who comment on the issue, on both sides, do not understand what it is to go through childhood unloved. It is horrific beyond my powers of description. To me, there is nothing more immoral than forcing that kind of life on any child. Anti-abortion activists often like to ask supporters of abortion rights: “Well, what if your mother had decided to abort you?” All I can say is that I have spent a great portion of my life wishing that my mother had done exactly that.

Steven had related thoughts:

I have respect for the idea that there should be some restrictions on abortion. But the most fundamental, and I believe flawed, unstated assumptions of the anti-choice are that A) they are acting on behalf of the fetus, and more importantly B) they know what the fetus would want. I would rather not have been born than to have been born to a mother who did not want me. All children should be wanted children—for the sake of all concerned. You can say that different fetuses would “want” different things—though it’s hard to say a clump of cells “wants” anything. How would we know? The argument lands, as it does generally, with the question of who should be making that decision. Who best speaks in the fetus’s interests? Who is better positioned morally or practically than the expectant mother?

Geoff self-describes as “pro-life” and guilty of some hypocrisy. He writes:

I’m pro-life because I have a hard time with the dehumanization that comes with the extremes of abortion on demand … Should it be okay to get an abortion when you find your child has Down syndrome? What of another abnormality? Or just that you didn’t want a girl? Any argument that these are legitimate reasons is disturbing. But so many of the pro-life just don’t seem to care about life unless it’s a fetus they can force a woman to carry. The hypocrisy is real. While you can argue that someone on death row made a choice that got them to that point, whereas a fetus had no say, I find it still hard to swallow that you can claim one life must be protected and the other must be taken. Life should be life. At least in the Catholic Church this is more consistent. I myself am guilty of a degree of hypocrisy. My wife and I used IVF to have our twins. There were other embryos created and not inserted. They were eventually destroyed. So did I support killing a life? Maybe? I didn’t want to donate them for someone else to give birth to—it felt wrong to think my twins may have brothers or sisters in the world they would never know about. Yet does that mean I was more willing to kill my embryos than to have them adopted? Sure seems like it. So I made a morality deal with myself and moved the goal post—the embryos were not yet in a womb and were so early in development that they couldn’t be considered fully human life. They were still potential life.

Colleen, a mother of three, describes why she ended her fourth pregnancy:

I was young when I first engaged this debate. Raised Catholic, anti-choice, and so committed to my position that I broke my parents’ hearts by giving birth during my junior year of college. At that time, my sense of my own rights in the matter was almost irrelevant. I was enslaved by my body. One husband and two babies later I heard a remarkable Jesuit theologian (I wish I could remember his name) speak on the matter and he, a Catholic priest, framed it most directly. We prioritize one life over another all the time. Most obviously, we justify the taking of life in war with all kinds of arguments that often turn out to be untrue. We also do so as we decide who merits access to health care or income support or other life-sustaining things. So the question of abortion then boils down to: Who gets to decide? Who gets to decide that the life of a human in gestation is actually more valuable than the life of the woman who serves as host—or vice versa? Who gets to decide when the load a woman is being asked to carry is more than she can bear? The state? Looking back over history, he argued that he certainly had more faith in the person most involved to make the best decision than in any formalized structure—church or state—created by men. Every form of birth control available failed me at one point or another, so when yet a 4th pregnancy threatened to interrupt the education I had finally been able to resume, I said “Enough.” And as I cried and struggled to come to that position, the question that haunted me was “Doesn’t MY life count?” And I decided it did.

Florence articulates what it would take to make her anti-abortion:

What people seem to miss is that depriving a woman of bodily autonomy is slavery. A person who does not control his/her own body is—what? A slave. At its simplest, this is the issue. I will be anti-abortion when men and women are equal in all facets of life—wages, chores, child-rearing responsibilities, registering for the draft, to name a few obvious ones. When there is birth control that is effective, where women do not bear most of the responsibility. We need to raise boys who are respectful to girls, who do not think that they are entitled to coerce a girl into having sex that she doesn’t really want or is unprepared for. We need for sex education to be provided in schools so young couples know what they are getting into when they have sex. Especially the repercussions of pregnancy. We need to raise girls who are confident and secure, who don’t believe they need a male to “complete” them. Who have enough agency to say “no” and to know why. We have to make abortion unnecessary … We have so far to go. If abortion is ruled illegal, or otherwise curtailed, we will never know if the solutions to women’s second-class status will work. We will be set back to the 50s or worse. I don’t want to go back. Women have fought from the beginning of time to own their bodies and their lives. To deprive us of all of the amazing strides forward will affect all future generations.

Similarly, Ben agrees that in our current environment, abortion is often the only way women can retain equal citizenship and participation in society, but also agrees with pro-lifers who critique the status quo, writing that he doesn’t want a world where a daughter’s equality depends on her right “to perform an act of violence on their potential descendents.” Here’s how he resolves his conflictedness:

Conservatives arguing for a more family-centered society, in which abortion is unnecessary to protect the equal rights of women, are like liberals who argue for defunding the police and relying on addiction, counselling, and other services, in that they argue for removing what offends them without clear, credible plans to replace the functions it serves. I sincerely hope we can move towards a world in which armed police are less necessary. But before we can remove the guardrails of the police, we need to make the rest of the changes so that the world works without them. Once liberal cities that have shown interest in defunding the police can prove that they can fund alternatives, and that those alternatives work, then I will throw my support behind defunding the police. Similarly, once conservative politicians demonstrate a credible commitment to an alternative vision of society in which women are supported, families are not taken for granted, and careers and short-term productivity are not the golden calves they are today, I will be willing to support further restrictions on abortion. But until I trust that they are interested in solving the underlying problem (not merely eliminating an aspect they find offensive), I will defend abortion, as terrible as it is, within reasonable legal limits.

Two readers objected to foregrounding gender equality. One emailed anonymously, writing in part:

A fetus either is or isn’t a person. The reason I’m pro-life is that I’ve never heard a coherent defense of the proposition that a fetus is not a person, and I’m not sure one can be made. I’ve read plenty of progressive commentary, and when it bothers to make an argument for abortion “rights” at all, it talks about “the importance of women’s healthcare” or something as if that were the issue.

Christopher expanded on that last argument:

Of the many competing ethical concerns, the one that trumps them all is the status of the fetus. It is the only organism that gets destroyed by the procedure. Whether that is permissible trumps all other concerns. Otherwise important ethical claims related to a woman’s bodily autonomy, less relevant social disparities caused by the differences in men’s and women’s reproductive functions, and even less relevant differences in partisan commitments to welfare that would make abortion less appealing––all of that is secondary. The relentless strategy by the pro-choice to sidestep this question and pretend that a woman’s right to bodily autonomy is the primary ethical concern is, to me, somewhere between shibboleth and mass delusion. We should spend more time, even if it’s unproductive, arguing about the status of the fetus, because that is the question, and we should spend less time indulging this assault-on-women’s-rights narrative pushed by the Left.

Jean is critical of the pro-life movement:

Long-acting reversible contraceptives, robust, science-based sex education for teens, and a stronger social safety net would all go a remarkable way toward decreasing the number of abortions sought. Yet all the emphasis seems to be on simply making abortion illegal. For many, overturning Roe v. Wade is not about reducing abortions so much as signalling that abortion is wrong. If so-called pro-lifers were as concerned about abortion as they seem to be, they would spend more time, effort, and money supporting efforts to reduce the need for abortion—not simply trying to make it illegal without addressing why women seek it out. Imagine, in other words, a world where women hardly needed to rely on abortion for their well-being and ability to thrive. Imagine a world where almost any woman who got pregnant had planned to do so, or was capable of caring for that child. What is the anti-abortion movement doing to promote that world?

Destiny has one relevant answer. She writes:

I run a pro-life feminist group and we often say that our goal is not to make abortion illegal, but rather unnecessary and unthinkable by supporting women and humanizing the unborn child so well.

Robert suggests a different focus:

Any well-reasoned discussion of abortion policy must include contraception because abortion is about unwanted children brought on by poorly reasoned choices about sex. Such choices will always be more emotional than rational. Leaving out contraception makes it an unrealistic, airy discussion of moral philosophy. In particular, we need to consider government-funded programs of long-acting reversible contraception which enable reasoned choices outside the emotional circumstances of having sexual intercourse.

Last but not least, if anyone can unite the pro-life and pro-choice movements, it’s Errol, whose thoughts would rankle majorities in both factions as well as a majority of Americans. He writes:

The decision to keep the child should not be left up solely to the woman. Yes, it is her body that the child grows in, however once that child is birthed it is now two people’s responsibility. That’s entirely unfair to the father when he desired the abortion but the mother couldn’t find it in her heart to do it. If a woman wants to abort and the man wants to keep it, she should abort. However I feel the same way if a man wants to abort. The next 18+ years of your life are on the line. I view that as a trade-off that warrants the male’s input. Abortion is a conversation that needs to be had by two people, because those two will be directly tied to the result for a majority of their life. No one else should be involved with that decision, but it should not be solely hers, either.

Thanks to all who contributed answers to this week’s question, whether or not they were among the ones published. What subjects would you like to see fellow readers address in future installments? Email [email protected].

By submitting an email, you’ve agreed to let us use it—in part or in full—in this newsletter and on our website. Published feedback includes a writer’s full name, city, and state, unless otherwise requested in your initial note.

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Essay on Abortion in English in 650 Words

Updated on
Feb 5, 2024

Essay on Abortion: Abortion is the termination of pregnancy. The termination happens due to the removal of the embryo or fetus.

The process of abortion can be natural as well as intentional. The intentional forces abortion involves a decision to end the pregnancy while when this process unfolds naturally without any external forces such as genetic abnormalities, maternal age, hormonal imbalances, or lifestyle, it is termed as miscarriage or spontaneous abortion. It is important to understand the difference between intentional abortion and miscarriage to explore reproductive health.

Master the art of essay writing with our blog on How to Write an Essay in English .

Table of Contents

1 Types of Abortion
2 Law in India for Abortion
3.1 1. Comprehensive Sex Education
3.2 2. Access to Contraceptives
3.3 3. Support System for Pregnant Women

Also Read: 3-Minute Speech on Motherhood and Education

Types of Abortion

Abortion procedures can be classified into two main types, Medical abortion and Surgical abortion. Medical abortion involves the termination of pregnancy using medications, such as the combination of mifepristone and misoprostol. This medication method is generally effective within nine weeks of pregnancy and does not involve any penetration or incision of the body or the insertion of instruments into the body.

On the other hand, surgical abortion involves a physical procedure to remove the pregnancy. The common surgical abortion method includes aspiration (suction) abortion, dilation and curettage (D&C), and dilation and evacuation (D&E) also called vacuum aspiration.

Law in India for Abortion

Laws of abortion play a vital role in the complexities of reproductive health. These laws aim to safeguard the well-being of women by ensuring that the abortion procedures are conducted under safe and medically supervised conditions.

In India, the legal framework for governing abortion primarily comes under the guidance of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act. The act was enacted in the year 1971 and aimed to liberalize the voluntary absorption largely decriminalized Section 312 of the IPC. To have safe and legal abortion services in India The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Regulations,2003 were issued under the MTP Act.

Further in the year 2021, certain amendments were passed for safe abortion services in case of failures of contraceptive failures, increase in gestation limit to 24 weeks, and the opinion of one abortion service provider up to 20 weeks of gestation. Moreover, the amendment also supported abortion until 24 weeks of pregnancy. The amendment acknowledges 7 specific circumstances to the MTP Act where a female can go for an abortion and those include Minor pregnancies, rape survivors, women with mental and physical disabilities, and more.

Alternative and Support of Abortion

Some alternative measures that will help to raise awareness about abortion are as follows:

1. Comprehensive Sex Education

The physical experience of abortion for women can be hazardous too, therefore, to provide an alternative it is necessary that comprehensive sex education should be provided in schools beyond subjects like Biology, healthy relationships, consent, and making responsible choices. Through this knowledge, students will not only be equipped with information but will also navigate relationships and avoid unintended pregnancies.

2. Access to Contraceptives

Easy access to contraceptives is another way to empower women to take charge of their reproductive health. Whether it is condoms, birth control pills, or any other methods of protection ensures to make responsible decisions and help in taking precautions against unplanned pregnancies.

3. Support System for Pregnant Women

To support women with unwanted pregnancies it is important to create a supportive environment for them mentally as well as emotionally. The government can offer counselling services, and access to healthcare information, and can provide resources to help pregnant women make informed choices or decisions about their future for example parenting classes, legal guidance and financial assistance programs.

In conclusion, we can say that the topic of abortion is complex as well as deep with emotions as well as with different perspectives. The ethical, religious, and legal debate on this sophisticated topic makes it challenging to find a common ground. Therefore it is necessary to have open and respectful communication, understanding empathy and healthcare options for the women.

Also Read: National Safe Motherhood Day 2023

Ans. 1 Abortion is the termination of pregnancy. The termination happens due to the removal of the embryo or fetus.

Ans. 2 As she was going through many health issues the family decided to go for an abortion.

The causes of abortion in the first trimester can be emotional or psychological, maternal health concerns, unintended pregnancies, contraceptive failure and more.

Ans. 4 The opposite of abortion is success, continuation, accomplishment, and achievement.

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For more information on such interesting topics, visit our essay writing page and follow Leverage Edu.

Deepika Joshi

Deepika Joshi is an experienced content writer with expertise in creating educational and informative content. She has a year of experience writing content for speeches, essays, NCERT, study abroad and EdTech SaaS. Her strengths lie in conducting thorough research and ananlysis to provide accurate and up-to-date information to readers. She enjoys staying updated on new skills and knowledge, particulary in education domain. In her free time, she loves to read articles, and blogs with related to her field to further expand her expertise. In personal life, she loves creative writing and aspire to connect with innovative people who have fresh ideas to offer.

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What It Means to Anthologize the Literature of Abortion

Annie finch, editor of choice words: writers on abortion , in conversation with some contributors.

About twenty years ago, I had an abortion and discovered that literary writing exploring the experience was not easy to find. So I began editing an anthology of literature about this major, suppressed literary theme, a physical, psychological, moral, spiritual, political, and cultural reality that navigates questions of life and death.

It turned out to be a daunting job: there was great writing but much of it was forgotten and overlooked, hidden within longer works; other pieces were still unpublished, or even unwritten, to be coaxed from their authors by the anthology itself. I was considering abandoning the project when the confirmation of Justice Kavanaugh brought it new urgency. I made it my top priority to complete the book at last, and it was published on the eve of the pandemic under the title Choice Words: Writers on Abortion .

With this week’s news that the Supreme Court has voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, the poetry, fiction, literary nonfiction, and drama gathered in this anthology—the first major collection of literature about abortion—are more urgent and timely than ever. Choice Words spans six centuries and five continents and includes work by Margaret Atwood, Gwendolyn Brooks, Lucille Clifton, Langston Hughes, Ruth Prawar Jhabvala, Ursula LeGuin, Audre Lorde, Joyce Carol Oates, Dorothy Parker, Anne Sexton, Ntozake Shange, Leslie Marmon Silko, Edith Sodergran, Amy Tan, Mo Yan, and many others.

For this discussion, I asked seven contemporary contributors to answer a few key questions: Judith Arcana, Josette Akresh-Gonzales, Desiree Cooper, Camonghne Felix, Kristen Ghodsee, Jenna Le, and Manisha Sharma.

Annie Finch : Please share, if you like, a brief passage from your contribution to the book and tell us about the greatest obstacle, internal or external, that you faced in writing your piece. What was the most important permission that you needed to give yourself?

Judith Arcana: “Every week we went to a meeting, but not like now. No one stood up and said, My name is Jane and I’m an abortionist. No. Because we didn’t want to stop, we weren’t trying not to do it. We sat in apartments, passing the cards.”

Because my work in the pre-Roe abortion underground was done in a group, whenever I write about what we did (as in those opening lines from “Women’s Liberation”—a poem that includes made-up names and fictionalized stories), I think about my responsibility to both the group and the people who came to us for abortions. Though I don’t think of responsibility as an obstacle, it demands conscious, deliberate attention—always—so it slows us down. And that’s a good thing. Such considerations are necessarily part of my process, and require the “permission” you are asking about.

Josette Akresh-Gonzales: The greatest internal obstacle that I faced in writing ”I Am Used to Keeping Secrets About My Body” was giving myself permission to write about another woman’s experience alongside my own. Although I know several women who have had abortions and know that no one could trace back the anecdote in this poem to a particular person, I worried that somehow, someone would recognize themselves in it and accuse me of using their difficult experience for my own gain (for my art).

The specifics were pretty specific but could apply to any number of women I’d worked with over the years: “that guy she’d hooked up with—who she thought she might marry, / who’d profiled on Indian Cupid as square-jawed but smart and steady,” yet I worried that either this very person I had worked with or someone close to her who knew both of us would take offense.

What gave me permission, in the end, to put this piece out into the world was the restrictive laws being passed that would outlaw abortion after x number of weeks—it didn’t seem likely that these lawmakers even understood that the number of weeks began on the first day of the last period a woman had before she got pregnant. There seemed to me to be many other aspects of women’s bodily experience—women’s biology—that people don’t talk about and therefore should not be legislating. I personally had felt secretive about my periods, about my postpartum body, about yeast infections, and so on. Putting that all together in one poem ended up being a revelation both to myself and, it turned out, to readers!

Desiree Cooper: The greatest obstacle for me was trying to communicate the profound breadth of the abortion experience among (American) women. There are so many financial, relational, emotional, physical and spiritual reasons that bring women to the decision to end a pregnancy and there was no way to universalize abortion care without telling all the stories. So, I chose first person plural, “we,” to convey the feeling that women as a group were testifying.

The morning that we read the stick, some of us buckled on the bathroom floor. Having only bled once, we thought it was impossible. Having bled forever, she shook our graying heads and thought, “This is no miracle.”

Camonghne Felix: The greatest obstacle was in finding validity in the context around my abortion and the social and personal events that drove to it, versus the abortion itself. So much of how we discuss abortion, especially those of us who consider themselves abortion activists, concerns the procedure, the politics of the procedure, and the medical barriers that people who need abortions face.

But, as someone who believes fundamentally that I have a right to abortion, that abortions are necessary and critical to reproductive health, it felt less important to write a poem that exemplified that belief, and more important to consider the context of my decision, and the sociopolitical and personal factors that brought me to the decision.

Kristen Ghodsee: This is a weird question in the context of my piece, because my short story reflects on the absolute ordinariness of abortion in Eastern Europe. The story is based on a real experience I had in Bulgaria in the 1990s. I was meeting a woman at a café and when she was late, she explained that among her morning errands and the awful traffic she’d had an abortion. She just dropped in casually in the conversation. And I have often been shocked when my students from the former republics of the Soviet Union talk about going to get their abortions with their grandmothers as if it’s the most normal thing in the world.

There is no trauma and no regret about abortion in that culture, and I think that Western audiences are rarely exposed to this perspective. I think this paragraph captures this view well:

As Svetozara explained that not all of the women in parliament supported the domestic violence legislation because they feared it would make women seem like victims, I wondered what my reproductive life would have been like if I’d been raised in a country where a women’s right to control her own body hadn’t been seriously challenged in decades. Where going to an abortion clinic didn’t mean risking your life to get inside. Maybe having multiple abortions is actually better than pumping yourself full of hormones for decades. I didn’t know, but that day I realized that for women born in most Eastern European countries, the medical removal of a fertilized egg was no more traumatic or shameful than the pharmaceutical prevention of the egg’s fertilization in the first place.

Jenna Le: As I was trying to decide which of my life experiences to draw upon in writing my poem, I was struck by how many facets of a young woman’s life are touched by anxieties about sex, pregnancy, abortion access, and abortion stigma. The issue is omnipresent and influences so many aspects of how we live, think and feel, how we learn to relate to others. It shades our existences so diffusely that seeing the full extent of the impact it has had on my life was challenging at first, an obstacle in itself.

In my poem, I wanted to delve into some of the more remote psychologic consequences of our societal stigma on abortion, to explore how our societal silence around abortion strips young people of their decision-making agency: “So, when it was my turn, I sank into my fear. / I let the boy, my fear, and chance do all the choosing.”

Manisha Sharma:

On my right: white tray on a white table. Foggy forceps, scissors that grow bold and big then shrink like raisins I soak every night for your father. Everything is a blank, an erased memory.

Abortion is not the same everywhere. What I refer to in my poem is called sex-selective abortion, a term that itself adds to ambiguity. It refers to abortion when the fetus is the undesired female sex. Son preference is responsible for 400,000 abortions a year in India alone. Though a broad generalization, there is no doubt that most of these abortions are forced. Forced because of cultural expectations for a male heir. Forced because of economic pressures. Forced because of societal pressures. Forced because of family expectations.

It is through precise, vivid details that the experience becomes real as if it is happening with my own body. I am acutely aware of the paradox of emotions that hit me as I wrote these lines, imagining what millions of women in my country and outside have gone through. I know it’s not me, but I am also aware that I have an objective distance to the experience which only helps me tell it and make it universal.

When sex-selective abortions can shake gender balance to the point of no repair in the second most populous country in the world, it is imperative for the entire world to pay attention to find solutions to this abuse of an innovative technology. Today entire states in India are living with a scarcity of girls, adding to social crimes and much more.

AF: What surprises you the most about the experience of being part of this book?

JA: I was not expecting the breadth of attitudes/opinions/stories represented here. I’m impressed by that range, happy about it—yes, happy—thinking about people who will read this book and learn about the complexity of abortion, the depth of decisions that’re often simplified by the word choice (as if someone were deciding between green and yellow paint for the walls of a hallway, between chocolate and caramel filling for cupcakes).

JAG: For my first publication as part of an anthology, I am amazed and happy to be included with such huge names as Sharon Olds, Amy Tan, Gloria Steinem, and of course Annie Finch (the amazing editor of this book), and so many others. I was impressed with the breadth and depth of the book—its organization (mind, body, heart, will, spirit) was so satisfying a way to approach this topic.

I am excited to meet some of the other writers in the book’s pages as I feel I’ve gotten to know them a bit from reading their pieces, which say a certain something about them I already know I’ll like. I enjoy being in the company of these stories, essays, and poems, as I feel at home in their pages. I admire Annie Finch for engendering the idea for this book and making it happen. I know it took many years and a lot of effort; that persistence should not be overlooked.

DC: I’ve been a feminist and a supporter of reproductive rights for my entire adult life. I had an abortion in college, the shame of which has never quite evaporated. I worked for Planned Parenthood of Michigan for five years. Yet, I am continuously amazed at how the vast majority of people are supportive of reproductive choice (to some degree), many people are quiet advocates, and many, many more have had abortions. Being a part of this book has been a wonderful opportunity to re-engage with the “normality” of something that continues to be relegated to the shadows.

CF: I guess it surprises me just how many poems are distinctly and specifically about abortion.

KG: Since I am an ethnographer, I mostly write either academic books or in the field of what is called “creative nonfiction.” When Annie asked me to write a short story for the collection, it was definitely a little bit out of my comfort zone. Although I have written some ethnographic fiction in the past, this story challenged me because I wanted to convey a lot of information in a very short piece. I guess what surprises me most is being included in a volume with so many amazing poets and fiction writers, since this is not usually where my work appears.

JL: I am ever surprised by how relevant this book continues to be, how this already-centuries-long conversation between foremothers and daughters continues echoing into the present and into the future.

MS: Everything, but most of what I admire about the book is the expansive view of abortion that it takes.

AF: Please discuss another piece from the book besides your own, preferably from a writer of an earlier generation, for which you feel kinship or appreciation.

JA: Reading Mary Wollstonecraft’s piece, an excerpt from Maria: Or, The Wrongs of Women , written in the 18th century, I feel both kinship and appreciation. I admire Wollstonecraft’s willingness to write about abortion within its cultural context, emphasizing class and misogyny. Her determination to tell the truth is a model for those of us who make art with words and want to use that art for what are, essentially, political reasons.

JAG: I appreciate so many pieces in this anthology that it is hard to choose one in particular, but if pressed I would say “The End,” by Sharon Olds. It grips me from start to finish, and as is usual in her work, uses visceral imagery, concrete wording, and an admirable willingness to tell it like it is. In both my poem and hers, in fact, the link between normal women’s bodily experience and abortion is made clear, but there is a sense of judgment, perhaps internalized from the culture at large.

Her ending, appropriately so, shocks the reader to realize how necessary, how wanted this abortion was, with her bringing up of a celebration, a “feast” that, when it’s over, needs to be cleaned up. This metaphorical licking of the lips at the end of the poem should not be shocking, but it is, in our world, such an unspoken thing to actually celebrate an abortion, all the blood and guts of it, that it does shock me that she just said it, put it in a poem, celebrated it.

DC: How to choose between the pieces? I really appreciated pieces like the poem “Haint” by Teri Cross Davis which expresses the common fear that women will be punished/cursed with infertility or miscarriages in the future because they had an abortion in the past. The trauma of the shame can haunt women for a lifetime. Conversely, I remember gasping out loud when I read this passage from “Sorry I’m Late,” by Kristen Ghodsee. It’s about an American woman interviewing a Bulgarian woman about some legislation.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said to me in the perfect English of a young professional who had earned a master’s degree in the UK. “I had an abortion this morning and had to run some errand, and then my tram didn’t show up and I had to take a taxi.”

Oh, to imagine a world where an abortion merely shows up on a normal “to-do” list. It blew my mind.

CF: Grateful to all of these writers and all of these pieces for their continued reflection on abortion and on the evolution of the conversations on abortion. All of their works take us one step further in the conversation towards equity.

KG: I enjoyed Soniah Kamal’s interviews with high school students from Pakistan where pre-marital sex is punishable by a five-year prison term, and so abortion is an absolute necessity for young women. Although I very much enjoyed the fiction and poetry in the collection, I think the power of this contribution, “The Scarlet A,” lies in its veracity. There is so much shame associated with sexuality in this culture, and these compelling first person accounts give the reader a unique window into the politics of abortion in a non-Western society, which I appreciated.

JL: I keep returning to Julie Kane’s sonnet “Tunnel of Light,” how the chilly grace of its formal beauty is counterbalanced by its blazing honesty and vulnerability. Contemplating the possibility of someday reuniting with “My mother wait[ing] there in her spider web” and “My little lost infant wait[ing] in her crib,” the speaker incants, “O holy mother, help us to forgive / those who killed us and those who let us live.” In our lives, there are so many directions in which hurt can flow, but there are just as many directions in which healing and help and forgiveness and permission can flow also.

MS: Amy Tan’s excerpt from her novel The Kitchen God’s Wife affects me in a million ways every time I read it. It gradually weaves in multiple layers of characters and meanings, one by one, and makes this complex thing, a simple one, one that the reader can peel off, the layers of interpretation and be surprised every time they read.

Multiple themes reside in this short excerpt. There’s gender. The superiority of the male against the female. There’s class too. An outward impression that as a rich female you are better off than a poor servant girl. You have more agency, but a fear of the unknown creeps into the wealthy woman and flips what she thought so confidently about. She wanted her husband to pay for impregnating a servant girl at first, but she took a shortcut because she heard voices in her head about what people would say.

Ultimately the servant girl kills herself, and the narrator blames it on her husband, who preys upon their own six-month-old daughter, and the wife must give in. The wife gives in because she wants peace in the family. The wife takes it to keep things going and cuts the husband loose. The story is rich, complex, real, and vivid. I try to do similar things in my work too, to simplify a complex issue and make it a universal experience.

AF: Until this book, literature about abortion was almost invisible as a literary theme/mode (except for the poems by Brooks and Clifton and some rather sensationalist works by white male writers). Now that this book exists, what kind of writing would you like to see as the next wave of abortion literature? What advice would you give to other writers who want to write about abortion?

JA: I have no thoughts about a “kind of writing” I’d like to see, and I’ve long been committed to not giving advice (perhaps even more now, as an elder, because I get asked for advice more often). However, because I’m happy about the thoughtful analyses and engaging narratives offered in Choice Words (in so many different ways, with so many different attitudes), I can suggest that those “other writers” read this book.

JAG: The advice I would give myself—a writer who would like to write more poems about abortion—is to let go of expectations, of worrying about what others might think, and write some heartfelt protest poems about what it might mean to go back to a time where abortion is illegal. It’s a scary thought. I think we need as a society to process that scary thought and really explore it. If a fetus is a person, is my IUD murder? How far back to conception does that ethical line go?

I read a story a few years ago (speculative) that envisioned an America where women had to pay for a funeral for each menstrual period. In my mind, I can imagine a life where I got pregnant accidentally, having already had two kids, and would need to make a decision about what to do. After reading so many amazing pieces in Choice Words, I actually feel way more empowered to write down these thoughts and feelings than I did before. I hope many many other writers feel the same way.

DC: I’d like to see a day come when we are free of “acceptable” moral reasons for abortion, and only personal and medical decisions guide access. Perhaps that will only come when physicians, midwives and abortion doulas tell more of their stories as well.

CF: I want to see work that normalizes abortion; I want to see work that shows an evolved understanding of how gender and abortion rights interact; I want trans people writing about abortion; and I want to decenter femaleness as the identifier for abortion need.

KG: I think more international writing would be wonderful, especially from authors in the Global South. I also think there should be more voices from Eastern Europe and Eurasia as their experiences are very different from those in the West. Abortion was first legalized on demand in the Soviet Union in 1920, and many Soviet women had multiple abortions over the course of their lives.

In terms of my advice, I think there is too often a focus on trauma and regret in a lot of writing about abortion, and while I understand that this is the authentic experience for manypeople, I do worry that it perpetuates the stigma associated with the practice.

JL: I would just like to see more and more and more! There are so many voices in so many diverse communities that have heretofore been silenced and pushed to the margins when it comes to this issue. I would love to see more of these underrepresented voices be widely heard and granted their share of space in our common awareness and community conversation.

MS: I don’t think we can want to see a particular type of abortion writing. Our experiences shape our writing, and it is better kept that way. The element of surprise must never leave the writer. My advice to future writers would be to just keep at it. Keep expressing what you have to go through, and one day you will be surprised by what you unload on that page.

_______________________________

Choice Words: Writers on Abortion , is available now from Haymarket Books *

Judith Arcana writes poems, stories, essays, and books—including Grace Paley’s Life Stories, a Literary/Political Biography ; Announcements from the Planetarium , a recent poetry collection; and, coming soon, Hello. This Is Jane is a collection of linked fictional stories seeded by Judith’s pre-Roe underground abortion work in Chicago. juditharcana.com

Josette Akresh-Gonzales was a finalist in the 2017 Split Lip Chapbook Con- test and has been Pushcart nominated; her poems are in The Pinch , Breakwater , [PANK] Magazine , and elsewhere. She lives in the Boston area with her husband and two boys and bikes to work at a nonprofit medical publisher. @Vivakresh

Desiree Cooper is a 2015 Kresge Artist Fellow, Pulitzer Prize–nominated journalist, and the award-winning author of the flash-fiction collection Know the Mother . Her short film based upon “The Choice” won awards at the Berlin Flash Film Festival, and the Los Angeles Best Short Film Festival. She resides in coastal Virginia.

Camonghne Felix is a poet, political strategist, media junkie, and cultural worker. Her debut full-length collection of poems, Build Yourself a Boat (Haymarket Books, 2019), is longlisted for the National Book Award.

Annie Finch is a poet, writer, teacher, and performer. Her books include Spells: New and Selected Poems , Calendars , A Poet’s Craft , and a book-length poem about abortion entitled Among the Goddesses: An Epic Libretto in Seven Dreams . Her abortion healing ritual, and subscriptions to Annie’s Spellsletter, are available at anniefinch.net

Kristen R. Ghodsee is an award-winning author, ethnographer, and professor of Russian and East European Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She has written nine books, and her articles have been translated into over a dozen languages and published in Foreign Affairs , Dissent , New Republic , Washington Post , and New York Times .

Jenna Le authored Six Rivers (NYQ Books, 2011) and A History of the Cetacean American Diaspora (Indolent Books, 2018), which won second place in the Elgin Awards. She was selected by Marilyn Nelson as winner of Poetry by the Sea’s inaugural sonnet competition. Her poetry appears in Los Angeles Review , Massachusetts Review , and West Branch . jennalewriting.com

Manisha Sharma , an Indian, writes across genres about social issues. Her work is a 2019 semifinalist for the American Short(er) Fiction Contest. An AWP mentee in poetry, she has been a resident at the Vermont Studio Center and Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. She is a lecturer of English and teacher of yoga-meditation at New River Community College in Virginia.

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5.1: Arguments Against Abortion

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Nathan Nobis & Kristina Grob
Morehouse College & University of South Carolina Sumter via Open Philosophy Press

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We will begin with arguments for the conclusion that abortion is generally wrong , perhaps nearly always wrong . These can be seen as reasons to believe fetuses have the “right to life” or are otherwise seriously wrong to kill.

5.1.1 Fetuses are human

First, there is the claim that fetuses are “human” and so abortion is wrong. People sometimes debate whether fetuses are human , but fetuses found in (human) women clearly are biologically human : they aren’t cats or dogs. And so we have this argument, with a clearly true first premise:

Fetuses are biologically human.

All things that are biologically human are wrong to kill.

Therefore, fetuses are wrong to kill.

The second premise, however, is false, as easy counterexamples show. Consider some random living biologically human cells or tissues in a petri dish. It wouldn’t be wrong at all to wash those cells or tissues down the drain, killing them; scratching yourself or shaving might kill some biologically human skin cells, but that’s not wrong; a tumor might be biologically human, but not wrong to kill. So just because something is biologically human, that does not at all mean it’s wrong to kill that thing. We saw this same point about what’s merely biologically alive.

This suggests a deficiency in some common understandings of the important idea of “human rights.” “Human rights” are sometimes described as rights someone has just because they are human or simply in virtue of being human .

But the human cells in the petri dish above don’t have “human rights” and a human heart wouldn’t have “human rights” either. Many examples would make it clear that merely being biologically human doesn’t give something human rights. And many human rights advocates do not think that abortion is wrong, despite recognizing that (human) fetuses are biologically human.

The problem about what is often said about human rights is that people often do not think about what makes human beings have rights or why we have them, when we have them. The common explanation, that we have (human) rights just because we are (biologically) human , is incorrect, as the above discussion makes clear. This misunderstanding of the basis or foundation of human rights is problematic because it leads to a widespread, misplaced fixation on whether fetuses are merely biologically “human” and the mistaken thought that if they are, they have “human rights.” To address this problem, we need to identify better, more fundamental, explanations why we have rights, or why killing us is generally wrong, and see how those explanations might apply to fetuses, as we are doing here.

It might be that when people appeal to the importance and value of being “human,” the concern isn’t our biology itself, but the psychological characteristics that many human beings have: consciousness, awareness, feelings and so on. We will discuss this different meaning of “human” below. This meaning of “human” might be better expressed as conscious being , or “person,” or human person. This might be what people have in mind when they argue that fetuses aren’t even “human.”

Human rights are vitally important, and we would do better if we spoke in terms of “conscious-being rights” or “person-rights,” not “human rights.” This more accurate and informed understanding and terminology would help address human rights issues in general, and help us better think through ethical questions about biologically human embryos and fetuses.

5.1.2 Fetuses are human beings

Some respond to the arguments above—against the significance of being merely biologically human—by observing that fetuses aren’t just mere human cells, but are organized in ways that make them beings or organisms . (A kidney is part of a “being,” but the “being” is the whole organism.) That suggests this argument:

Fetuses are human beings or organisms .

All human beings or organisms are wrong to kill.

Therefore, fetuses are wrong to kill, so abortion is wrong.

The first premise is true: fetuses are dependent beings, but dependent beings are still beings.

The second premise, however, is the challenge, in terms of providing good reasons to accept it. Clearly many human beings or organisms are wrong to kill, or wrong to kill unless there’s a good reason that would justify that killing, e.g., self-defense. (This is often described by philosophers as us being prima facie wrong to kill, in contrast to absolutely or necessarily wrong to kill.) Why is this though? What makes us wrong to kill? And do these answers suggest that all human beings or organisms are wrong to kill?

Above it was argued that we are wrong to kill because we are conscious and feeling: we are aware of the world, have feelings and our perspectives can go better or worse for us —we can be harmed— and that’s what makes killing us wrong. It may also sometimes be not wrong to let us die, and perhaps even kill us, if we come to completely and permanently lacking consciousness, say from major brain damage or a coma, since we can’t be harmed by death anymore: we might even be described as dead in the sense of being “brain dead.” 10

So, on this explanation, human beings are wrong to kill, when they are wrong to kill, not because they are human beings (a circular explanation), but because we have psychological, mental or emotional characteristics like these. This explains why we have rights in a simple, common-sense way: it also simply explains why rocks, microorganisms and plants don’t have rights. The challenge then is explaining why fetuses that have never been conscious or had any feeling or awareness would be wrong to kill. How then can the second premise above, general to all human organisms, be supported, especially when applied to early fetuses?

One common attempt is to argue that early fetuses are wrong to kill because there is continuous development from fetuses to us, and since we are wrong to kill now , fetuses are also wrong to kill, since we’ve been the “same being” all along. 11 But this can’t be good reasoning, since we have many physical, cognitive, emotional and moral characteristics now that we lacked as fetuses (and as children). So even if we are the “same being” over time, even if we were once early fetuses, that doesn’t show that fetuses have the moral rights that babies, children and adults have: we, our bodies and our rights sometimes change.

A second attempt proposes that rights are essential to human organisms: they have them whenever they exist. This perspective sees having rights, or the characteristics that make someone have rights, as essential to living human organisms. The claim is that “having rights” is an essential property of human beings or organisms, and so whenever there’s a living human organism, there’s someone with rights, even if that organism totally lacks consciousness, like an early fetus. (In contrast, the proposal we advocate for about what makes us have rights understands rights as “accidental” to our bodies but “essential” to our minds or awareness, since our bodies haven’t always “contained” a conscious being, so to speak.)

Such a view supports the premise above; maybe it just is that premise above. But why believe that rights are essential to human organisms? Some argue this is because of what “kind” of beings we are, which is often presumed to be “rational beings.” The reasoning seems to be this: first, that rights come from being a rational being: this is part of our “nature.” Second, that all human organisms, including fetuses, are the “kind” of being that is a “rational being,” so every being of the “kind” rational being has rights. 12

In response, this explanation might seem question-begging: it might amount to just asserting that all human beings have rights. This explanation is, at least, abstract. It seems to involve some categorization and a claim that everyone who is in a certain category has some of the same moral characteristics that others in that category have, but because of a characteristic (actual rationality) that only these others have: so, these others profoundly define what everyone else is . If this makes sense, why not also categorize us all as not rational beings , if we are the same kind of beings as fetuses that are actually not rational?

This explanation might seem to involve thinking that rights somehow “trickle down” from later rationality to our embryonic origins, and so what we have later we also have earlier , because we are the same being or the same “kind” of being. But this idea is, in general, doubtful: we are now responsible beings, in part because we are rational beings, but fetuses aren’t responsible for anything. And we are now able to engage in moral reasoning since we are rational beings, but fetuses don’t have the “rights” that uniquely depend on moral reasoning abilities. So that an individual is a member of some general group or kind doesn’t tell us much about their rights: that depends on the actual details about that individual, beyond their being members of a group or kind.

To make this more concrete, return to the permanently comatose individuals mentioned above: are we the same kind of beings, of the same “essence,” as these human beings? If so, then it seems that some human beings can be not wrong to let die or kill, when they have lost consciousness. Therefore, perhaps some other human beings, like early fetuses, are also not wrong to kill before they have gained consciousness . And if we are not the same “kind” of beings, or have different essences, then perhaps we also aren’t the same kind of beings as fetuses either.

Similar questions arise concerning anencephalic babies, tragically born without most of their brains: are they the same “kind” of beings as “regular” babies or us? If so, then—since such babies are arguably morally permissible to let die, even when they could be kept alive, since being alive does them no good—then being of our “kind” doesn’t mean the individual has the same rights as us, since letting us die would be wrong. But if such babies are a different “kind” of beings than us, then pre-conscious fetuses might be of a relevantly different kind also.

So, in general, this proposal that early fetuses essentially have rights is suspect, if we evaluate the reasons given in its support. Even if fetuses and us are the same “kind” of beings (which perhaps we are not!) that doesn’t immediately tell us what rights fetuses would have, if any. And we might even reasonably think that, despite our being the same kind of beings as fetuses (e.g., the same kind of biology), we are also importantly different kinds of beings (e.g., one kind with a mental life and another kind which has never had it). This photograph of a 6-week old fetus might help bring out the ambiguity in what kinds of beings we all are:

In sum, the abstract view that all human organisms have rights essentially needs to be plausibly explained and defended. We need to understand how it really works. We need to be shown why it’s a better explanation, all things considered, than a consciousness and feelings-based theory of rights that simply explains why we, and babies, have rights, why racism, sexism and other forms of clearly wrongful discrimination are wrong, and , importantly, how we might lose rights in irreversible coma cases (if people always retained the right to life in these circumstances, presumably, it would be wrong to let anyone die), and more.

5.1.3 Fetuses are persons

Finally, we get to what some see as the core issue here, namely whether fetuses are persons , and an argument like this:

Fetuses are persons, perhaps from conception.

Persons have the right to life and are wrong to kill.

So, abortion is wrong, as it involves killing persons.

The second premise seems very plausible, but there are some important complications about it that will be discussed later. So let’s focus on the idea of personhood and whether any fetuses are persons. What is it to be a person ? One answer that everyone can agree on is that persons are beings with rights and value . That’s a fine answer, but it takes us back to the initial question: OK, who or what has the rights and value of persons? What makes someone or something a person?

Answers here are often merely asserted , but these answers need to be tested: definitions can be judged in terms of whether they fit how a word is used. We might begin by thinking about what makes us persons. Consider this:

We are persons now. Either we will always be persons or we will cease being persons. If we will cease to be persons, what can end our personhood? If we will always be persons, how could that be?

Both options yield insight into personhood. Many people think that their personhood ends at death or if they were to go into a permanent coma: their body is (biologically) alive but the person is gone: that is why other people are sad. And if we continue to exist after the death of our bodies, as some religions maintain, what continues to exist? The person , perhaps even without a body, some think! Both responses suggest that personhood is defined by a rough and vague set of psychological or mental, rational and emotional characteristics: consciousness, knowledge, memories, and ways of communicating, all psychologically unified by a unique personality.

A second activity supports this understanding:

Make a list of things that are definitely not persons . Make a list of individuals who definitely are persons . Make a list of imaginary or fictional personified beings which, if existed, would be persons: these beings that fit or display the concept of person, even if they don’t exist. What explains the patterns of the lists?

Rocks, carrots, cups and dead gnats are clearly not persons. We are persons. Science fiction gives us ideas of personified beings: to give something the traits of a person is to indicate what the traits of persons are, so personified beings give insights into what it is to be a person. Even though the non-human characters from, say, Star Wars don’t exist, they fit the concept of person: we could befriend them, work with them, and so on, and we could only do that with persons. A common idea of God is that of an immaterial person who has exceptional power, knowledge, and goodness: you couldn’t pray to a rock and hope that rock would respond: you could only pray to a person. Are conscious and feeling animals, like chimpanzees, dolphins, cats, dogs, chickens, pigs, and cows more relevantly like us, as persons, or are they more like rocks and cabbages, non-persons? Conscious and feeling animals seem to be closer to persons than not. 13 So, this classificatory and explanatory activity further supports a psychological understanding of personhood: persons are, at root, conscious, aware and feeling beings.

Concerning abortion, early fetuses would not be persons on this account: they are not yet conscious or aware since their brains and nervous systems are either non-existent or insufficiently developed. Consciousness emerges in fetuses much later in pregnancy, likely after the first trimester or a bit beyond. This is after when most abortions occur. Most abortions, then, do not involve killing a person , since the fetus has not developed the characteristics for personhood. We will briefly discuss later abortions, that potentially affect fetuses who are persons or close to it, below.

It is perhaps worthwhile to notice though that if someone believed that fetuses are persons and thought this makes abortion wrong, it’s unclear how they could coherently believe that a pregnancy resulting from rape or incest could permissibly be ended by an abortion. Some who oppose abortion argue that, since you are a person, it would be wrong to kill you now even if you were conceived because of a rape, and so it’s wrong to kill any fetus who is a person, even if they exist because of a rape: whether someone is a person or not doesn’t depend on their origins: it would make no sense to think that, for two otherwise identical fetuses, one is a person but the other isn’t, because that one was conceived by rape. Therefore, those who accept a “personhood argument” against abortion, yet think that abortions in cases of rape are acceptable, seem to have an inconsistent view.

5.1.4 Fetuses are potential persons

If fetuses aren’t persons, they are at least potential persons, meaning they could and would become persons. This is true. This, however, doesn’t mean that they currently have the rights of persons because, in general, potential things of a kind don’t have the rights of actual things of that kind : potential doctors, lawyers, judges, presidents, voters, veterans, adults, parents, spouses, graduates, moral reasoners and more don’t have the rights of actual individuals of those kinds.

Some respond that potential gives the right to at least try to become something. But that trying sometimes involves the cooperation of others: if your friend is a potential medical student, but only if you tutor her for many hours a day, are you obligated to tutor her? If my child is a potential NASCAR champion, am I obligated to buy her a race car to practice? ‘No’ to both and so it is unclear that a pregnant woman would be obligated to provide what’s necessary to bring about a fetus’s potential. (More on that below, concerning the what obligations the right to life imposes on others, in terms of obligations to assist other people.)

5.1.5 Abortion prevents fetuses from experiencing their valuable futures

The argument against abortion that is likely most-discussed by philosophers comes from philosopher Don Marquis. 14 He argues that it is wrong to kill us, typical adults and children, because it deprives us from experiencing our (expected to be) valuable futures, which is a great loss to us . He argues that since fetuses also have valuable futures (“futures like ours” he calls them), they are also wrong to kill. His argument has much to recommend it, but there are reasons to doubt it as well.

First, fetuses don’t seem to have futures like our futures , since—as they are pre-conscious—they are entirely psychologically disconnected from any future experiences: there is no (even broken) chain of experiences from the fetus to that future person’s experiences. Babies are, at least, aware of the current moment, which leads to the next moment; children and adults think about and plan for their futures, but fetuses cannot do these things, being completely unconscious and without a mind.

Second, this fact might even mean that the early fetus doesn’t literally have a future: if your future couldn’t include you being a merely physical, non-conscious object (e.g., you couldn’t be a corpse: if there’s a corpse, you are gone), then non-conscious physical objects, like a fetus, couldn’t literally be a future person. 15 If this is correct, early fetuses don’t even have futures, much less futures like ours. Something would have a future, like ours, only when there is someone there to be psychologically connected to that future: that someone arrives later in pregnancy, after when most abortions occur.

A third objection is more abstract and depends on the “metaphysics” of objects. It begins with the observation that there are single objects with parts with space between them . Indeed almost every object is like this, if you could look close enough: it’s not just single dinette sets, since there is literally some space between the parts of most physical objects. From this, it follows that there seem to be single objects such as an-egg-and-the-sperm-that-would-fertilize-it . And these would also seem to have a future of value, given how Marquis describes this concept. (It should be made clear that sperm and eggs alone do not have futures of value, and Marquis does not claim they do: this is not the objection here). The problem is that contraception, even by abstinence , prevents that thing’s future of value from materializing, and so seems to be wrong when we use Marquis’s reasoning. Since contraception is not wrong, but his general premise suggests that it is , it seems that preventing something from experiencing its valuable future isn’t always wrong and so Marquis’s argument appears to be unsound. 16

In sum, these are some of the most influential arguments against abortion. Our discussion was brief, but these arguments do not appear to be successful: they do not show that abortion is wrong, much less make it clear and obvious that abortion is wrong.

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Five paragraph essay on abortion

This essay discusses three issues that revolve around abortion in order to help the reader better understand abortion issues in general. This is not a comprehensive list of all the issues surrounding abortion, but does explain three issues and then knits them together in the conclusion to show that the abortion issue is not a simple one.

Considering the suffering that unwanted birth causes, it is better to allow abortion so that termination happens before life takes hold outside the womb. Unwanted children are often neglected, put up for adoption, or are pushed into prostitution and crime by parents that do not have their best interests at heart. It results in a life of misery and heartache for the child.

People that do not support abortion do not have adopted children. It would be far easier to digest a no-abortion stance from a person that has adopted children, and yet most (if not all) do not have adopted children. They are basically sending the message that all pregnancies should be taken to term but once the child is out of the womb then they are on their own. The lack of support for neglected and orphan children is already at a level that is going to make people in the future look back and frown in the same way we frown at our ancestors for their treatment of other races.

Unwanted pregnancy ruins the lives of good people. Most of the time is the woman that has to give up ever having a successful career and is quite often left without a man in her life. If the man is also a caring type, then he has to give up 20 years of doing what he wishes, and even his career will often take a knock, especially if he is the primary care giver. People that do not have children will have more money, more life experiences, better health and a better career. All of this is taken away from people if they are not allowed to control when they do and do not conceive.

Unwanted births will invariably cause suffering to the child, especially if the child is not wanted by the parents and knows it. Plus, that child may end up neglected, in an orphanage, or thrust into a life of crime. People that argue against abortion are never prepared to take on the burdens of what would happen if it were banned. Even now, when abortion is allowed, these no-abortion promoters are not prepared to adopt children or help to care for them when their parents cannot. Add to this the fact that a person has to give up opportunities and the choice of a happy life if that person cannot choose when to conceive. People that want children will consider having them something to be happy about, but if a person considers a great career, money or life experiences to be something to be happy about, then having children is going to remove those options and opportunities from them.

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How To Write A Persuasive Essay On Abortion?

Table of Contents

Both sides of the discussion provide solid arguments, and both ideas have legs. And this makes the subject matter of abortion one of the best topics for persuasive essay .

The basics of a persuasive essay on abortion

The dictionaries define abortion as the termination of a pregnancy by removing embryo or fetus from the uterus before the end of its term. Miscarriage also falls under this description, however, when we talk about abortion, the first thing that comes to mind is the intended abolition of the unwanted pregnancy.

It is a tough topic for discussion, as the audience, on the whole, has an opinion concerning it already. The main task of the persuasive essay is to argue the audience into your point of view, but how on earth you can persuade a person who has developed an opinion based on personal experience?

Or how you can convince a devout believer of the truth of your words if you write about the necessity of legalization of abortions?

As you can see, the assignment is incredibly challenging, yet, not impossible. Teachers conceive this topic as one of the best ways to evaluate your ability to ram an argument home, so you will have to make every possible effort when writing this paper.

This subject matter deals with philosophical, religious, moral, medical, and ethical points. Thus, in order to create a compelling text, you will have to address all these aspects.

Core aspects of great abortion thesis statements

Abortion thesis statements are the quintessence of the papers so, usually, writers create them after thorough research of the issue and when the direction of the thought is already defined.

You can consider it as a very condensed outline as after reading a single thesis sentence, the reader can clearly see what you discuss in the text.

Thus, sometimes, the best time to write it is when the rough draft of the paper is almost ready.

Several steps should be taken to create a well-rounded thesis statement:

Profound research of the subject matter.
Time for crafting the best thesis .
Search for a sufficient amount of facts that support the main idea.
Check if your thesis is aligned with the rest of the text .

Here are some examples of thesis statements for a paper on abortion. You can use them as a source of inspiration for your own paper or as an example of how a great thesis should look like.

The dangers and consequences of the backstreet abortions that can lead to woman’s death make legalization of abortions indispensable to life.
The religious aspect is the only reason why people conceive abortion as a pro-choice and not a pro-life decision.
As soon as the consensus on whether a developing embryo is equated with human life is reached, all the debates over the moral and legal aspects of abortion will be over.
Psychological and physiological disorders that an unwanted pregnancy can cause justify the legalization of abortions.

The arguments for the persuasive essay on abortion is wrong

You can operate these arguments in a persuasive essay on abortion should be illegal:

The medical procedure is a risky one. The possible immediate and long-term consequences are sterility, heavy bleeding, damage of the cervix or womb.
Abortion is an irretrievable action so a woman can lament till her dying days. That may result in the clinical depression with gloomy implications up to suicide.
Abortion increases the chances of contracting breast cancer.
A woman who does not want to raise a child can give it up for adoption as many couples cannot have children for some reasons.
For most cases, the unwanted pregnancy is the result of neglect of the contraceptives. Why should unborn children suffer because of the irresponsibility of a woman?
Baby feels pain during the abortion, especially during the partial-birth abortion.
There are no religions that justify abortion.
Each and every life is valuable. But abortion values human’s life next to nothing.

Tip: When you write a persuasive essay on abortion pro-life, try to operate facts, not thoughts. Thus, you will sound more convincing.

How to support a persuasive essay on abortion pro-choice?

The complications of pregnancy can have the same or even worse consequences rather than abortion.
Abortion is justified if the fetus is diagnosed with heavy genetic defects.
If parents are mentally disabled or carry severe heritable diseases, and it is possible to say for sure that the embryo is a carrier of a disease too, abortion has to be legal.
The pregnancy as the result of a rape.
There is still no agreement concerning the balance of a fetus and a person, so it is improper to apply laws and ethical standards to a developing life as to a human.

These arguments may help you make a persuasive essay on why abortion should be legal more convincing.

Still, do not forget that it is essential to add an argument with an opposite point of view to your text and then confute it.

How to create a neutral argument for a paper on abortion?

It may seem that such a burning issue can have only two points of view: pro or against. However, it is possible to write a neutral, unbiased, and still persuasive paper that will argue others into your point of view.

Such arguments are based on the facts and logic, they do not plead for sympathy or demand carriage of feminist postulates or the right for private life, etc.

These are the arguments that search for a sound compromise. For example:

If the pregnancy endangers the woman’s life, abortion is acceptable.
Abortion is acceptable if a fetus has a terminal sickness.

On balance…

We hope that this article helped you to figure out how such papers should be written so you won’t be scared by persuasive essay topics on abortion anymore. Once you’ve chosen the direction of thoughts, nothing will prevent you from creating a top-notch paper!

Don’t feel like being inspired by the topic of abortion? Luckily, we have trained pro’s here, who can do both, cope with any kind of essay… and fit into the deadline. Hit the button to learn more!

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Abortion Essay Writing Guide

Abortion is a controversial issue that has been at the center of public debate for decades. It is a multifaceted problem that can be discussed from different aspects, including legal, ethical, philosophical, moral, religious and medical. Also, abortion is a highly sensitive subject that leaves no one untouched. Everyone has an opinion or a personal experience related to abortion. The debate on abortion can take various forms, and likewise, there are different types of essays that can be written on the subject. This article offers an overview of the most common types of essays on abortion. A detailed description is given for each particular type, including its structure, outline, basic information on its contents, and tips for successful writing. Examples of well-written sample essays are also provided.

Essays on abortion can be divided into several categories which will be discussed below. The types include argumentative essays, persuasive essays, research papers, cause and effect essays, satirical essays and expository essays.

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY ON ABORTION

The argumentative essay is a type of writing which requires extensive investigation of a topic. The writer needs to collect and evaluate information and take a stand on the subject. Literature and previously published texts need to be researched with great scrutiny. This leads to a writer having in-depth knowledge on the subject and understanding different standpoints expressed by various authors. Based on that the writer can take his/her own position and then back it up with evidence. All argumentative essays involve stating a clear thesis and adhering to strict rules of reasoning. What argumentative essays are all about is establishing a position and then trying to convince the readers of the validity of one's points of view. Factual evidence is given to support one's opinion. To be able to do that, the writer should have explored the issue from various angles beforehand, collected facts, expert opinions, and statistics to support his/her claims.

Research and data collection are the first steps when writing an argumentative essay. After a topic and a position on it have been determined, the author goes on to develop an outline of the future essay. This allows for the basic structure of the essay to be established. The structure of the outline is as follows:

A thesis statement : the topic is reviewed in a general way setting the stage for the discussion that will ensue.
A smooth transition is made between the introduction and the body of the article, and later between the body and the conclusion.
Paragraphs forming the body of the article contain all relevant arguments, supported by different types of evidence, statistical, logical, factual, experiential, etc. Opposing views are also introduced with the evidence.
In the conclusion , the thesis is addressed once again and argued with regard to evidence presented.

When outlined in this way, the structure of an argumentative essay seems quite clear, but even so, when attempting to write an argumentative essay on abortion, you could have specific issues concerning that particular subject that need further explanation.

Abortion is a highly sensitive subject with people usually having strong feelings towards it and quite polarized opinions. A person is either strongly for abortion, therefore considering it as a question of personal freedom, or strongly against it, seeing it as a crime. Writing an argumentative essay is not about making statements but investigating them and finding supporting evidence for each of them. Before you can start doing that, it is important to choose and define the topic of the essay carefully. There is an almost indefinite number of possible topics you might choose, but they all come down to either looking at the problem from the pro-life perspective, which means being against abortion; or, from the pro-choice point of view, meaning being in favor of its legalization. When you decide on the perspective you would like to take, in-depth systematic research of the existing literature is needed to make an objective evaluation of the subject. No facts should be presented without backing evidence or testimonials given by recognized authorities on the subject. Since abortion is such an arguable topic, with two firmly opposed sides, both of them should be given careful consideration in your essay. But, as mentioned before, you are supposed to take a side and to give supporting evidence to your views, along with presenting the opposite opinion and arguments for it and then refuting it with evidence.

If, for example, you were to write an argumentative essay on why abortion should not be fully legalized, you would want to highlight four or five arguments supporting your opinion, backing them up with statistics, official standpoints of prominent figures and authorities, and other evidence. If you write your essay from a pro-life position, you could argue that a fetus is actually a human being from the point of conception, and, as such, has a right to live; it can feel pain, therefore, abortion causes suffering. These statements should be reinforced by medical evidence in the form of analysis of sonograms, which clearly show that after three months of gestation, human embryos are fully formed; they have a beating heart and a developed nervous system allowing them to feel the sensation of pain. By the time most abortions take place, the fetus can move his legs and arms, has fully developed fingers and toes and is a vibrant and thriving human being inside the mother's womb.

This would be the first argument in favor of the position you are taking when writing an argumentative essay. Another three or four solid arguments should follow. Next, you could look at the issue from the perspective of possible medical and psychological consequences for a woman. The procedure of an abortion potentially has significant health risks along with possible mental health issues following the psychological trauma of abortion. Another point is religion. The position of most major religious denominations has been made clear over the centuries and can be used as an argument here. A further point can be made with protection of human rights, rights of all humans including developing ones, which are usually referred to as fetuses.

When embarking on a journey of writing an argumentative essay, it is helpful to divide it into four or five sections beforehand and then simply add content to each section. This forms the outline of your essay and can make the process of composing your paper much easier. The outline starts with an introduction in which the topic is first addressed in a general manner. After that, the author should explain the importance of the subject, or why it is worth investigating. Finally, a thesis is formulated, with a short elaboration on it. So for example, if your subject is “Why abortion should not be legalized,” you would give a brief introduction of the problem and clarify your point of view by explaining why you believe that it should not be legalized. You could argue that it represents a murder because a fetus is already a human being from the moment of conception. You would point that out in the introduction section of your argumentative essay on abortion.

In the following section, which belongs to the body of the essay, you would start introducing arguments which favor your position and continue with disproving the opposing arguments. It is not ethical to only give evidence which proves your point. In the interest of objectivity, it is necessary to include evidence to the contrary. So, in this example, you would present the arguments of those who support the legalization of abortion, and then give evidence as to why they are mistaken. You could say that although a woman should not be coerced into raising an unwanted child, there are better options she can resort to instead of abortion. There are numerous couples whose desire for having children is denied by problems with infertility, and who would be willing and able to adopt a child and give it a loving home. By acknowledging the opposing views, you make your essay less arbitrary and more objective. You recognize, in part, the validity of views that are contrary to yours but go on to explain how they can be addressed without resorting to abortion. This makes an even more powerful point. The body of the essay usually has several paragraphs. In each paragraph, a single general idea is discussed, while keeping a logical link between the discussion of each idea and the thesis statement formulated in the introduction section.

The closing section of your essay is the conclusion. Since it is the part of your essay which would make the strongest impression on the reader, you should formulate it to be effective as well as logical. It should follow naturally the presented body of evidence, and make a synthesis of all the facts given in the body of the essay. No new information should be presented in this section. You restate your thesis, repeat the most important arguments and motivate your readers to continue thinking about the subject, suggesting an approach to abortion which would make the person considering it think more thoroughly about it, weigh all the options and only resort to it when absolutely necessary.

If you decide to support the opposing position, that abortion should be fully legalized, the structure of the argumentative essay stays the same. You state your thesis, write about the subject from the perspective of pro-choice advocates, and give arguments that support your point of view backing them with factual evidence, statistics and information coming from reliable sources. You can use articles written on this topic, opinions from renowned experts; give a historical overview of the issue, etc. Make sure to include enough evidential support for your position, as well as substantial refuting arguments for the opposing standpoint. An essay outline is essential to give an organized structure to your writing. In the introduction section, you would state your thesis about fully legalizing abortion and then go on to discuss it in terms of every woman having the right to decide for herself with no interference from society or the legal system. The body of the essay would present evidence to larger numbers of illegal and unsafe procedures being performed in countries with restrictive law policies towards abortion. Statistical data on complications following illegal abortions should further advance your cause. Other pro-choice arguments should ensue, discussing the issue in the context of health, demography, personal liberties, legislation, religion, etc. You can mention the expert opinions that fetuses that are not yet viable outside the womb cannot be considered to be independent human beings and that it is wrong for the government to decide on issues pertaining to a woman's body on her behalf.

Your essay than continues with the presentation of opposing arguments on which your opponent's position relies upon. Abortion is really a matter of perspective: when you consider it from the perspective of a developing fetus, you can argue that it has every right to live and thrive inside the mother's womb and to be born and have a life of its own. Conversely, from the mother's perspective, she has the right to have her privacy protected and not to be intruded on by the government, as well as the right to make decisions about her own body. You can discuss issues of congenital diseases and birth defects, age and socioeconomic circumstances of a mother, maternal physical and mental illnesses that could affect the unborn child and so on.

All the issues you dealt with in the body of the essay should be summarized in the conclusion section. Once again, this is the place for you to make your argument even more effective by restating the most important facts given throughout your essay, perhaps with a punch line that would make your view of the matter stand out from all other possible points of considering the problem at hand. You could refer to unwanted pregnancies that are in fact consequences of rape or incest, or situations when a child is bound to be born with a serious and debilitating health condition.

To sum up what is said on writing an argumentative essay, it consists of stating your position and then giving a comprehensive list of supporting and contrasting arguments with those in favor of your point of view, prevailing over those opposed to it. What you are doing is essentially trying to convince the reader of the validity of your opinion, while simultaneously discrediting the opposing opinions. Covering the issue with strong arguments is crucial, while also giving an evidence-based presentation of the other side's arguments, and then invalidating them convincingly. In argumentative essays on abortion, you give arguments supporting both opposing opinions. Here is a plan you can implement when listing the pros and cons concerning the subject of abortion in an argumentative essay:

a) Introduction, followed by two pro-points supported by evidence, then a con-point which is refuted and conclusion;

b) Introduction, followed by a con-point which is disputed, then two pro-points with supporting evidence and conclusion;

c) Introduction, three con-points which are disputed and conclusion;

d) Introduction, body of the essay consisting of two parts – in the first part three counterclaims are presented accompanied by refuting evidence, and in the second part, three claims are given with evidence to support them. All this is followed by a conclusion.

e) A pattern in which claims and counterclaims are given in an alternating order: introduction, a claim followed by supporting evidence, a counterclaim with refuting evidence, another claim with evidence, another counterclaim, and so on. The conclusion is given at the end as always.

The patterns a) - c) are suitable for short argumentative essays on abortion while patterns d) and e) are more suited for advanced college essays .

Always bear in mind that your opinions should be well supported by factual evidence, rational justifications, and testimonials given by experts, if available. Also, some counterarguments would need to be proven incorrect, or refuted; and others - shown to be irrelevant to the subject, or rebutted. Both approaches can be valuable in discrediting the other side's argument.

These suggestions on how to write an argumentative essay on abortion cover all the basic elements required to be successful. Should you, however, need additional assistance you can turn to sample essays on abortion that are readily available online and can give you a starting point for your own writing. You can follow the structure of these essays to ensure that your composition has all the necessary components presented properly. If you would like to find arguments for the debate on abortion, there is a wide array of those in the already written material. All that is left for you to do is to decide on the position you would like to take in this matter, whether it is the pro-choice or the pro-life argument that makes more sense to you.

Samples of argumentative essays each discuss different aspects of the abortion issue, some of them take a historical perspective, some discuss the problem from the legal point of view, yet others focus on human rights or even medical issues. These samples can provide a good basis for your work, an example of how an argumentative essay is supposed to be structured and which content is the most suitable for this type of essay. Abortion is obviously a multifaceted subject, and these examples can be your guide leading you in the right direction after you have decided on the position you would like to support. They offer a comprehensive overview of the subject, covering all possible angles some of which could have never crossed your mind before but are certainly worth mentioning.

The abundance of material available on the internet sometimes makes it hard and time-consuming to find what you are looking for, and it is easy to become overwhelmed. Free argumentative essays on abortion that are now available online can be time saving and inspiring, thus, allowing you to compose a well-structured and convincing essay in just a margin of time you would need if you were to start from scratch. It can be helpful to review already existing work to refine one's own standpoint and come up with a strategy for writing the assigned essay. After you have checked the sources used in sample essays for authenticity and reliability, you can also use them in your own work, instead of going through tons of books and articles printed in scientific journals.

Samples of argumentative essays can be used throughout the process of writing an argumentative essay on abortion. Also, when you have completed your work, you can compare it against the example essays to check if an important issue had been left out or if a significant line of arguments had been omitted. For instance, the issue of abortion can be covered from the medical point of view, including mental and physical health issues of the mother, as well potential risks to the health of the fetus. Or, you could approach it from the legal point of view, with statistical data on numbers of illegal and unsafe procedures in countries with restrictive legislation compared to those registered in countries with more permissive laws concerning abortion. Or, focus on the demographic point, discussing the overpopulation problem and the one-child, or two-children per couple policy which exists in some countries. Regardless of the perspective you choose, the arguments should always be logical, well-established and supported by expert opinions, statistical data as well as originating from reliable sources.

Here are some pointers on how you can successfully write an argumentative essay on abortion:

Research the subject thoroughly . You could be keen on starting your essay immediately, or you could feel it is a waste of time to investigate the topic extensively. It is actually never a waste of time. If you do not have sufficient knowledge and understanding of the subject, you will not be able to distinguish between reliable and unreliable sources of information on the Internet and to reject those that are complete fiction or a matter of an author's personal biased opinion, which is not based on evidence.
Take your time . Never skip steps in a rush to get the work done. Your urge to get on with it is perfectly understandable, but you should try not to start writing until you have made extensive notes, covering all the major sides of the topic you wish to discuss. Go through your notes once again; check if there is anything you would like to add or if there are any unnecessary repetitions. Scrutinizing the material another time could produce more ideas or even induce you to continue your research if you find that your notes are not covering all the angles.
The introduction is crucial . Beginnings are always the hardest. You may even feel as if you were not up to the task, not competent enough or that the work that lies ahead of you exceeds your abilities. Forcing yourself to come up with ideas while staring at an empty piece of paper is never helpful. For starters, you can use one of the introductory sentences from existing papers. Once you get started, and your own work starts to flow, you can go back and change the opening line into something original. The introduction could contain some political or moral views, but avoid opening your essay with religious aspects of the subject as your readers could be easily upset or offended by those. There is no need to avoid the issue completely. You are free to discuss it in the following segments of your paper. Assure your readers that you have considered the topic in a serious and meticulous manner, which you can achieve by providing statistical data, references to reliable and well-trusted sources and by paying attention to the counterarguments as well as to arguments supporting your position.
Base your essay on facts . There are two sides to any story, and both of them must be portrayed impartially. You are writing an argumentative essay, so you need to set aside all prejudice and use only factual evidence to reinforce your claims. Being professional in presenting the evidence is imperative, because any attempt to bend the truth is bound to end in disaster, and only make you look unprofessional. Use the information you gathered. You have already learned how to write an argumentative essay from two opposing perspectives, so you are ready to start working on the main part of your essay – the body. This is where the bulk of advice for writing an argumentative essay lies, so pay close attention to the following:

If you decided to address the abortion issue from the pro-choice perspective, you would examine the problem from the angle of a pregnant woman. Perhaps the best policy is to avoid starting the essay with the issue of human rights since you can easily be trapped into the debate of whose rights are more important, those of a mother or those of a fetus. It is much safer to open with some medical information on pregnancy and abortion, as well as on safe ways to end a pregnancy before full term. This can be accompanied by statistical data but beware of boring your reader with tons of statistics. Try to apply just the right dose of statistical information to prove your point, but then use examples or personal stories to make the reading more lifelike and enjoyable. Here are some of the reasons a pregnant woman might want to induce miscarriage and not bring her pregnancy to term:

The continuation of pregnancy poses a great risk for the mother due to complications of the pregnancy or illnesses that might be exacerbated by pregnancy.
The risk of death during childbirth is significant for either the mother or the child or both.
There is a genetic abnormality in the fetus which will make it not viable after birth or condemn it to a life of suffering.
The pregnancy might be a result of rape or incest and bringing it to term, and raising the child afterward would pose a tremendous strain on an already traumatized woman.
The woman is too young for motherhood, both from the health perspective (given that such an early pregnancy might cause reproductive problems later on and put a young woman's health at serious risk), and from the socioeconomic perspective, because a teenage mother is not capable of providing for her child, and they would both most probably be living in poverty without financial means to provide them with opportunity for education.
The mother is mentally ill and cannot be expected to take good care of her child. Also, some mental illnesses are highly hereditary, so there is a strong possibility that the child would be affected.

There is also the controversial argument that the world is already overpopulated and that bringing an unwanted child to life is irresponsible since resources in some parts of the globe are getting scarce. You should be very careful if you choose to use this argument and expect to find some strong opposition.

You could also argue that fetus is not considered to be an independent person before birth, and therefore ending a pregnancy cannot be considered a murder. If the pregnancy is terminated early enough, the fetus is still not capable of experiencing pain, especially if nonaggressive methods of abortion are used. Therefore, it is up to the mother to make a choice. She should not be punished for conceiving an unwanted child since this can happen even with regular use of contraceptives.

The above-mentioned arguments are some of the most common claims you could make when writing an argumentative essay from the pro-choice perspective. Of course, you can think of other examples and add to the list.

If you decided to write your argumentative essay on abortion from the pro-life perspective, you should look at the issue from exactly the opposite angle, considering abortion murder and substantiating your claims with some of the following evidence:

Abortion is a medical procedure that can have serious consequences, both immediate and long-term, including heavy bleeding, damage to the woman's reproductive or other organs, sterility and even death.
Abortion is physically and psychologically traumatizing. A woman can regret having an abortion for the rest of her life. She is at great risk of mental health problems, depression or even suicide.
Since so many couples struggle with infertility, a woman carrying an unwanted child can easily find loving parents for her baby and avoid having an abortion.
Most major religions are opposed to abortions and consider them a sin. Of course, not everyone is religious, but still it is an argument worth mentioning.
The unborn child, like any other human being has rights but is unable to stand up for him/herself, so he/she needs protection from legal institutions.
Philosophically speaking, if abortion is easily accessible and done without giving it a lot of thought, what does that tell us about the value of human life? Here you can call upon your readers to think for themselves and perhaps to consider the issue more deeply than before.

Bottom line, take a side. If you did not have strong feelings before starting to investigate the issue of abortion more thoroughly, this is the point when you have gathered enough information to decide which side to take. You might have even changed the opinion you previously had in light of all the evidence you had never seen before. But now you really have to pick a side and to either write from the pro-choice or the pro-life perspective. You need to be sure why you have chosen a particular point of view, and believe in it yourself if you want to convince your readers of its legitimacy. In the closing part of your essay, you will recap some of the arguments given throughout the body of the text, possibly adding a personal touch to the concluding section allowing your readers to understand exactly why you decided to support this particular viewpoint.

PERSUASIVE ESSAY ON ABORTION

A persuasive essay is an essay in which the writer takes a stand for or against something and tries to convince the readers to accept it as true or compel them to do something. A persuasive essay can be created on the basis of any idea that you strongly believe in. There is no room for the opposing point of view; if you are ambivalent yourself, there is no way you will be able to convince anybody else. You should be very well informed on the subject. If not, you should try to expand your knowledge using multiple sources, all legitimate ones, such as expert opinions, statistical facts, logical reasons, etc. Knowing how to compose a persuasive essay is a skill everyone should learn since it can be widely used in a number of situations; for example, if you would like your boss to give you a raise, you would need to persuade him with strong arguments that you actually deserve it. Even if your readers previously thought exactly the opposite, you can learn how to convince them in the validity of your position and ultimately induce them to change their opinions.

In a persuasive essay on abortion, as mentioned before, there are two opposed sides and no middle ground between them. So after carefully reviewing the available literature and giving it some thought, it is time for you to decide on a thesis that would most accurately represent your own opinion on the topic. The thesis should be formulated in a single sentence and yet reflect a strong position. If for example, after going through all the factual evidence, you decide that abortion is just the wrong thing to do, you can write a persuasive essay from the pro-life position, proving that abortion is murder and, therefore, should be legally sanctioned as such. You can prove your point by asserting that a fetus is a human being from the point of conception and, therefore, has a right to live and anyone trying to deprive it of its right should be treated as a criminal.

In this type of essay, the introduction contains a hook which is used to secure the readers' attention. It can be a quote, an unusual fact, a question, an anecdote or even an exaggerated statement meant to induce a psychological shock, an emotional reaction which would compel your audience to continue reading. When writing an essay against abortion, it can be a quote from the Bible, citing the commandment saying “You shall not kill.” Or, it can be a medical fact on how the fetus already feels pain at six weeks gestation or a sentence taken from an interview you conducted with someone who underwent an abortion and later regretted it.

When writing the body of your persuasive essay, each paragraph should begin with a strong assertion, a mini-thesis of a sort, which would reinforce your claim from different angles adding to its persuasiveness with each succeeding paragraph. Do not forget to add a paragraph including concession statements. A concession is a form of anticipating what your readers might say against your opinion. You acknowledge it and then prove that the particular argument is not valid, or not applicable to the case you are presenting. The concession is not a weakness; it actually adds to the strength of your opinion since it shows you to be open for debate and willing to recognize that there are more sides to the matter than the one you are taking.

Apart from having a strong opinion on the subject, you must be able to communicate it in a logical and professional manner. As easy as it may seem to simply articulate your opinions, you have to follow certain rules if you want to persuade your readers that you are absolutely right. To do that, it is necessary to back your views with supporting evidence in the form of personal experience, statistical facts, and logical justifications. Especially when your statements involve something that is not instantly obvious or common sense, you should be prepared to support it with strong evidence. The evidence you rely on should be factual and objective; otherwise, it will hardly be plausible to your audience. Also, remember to keep your sentences short if you want them to convey a strong message. Only use one point per sentence; otherwise, you will only weaken the argument you are trying to make.

Persuasive essays are relatively short, the body of the essay usually comprising of no more than three paragraphs, out of which two are used for your claims supported by evidence, and one for a counterclaim, followed by refutation thereof. In your pro-life essay on abortion, you could go into detail describing the cruelty and inhumanity of abortion techniques. Pay close attention to conveying the medical information accurately; they are gruesome enough for the average reader to become appalled with and start supporting your position. In the next part of the body, you can portray the fetus as a developing human being, able to experience pain from an early gestational period. It has a beating heart starting at six weeks gestation. Go on to describe the intrauterine development of the bodily systems, explaining when a fetus starts to hear, sleep, open its eyes, has a sense of taste, etc.

You can continue by introducing the religious issue into your essay, citing the commandments and interpreting abortion as murder, therefore being a capital sin. The fetus originates from two human beings and can only be human, nothing else. Also, it is human from the point of conception, although the opponents argue that it cannot be considered a human being before it is viable outside the womb, or before it can exist independently. Nevertheless, its humanity from the conception on cannot be questioned.

After stating your two strongest claims, go on to mention the most common counterclaim and try to refute it with evidence, expert opinions, statistical data, etc. You could make use of the statistics on abortion which show the most unwanted pregnancies to happen in women of young age, of low socioeconomic background, low education, that are in abusive relationships, or currently have no partners at all. One might argue that these are not the best conditions to bring a baby to life. On the other hand, is abortion really the best solution? Should the society not do more for these women in dire need? For example, they can be offered free housing, help with childcare, educational opportunities, jobs. Since every abortion carries a risk of complications including future sterility, this might be a woman's only opportunity to become a mother.

To be persuasive while writing this type of essay, the topic you have chosen has to appeal to you personally. It should be something you feel strongly about and will, therefore, be able to argue it passionately. It should be a highly debatable topic, with two strongly opposed sides. Make sure that your position potentially has enough arguments that support it. If the counterarguments are overwhelming, you should choose another subject to write about.

As mentioned before, persuasive essays are relatively short, so after writing a solid introduction and three segments of the body of the paper, you should summarize the crucial elements of your argument and emphasize once again what you want your readers to believe, what you want them to feel or what action you want them to take. This makes the conclusion part of your essay. Use it to refresh your readers' memory on the important points you made throughout your essay and then add a personal comment at the end. You can close with a quotation which sums up what has been discussed and calls for more in-depth thinking or for taking action to make a difference on the subject. You could end it with a personal note, elaborate on why you took a personal interest in this matter or why it is important to you.

Although writing a persuasive essay on abortion can be a complex task, since it is a highly sensitive issue and everyone tends to feel strongly about it, you should try to be very clear in your points of view. Repeat the most important ones in conclusion, and do it in a meticulous and explicit way. Go through your essay once more, check if there is a nice and natural flow of ideas, if your arguments are relevant to the subject and well supported by evidence and if your conclusion follows your argumentation logically. Also, make sure that the counterarguments have been dealt with objectively and refuted beyond doubt. In the conclusion section of the essay on abortion, you would want to underline the importance of your point of view and induce the readers to start looking at the issue from your perspective.

Revise your essay both regarding content and form. Correct any spelling or grammatical errors, and make sure the writing style is satisfactory. You may need to rephrase something, rearrange the paragraphs in the body of the essay, rethink some evidence and possibly remove a particular argument for being unconvincing or substitute it with another. Remember your task is to persuade the audience of the validity of your claim. You are allowed to appeal to the readers' emotions as well as their common sense and logic.

What has been said on persuasive essays against abortion can also be applied to persuasive speeches against abortion. Similar to writing an essay, when drafting a speech, you also start with an outline, divide what you would like to say in a few segments, each explaining your position from different angles but in a well-defined and persuasive manner. When speaking against abortion, you open with a thesis, give supporting evidence to your claims in the main part of your speech, and close with a recapitulation, a short summary of your position and a call for action. When drafting an outline for your persuasive speech on abortion, do not forget to ask a few questions and then attempt to offer plausible answers to them in the course of your speech. You can talk about statistical data concerning the number of intentional terminations of pregnancies that are performed each year, different legislations on abortion all over the world and how they reflect on the abortion practice. You can bring up the issue of the procedure safety about maternal health; refer to the possible immediate and long-term consequences etc. There is also the issue of human rights of the fetus to be discussed. You do not want to appear bigoted or blindly conservative and oblivious of the instances when abortion is indeed a necessity. Discuss those cases further, talk about the physical and mental health problems of a mother, cover all the angles and leave no stone unturned, so to speak. Remain objective and rational while occasionally also engaging the audience emotionally.

There is an abundance of persuasive essay samples online. They can come in handy when preparing to write your own essay of this type. You can use them to extract ideas or to find reliable sources of information on the subject. To illustrate how a persuasive essay on abortion should look like, here is an example:

Abortion is a term used to describe a purposeful ending of a pregnancy by means of fetus or embryo removal before it is viable to survive outside the mother's womb. It is also called an induced miscarriage in contrast to miscarriages that occur spontaneously. It used to be illegal in most parts of the world but is gradually becoming legalized. The turning point in changing the legislation on abortion was the infamous Roe v Wade case in which it was ruled that the state was not entitled to interfere with a woman's right to privacy or to prevent her from having a pregnancy terminated at request. Regardless of the procedure now being performed legally in the U.S., it remains a controversial and highly debatable subject. There are even attempts to reverse the ruling and limit the availability of abortion. The public opinion is divided into two opposed groups, the pro-life and pro-choice advocates. The pro-life supporters argue that a fetus is a human being entitled to all the rights other human beings have and that abortion is the wrong thing to do from the moral, religious and human rights perspective. Conversely, the pro-choice groups insist on a woman's right to decide over her own body without the interference from the government. Termination of pregnancy has been a common practice for centuries. This was, however, not regulated by law. Nowadays, abortions are legal and available on demand in most of the developed world countries. Legislations vary from country to country and, sometimes, within a single country. In the most permissive legislations, abortion is allowed on broad grounds including on a woman's request, without any medical indications. Other countries only allow it in special cases including the pregnancies resulting from rape or incest, or cases when the fetus has severe congenital malformations. 97% of the countries, however, allow the pregnancy to be terminated when the mother's health is at risk. Although those in favor of abortion claim that a fetus feels no pain, that it is merely a “clump of cells”, this can be challenged as Doctor Maureen L. Condic, a professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy at the University of Utah, explains that embryos cannot be reduced to collections of human cells, they can grow, to mature, maintain a delicate physiological balance, and adapt to changing conditions. The embryos may not resemble a human being at the beginning, but Dr. Condic raises the question if our respect for human life should really depend on its appearance. The real-life stories of women faced with the dilemma of whether to terminate their pregnancy or not can be heartbreaking. Helen found out that her unborn son had a terrible congenital disease which would make his life filled with pain and misery. The laws on abortion gave her the right to decide if he was to be born or not. This, of course, was not an easy decision. The responsibility for this choice was overwhelming, and Helen had to make it. What would any of us have decided in a similar situation is hard to tell. To conclude, we could argue that the issue of abortion is a highly sensitive and debatable one. No one is left indifferent. Whether it is legally accessible through the health system or performed in illegal unsanitary facilities by unskilled people, it is still the reality of life. There are always circumstances under which women would resort to abortion. Everyone has their own opinions on the reasons that can be considered substantial enough to warrant a termination of pregnancy, no matter if they are economic, medical, social, or even personal. However, human life is precious and worth preserving with utmost care, so that a decision to terminate it should never be made lightly or without thinking.

This essay example could be used when writing a high school level essay on abortion, while a more advanced educational level requires substantiating it with more factual evidence and discussing them in more detail.

RESEARCH PAPER ON ABORTION

A research paper analyses a chosen subject from a particular perspective and argues a point. It involves going through tons of literature, scientific articles, books, encyclopedias and other sources but it cannot be reduced to presenting a collection of those. When it is finished, a research paper represents your own views on a certain topic, strongly supported by meticulously collected facts and pieces of information. You draw upon what you already know about the subject and try to determine what experts in the field have to say about it.

There are several steps in successful writing of a research paper :

Precisely defining the topic of your research paper . For example, a topic defined as “Abortion should be prohibited by law” is not considered good enough because it lacks precision. A better one would sound something like “Abortion should be prohibited by law since it involves killing a fetus that is already a human being.” In this way, the topic is narrowed down and made more precise. When trying to determine the specific topic you would like to write about, you can resort to literature or personal experiences of people who had confronted the issue. Next, you need to explain why you chose to investigate that particular aspect of abortion, to clarify why you regard it as an important subject.
Defining your thesis . It should be a debatable issue that involves facts which are verifiable and can be either confirmed or refuted. Keep your language professional and avoid using expressions like “I think” or “if you ask me,” etc. An example of a thesis on abortion could sound like “It is morally wrong and illegal to perform abortions since a developing fetus can already be viewed as a human being.”
Writing an outline . It serves as means of organizing your notes and making a list of everything you would like to include in your essay. You can divide your topic into subtopics and determine what each of them would contain. The outline consists of an introduction which has a thesis statement at the end, the body of the paper containing several points of argument such as information on legislation, statistical data, medical facts including the explanation of intrauterine fetal development, and a conclusion. The introductory section is supposed to be short and powerful in order to catch the readers' attention and induce them to continue reading. The body of the paper further discusses the main idea suggested in the introduction, and the conclusion summarizes all the main points made throughout the research paper and proves the postulated thesis. So if you have chosen to write a research paper against abortion, you would need to explain your standpoint, look for trustworthy sources of information on it, and use real-life stories of those who had undergone the procedure. Based on your outline, you can define research questions that you would like to answer in your paper. They could include the question of human rights, if, in fact, a fetus’s right to live should prevail over a pregnant woman's right to choose. Or, you could raise a legal question, if making abortion illegal would only raise the number of operations being performed in an unsafe manner; or, the religious question of what the Bible has to say on the subject.
Composing a draft . Focus your attention on the content, as this version of the text will later be revised and any grammatical or spelling mistakes corrected.
Writing a final draft . This version should meet the style requirements, and be free of any spelling or grammatical errors. It should only encompass ideas that are relevant and well supported by factual evidence. The required format of the paper should also be respected which includes adding citations and references, and a title page if requested.

Hopefully, these instructions will assist you in writing your own research paper. If however, you still find that the task exceeds your capabilities or time limitations, you can always order a research paper online .

CAUSE AND EFFECT ESSAY ON ABORTION

A cause and effect essay is a paper in which ideas are organized in such way as to determine why certain things occur, what is their cause, or what possible consequences could something have, what are its effects. Sometimes, there are lots of causes of a single effect, or conversely, different effects can be the outcome of a single cause. When writing this type of essay, your first step would be to determine whether you would like to focus on a cause, such as abortion, and then investigate its possible effects, like health-related complications or psychological issues such as grief, remorse or depression. Or, think if you would like to focus on abortion as an effect, and to examine the factors leading to it. The essay can have the purpose to inform or to persuade, and you would write it accordingly.

When discussing causes to an event, you should stay focused on those narrowly related to the event, and ignore any possible remote or indirect causes for which it could be rather difficult to prove that they played a role in the event. As always, you should support your claims with factual evidence, give examples to clarify your point and offer personal observations to elucidate your ideas further. Pay close attention to the terminology you use, qualify something as a cause only if there is strong evidence to support that qualification; otherwise, speak only of correlation or things occurring simultaneously or in succession but with no clear causal relationship. This is usually a five-paragraph essay, opened with an introduction, followed by two paragraphs discussing cause and effect separately and one in which these are combined, and ended with a conclusion. The instructions for writing a cause and effect essay seem rather straightforward, but should you require further assistance, you can find it online.

SATIRICAL ESSAY ON ABORTION

This sort of essay uses satire to criticize or ridicule the subject of discussion or make it absurd. Primarily, it is not meant to be funny or to amuse the audience, as much as it is intended to get your readers interested in what you have to say, humor being the shortest way to get someone's attention. A satirical essay uses hyperbole or exaggeration to accentuate things you would like to emphasize. Irony is also useful, in a way that saying the exact opposite of what you mean in an ironic way expresses your opinions even more effectively. Make jokes but be careful not to cross the line of good taste and risk offending the audience. When writing about a highly sensitive topic like abortion, you should be extra careful when using humor and irony. You could however quite easily get away with statements like “sex should be forbidden by law,” to point to the absurdity of certain claims that are usually made in connection with the termination of pregnancy.

EXPOSITORY ESSAY ON ABORTION

Expository essay is a type of essay in which a specific idea, or several ideas, are investigated, backed up with evidence, developed further into an argument which conveys the author's point of view on the subject. The means of accomplishing this task include providing definitions, contrasting opposing arguments, listing examples, analyzing what led to an event, etc. It can be written with very little preparation, as it usually does not require extensive research. It is more about your own thoughts on a subject, reinforced by real-life examples or other evidence. When the structure of the essay is concerned, this is a classic five-paragraph essay that starts with an introduction, develops into a three-paragraph body of the essay, and ends with a conclusion. If you are writing on the topic of abortion, you could define your thesis statement as “Abortion should be prohibited because it denies the fetus its human rights.” After composing an outline, you should think of illustrative examples that prove your point. Real life stories can be very useful in this type of essay, but be sure to connect them to the thesis consequently. Try to make your conclusion logical and to the point; it is likely to leave the greatest impression on your audience. If you follow these instructions carefully, writing an expository essay will not be a difficult task for you.

WRITING AN ABORTION ESSAY OUTLINE

After choosing a subject of an essay and doing thorough research on the available literature and other sources, what precedes the actual writing of a paper is drafting an outline. Most types of essays follow the same basic pattern:

Introduction in which the general idea on the topic is conveyed which is meant to grab the readers' attention. The topic is defined, and a thesis statement is formulated. When writing about abortion, the topic can be expressed as “Abortion should be prohibited,” and the thesis statement would be “Abortion should be prohibited because it denies the fetus its human rights.”
Body of the essay which consists of arguments linked to the thesis, backed with supporting evidence. Counterarguments should also be included followed by refuting evidence. Termination of pregnancy is such a controversial and debatable topic that it offers an abundance of possible claims and counterclaims to choose from. It is important to use only those that can be directly linked to the thesis.
Conclusion in which the thesis is restated, all the information is summarized and connected to the thesis.

OTHER USEFUL INFORMATION ON WRITING AN ABORTION ESSAY

Tons of written materials are readily available wherever you look. So what can you do to make your essay stand out from the multitude of similar essays and appeal to the audience? Well, first of all, you should determine who your audience or target group (or possibly a target person) is. It can be your high school teacher or a college professor who assigned you a writing project and who will grade your work afterward. It can be a group of classmates or peers or another social group. The tactic you will employ depends primarily on who you are writing for. If it is your teacher, your essay should instigate him to give you a good grade, if it is a person in charge of college admission, your aim is to convince them to admit you to college. But in the case of these two examples, there is not an issue of whether they would actually read your paper. They are required to do it; it is in their job description. Other audiences, however, are a completely different story. Since they are not obliged to read your essay, and can easily skip it and find something else to read, you need to catch their attention and make them interested in what you have to say.

Luckily, abortion is a topic which never ceases to be popular or widely debated. Nevertheless, you would need a good essay hook. A hook is a sentence or a phrase that attracts attention by presenting intriguing information which makes you want to continue reading and find out more about it. Consequently, you decide to read the essay through, which is exactly what the author wanted you to do. The hook is also dependent on who your audience is and what they want to read about. Do they simply want to be entertained, or do they need instruction on how to do something or how to resolve an issue? Or are they looking for answers to a particular question? When you have determined what your audience expects to get from reading your essay, you should try to formulate your hook in the way that corresponds to the readers' needs best. There is no simple formula how to do this. Just come up with one or two strong sentences to start your essay with, and you will successfully grab your readers' attention.

It is also necessary to determine the purpose of your essay. The purpose basically depends on the type of essay you are planning to write, whether it is an argumentative essay, a persuasive essay, a research study or any other kind which was previously discussed throughout this paper. In certain types of essays, the main purpose is to describe the subject in detail; in others, it is to persuade the audience to look at an issue from your particular point of view. A successful hook would be able to elicit an emotional response, and the type of emotions involved would depend on how you want your audience to feel after reading your essay, what is the desired effect that you aim to accomplish. In order to come up with a good hook for your abortion essay, it is always a good idea to read a few abortion essays written in a similar way, to evaluate them critically to determine what caught your attention and to find an advantage for yourself.

Some of the possible hooks for an abortion essay would be:

Is abortion a murder?
Whose child gets to be born?
Abortion – a solution to overpopulation
You are poor – get an abortion
It is your body – why should the government decide?

CHOOSING THE RIGHT TOPIC

The selection of a suitable topic is essential when planning to write an argumentative essay. Abortion being an extremely popular subject, there is almost no way you could go wrong. It all comes down to actually choosing a topic that suits you, that is in line with your personal opinions and points of view so that you can argue it convincingly. When it comes to abortion, there are two opposed fractions with basically no middle ground between them. They are the pro-life and pro-choice advocates. If you are not assigned to write from a particular position, simply go ahead and choose the one that is the closest to how you actually feel about the subject. Then you can decide to focus on different angles, including the religious point, the health issues argument, the legal aspects of abortion, the human rights issue, etc. Examples of good topics are: “Should abortion be fully legalized?”, “Is abortion a violation of human rights?”, “Is abortion morally right?”

CLOSING SECTION OF THE ABORTION ESSAY

The conclusion serves the purpose of recapitulating all that has previously been said in the course of the assignment. If your essay was rather long, then it is useful to summarize in short what has already been said on the subject. On the other hand, if your essay was a shorter one, you could just give a concise review of your argument. This is your chance to round up your major ideas, connect them all together and provide a closure for the subject you have been writing on, without completely shutting the discussion down, but rather creating a basis for continued thinking on the subject. When writing on abortion, there is an abundance of possible topics to choose from, such as:

Should the government have a say in ending a pregnancy?
Should a woman be required to undergo an abortion in specific cases?
How many abortions are women allowed to have in her lifetime?

Regardless of the specific content you decided to write about, the conclusion should contain a powerful message, perhaps putting the subject of the essay in a larger context or talking about the possible implications of the debated issue. The conclusion should make an impression on the audience; compel them to look at the problem from your perspective.

To become proficient in writing a high quality essay on abortion, the best policy is to adhere to the advice provided to you throughout this article, and combine what you have learned with reading several example essays that exist on the subject. It should equip you with tools necessary to get the structure of the essay just right, expand your knowledge on the topic as well as your vocabulary that you could later put to good use in your own paper, teach you how to use proper grammatical constructions and well-composed sentences. Apart from that, examples are indicative of the way a good essay should look like, what it consists of, where and how to formulate your thesis statement, how to secure a natural and logical flow of ideas, how to use a hook, how to link all the pieces of evidence and all the arguments to the thesis, and finally, how to write a strong conclusion that will convince your readers in the idea you are trying to put through.

There is absolutely no reason to start everything from scratch. Why waste time and energy on creating something that already exists, and has already been optimized by others? You can simply use the existing essays as sources of ideas, and make your own original work of art. You can combine solutions provided in multiple papers to accomplish the desired result. Also, if you experience a writer's block, you are temporarily unable to come up with fresh and original ideas, or lack time to do it, feel free to turn to the free essays on abortion available online. They will give you a much-needed push start, which you can later build on and make it original and stylish. All different types of essays on abortion, including the argumentative essay, the persuasive essay, the research paper, the expository essay, the satirical essay and the cause and effect essay can be found on the internet.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON WRITING AN ESSAY ON ABORTION

A possible way to address the issue of abortion is to look at it from a positive or a negative point of view. Depending on what you decide, you would either demonstrate its advantages or disadvantages. If you write from the advantages perspective, you will accentuate its good sides presenting them from various angles. From the legal point of view, it is much better to have permissive legislation that allows abortion on broad grounds so that women carrying unwanted children would not have to resort to illegal and unsafe procedures done by unskilled people in unsanitary conditions. Also, a woman should not be coerced to give birth to a child when the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest. From the social perspective, if a woman is too young, or still in school and with no income of her own, it would be better for her to postpone childbearing until she has finished school or found a decent job. This would potentially be beneficial for the child as well, as he/she would have better chances of growing up in a stimulating and loving environment. There is also the issue of terminating a pregnancy on medical grounds, when the mother's or the baby's life is in danger.

The issue of abortion can also be discussed in terms of philosophical questions it raises. Our modern society has still not reached a consensus when this sensitive issue is concerned. It remains a highly controversial topic. If you would want to argue it in a philosophical way you would need to formulate a plausible thesis, come up with arguments to support it and anticipate any possible counterarguments so that you can prepare a defense against them. You would need to create a comprehensive list of pros and cons and discuss each one of them in view of your thesis. An excellent philosophical essay on abortion has been written by Carl Sagan. He tries to ascertain at what moment is it considered that a fetus is a human being whose life should be preserved. He also raises the question of how it can be murder to kill a newborn infant, but not murder if it was killed just a day before. Was it not human then? Was the crime any less then? These are some of the most difficult questions to answer, and every profession involved in the issue has dealt with them in ways they can use in practice. Courts have ruled on the matter and stuck to their rulings; the medical profession has strict policies on when and on what grounds abortions can be performed. But the philosophical question of the value of human life, or indeed when the human life begins, remains open.

After having read these instructions and advice on how to write an essay on abortion, if you need further assistance, please contact our custom writing services , and a high-quality essay will be provided for you.

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Hold On to Your Hats, America

A graduating student holds a light blue mortar board cap on her head as she walks with a few other graduates dressed in light blue gowns.

By Gail Collins and Bret Stephens

Ms. Collins and Mr. Stephens are Opinion columnists. They converse every week.

Bret Stephens: Hi, Gail. It’s commencement season, though at least a few ceremonies are being canceled on account of all the protests. If you were giving a graduation address, what would you say?

Gail Collins: Well, I’ve given a commencement address or two in my time, but even when things were troubled, I could tell that most of the audience was hoping I’d make them laugh. Just in a way that made them feel it was OK to celebrate their achievements by having a good time with their families and friends.

Bret: Last time I spoke to a graduating class, I tried to compare great arguments to great sex. Not sure how that one went over .

Gail: Wish I had been in the audience for that. Don’t know exactly what I’d say to the current graduates, except that I’d congratulate them for having made it through a time of international turmoil, where both presumptive presidential nominees were almost old enough to be their great-grandfathers.

Bret: I’d urge them to do everything they can to cultivate an inner life, especially since social media is always trying to suck it out of them. Commit great poems to heart, starting with those by Gerard Manley Hopkins and Edna St. Vincent Millay. Recite them aloud on solitary walks. Compose dirty limericks in your head. Read more for pleasure, less for purpose. Read, immediately, Marguerite Yourcenar’s “Memoirs of Hadrian.” Imitate the writers or artists you most admire; you’ll find your own voice and style in all the ways your imitation falls short. Don’t post self-indulgent glam shots of yourself on Instagram, and please stop photographing your damn meals.

Gail: Unless you cooked them — if you’re being creative in the kitchen, it’s like trying to write a poem. Not that I’m any good at either.

Bret: Fair point.

Also: Think of TikTok as your generation’s cocaine and get off it. Work hard on keeping a few good friendships, not gaining thousands of followers. Eschew envy, cynicism and virtue signaling. Ponder the meaning of the word “ hineni. ” Make only enough money so that you don’t have to think about it much. Preserve an independence of mind and spirit, and nurture a contrarian opinion or two, especially if it goes against your own political side.

Gail: Go, Bret.

Bret: Reserve the right to change your mind — and really do it from time to time. Never join a cause if you aren’t fully familiar with the argument against it. Heed the words of Rabbi Hillel: “Where there are no men, be thou a man.” Or woman. Don’t equate success with fame or fame with happiness. Find your core satisfaction in a soul mate, not a career. Laugh more, mostly at yourself.

What have I missed?

Gail: That’s pretty damn good, especially the laughing part. But I’m not going to go so far as to suggest student protesting is a bad or silly idea. Maybe I’d say: Don’t ruin the day for your friends who’ve brought their parents over from Cleveland for one special moment they’ve been looking forward to for ages.

Bret: Because the Browns are punishment enough?

Gail: I probably told you I was a student protester at my college graduation time. My friends and I went to the ceremony, and they let us onstage, but we didn’t get presented diplomas — because we’d gotten an incomplete in Ethics of Journalism.

Not going any further with this story except to say that it was all about free speech and the effort my friends and I made to get the gay poet Allen Ginsberg the right to speak at our Catholic college.

Bret: I long for the days when campus protests were for the Jew.

Gail: Trillion years ago. We thought things were tough then but truly never had a Donald Trump on our horizon.

Any Trumpian thoughts during the Stormy Daniels … storm?

Bret: I’m trying to understand how the question of whether Trump wore a condom in the alleged encounter is relevant to whether and for what purpose he falsified business records. Or how the prosecution thinks that any of this hurts Trump legally or, most important, politically. Like Bill Clinton, he’ll gain sympathy from some voters for being the victim of prosecutorial overreach. He’ll also gain the sneaking admiration of other voters for, uh, having a stormy with Stormy. What do you think?

Gail: Find it hard to believe anybody who bothers to vote has learned anything new about Trump’s character. Although still kinda haunted by the vision of him lying on the bed in his underwear waiting for her to come out of the bathroom. And maybe as the abortion debate goes on and on, it’ll be useful to question whether a guy who has a lot of sex, at least some of which we now hear was unprotected, could not have a strong opinion on the right to terminate a pregnancy.

Bret: True, although I somehow doubt that an unwanted pregnancy was the main risk in that particular encounter.

Gail: Let’s move on to Congress, where I am increasingly unnerved by my appreciation for Speaker Mike Johnson. Truly, Bret, this was not in my plan for 2024.

Bret: It really says something about the state of the G.O.P. that Marjorie Taylor Greene, who should be a Republican embarrassment, has become a power player, while Mike Johnson, who should be a backbencher, is not only the speaker but also the voice of sense and moderation. Relatively speaking. Did I mention that I’m not a fan of the Antisemitism Awareness Act that passed the House the other week? It might surprise a few of our readers.

Gail: Tell why.

Bret: It embraces an expansive definition of antisemitism, known as the I.H.R.A. definition, after the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, and effectively criminalizes a wide range of speech that is generally abhorrent but shouldn’t be criminalized. Much as I hate antisemitism, I also don’t think laws against “hate speech,” including against my own group, should be in federal legislation. And I don’t think conservatives who complain about campus speech codes should be in the business of writing those codes themselves.

Gail: I’m in awe of your analysis. Bowing down.

Bret: The best way to defeat antisemitism is first to understand what it is, to teach people why it’s evil and to call it out when it happens. That’s a job for civil society, not the government.

Gail: We’re agreeing a lot today. Let me take a guess I can change the tone by expressing my admiration for President Biden’s top economic adviser, Lael Brainard, who just called for reducing the budget deficit and extending tax cuts for middle- and lower-income families by raising taxes on the wealthy and the most profitable companies.

Bret: Terrible. Tax increases on companies are just passed through to consumers, in the form of higher prices; to employees, in the form of cost cutting or less hiring; and to shareholders, including a lot of people who hold stock through retirement accounts, in the form of lower profitability. And raising taxes on the so-called wealthy usually ends up thwacking the upper-middle class, including those who live in high-tax states, while the superrich always have the means to hire fancy accountants and lawyers to shield their assets in trusts, offshore accounts and other complex vehicles.

Gail: The government has a tad of cash itself, and an administration with the right priorities can fight to get those tax shields down. Won’t always work, of course, but it would push us in the right direction.

Bret: But wait, there’s worse! Every time Democrats raise taxes, they get clobbered at the polls — as they did in the 1994 midterms after Bill Clinton raised taxes in his first year and again in 2014 after Barack Obama did in his fifth. I know “taxing the rich” polls well, but a lot of voters fear those higher tax rates may soon fall on them.

Gail: Presidents generally get clobbered in the congressional votes after the election. The fact that Biden fared pretty well, historically speaking, does show he knows a lot more about sending a message voters appreciate, including matters of economic fairness.

Although before you leap at it, I’ll admit the Democrats’ relative success had a whole lot to do with abortion rights rather than the economy. Abortion is an issue Biden’s been very consistent on despite his own private religious feelings. While Trump — yipes, where’s he at this week? This afternoon?

Bret: If Biden winds up winning in November — and I couldn’t be more anxious about his chances — the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, along with the awful restrictions so many conservative states have put on abortion rights, will have had a lot to do with it. Which would be … a pleasing irony.

Gail: I’ll take any irony that keeps us Trump-free.

Bret: Gail, before we go, I have to recommend Robert McFadden’s fantastic obituary for Mary Wells Lawrence (nee Mary Georgene Berg), the advertising genius who came up with the I ❤️ NY campaign and was the first woman to own a major ad agency. I especially loved this story:

In 1966, having several high-profile campaigns under her belt and feeling entitled, Ms. Wells Lawrence asked for the presidency of Tinker & Partners. Her boss, Marion Harper Jr., the president and chairman of Interpublic, told her that he would give her presidential authority but not the title — a woman, he said, could not win acceptance as president. It was her moment of truth. “He could see that I was feeling a red rage,” she told The Times in 2012. “And he said, ‘You wouldn’t want to ruin something you built.’ And at that point I just walked out the door. It wasn’t as though I wanted to be Betty Friedan. I just wanted my own agency.”

How marvelous. It’s another case of the right kind of chutzpah defeating the wrong kind of chutzpah.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , WhatsApp , X and Threads .

Gail Collins is a Times Opinion columnist focusing on domestic politics. @ GailCollins • Facebook

Bret Stephens is an Opinion columnist for The Times, writing about foreign policy, domestic politics and cultural issues. Facebook

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Persuasive Essay-Abortion

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Persuasive Essay About Abortion: Examples, Topics, and Facts
Here are some facts about abortion that will help you formulate better arguments. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 1 in 4 pregnancies end in abortion. The majority of abortions are performed in the first trimester. Abortion is one of the safest medical procedures, with less than a 0.5% risk of major complications.
Abortion Argumentative Essay: Writing Guide, Topics, Examples
Hooks for an Abortion Essay. Writing a hook is a good way to catch the attention of your audience, as this is usually the first sentence in an essay. ... Introduction - hook + thesis statement + short background information. Essay hook: More than 59% of women in the world do not have access to safe abortions, which leads to dreading health ...
50 Abortion Essay Topics for In-Depth Discussion by
Abortion argumentative essay topics typically revolve around the ethical, legal, and societal aspects of this controversial issue. These topics often involve debates and discussions, requiring students to present well-reasoned arguments supported by evidence and persuasive language. The Bodily Autonomy vs. Fetal Rights Debate: A Balancing Act.
Abortion Free Essay Examples And Topic Ideas
113 essay samples found. Abortion is a highly contentious issue with significant moral, legal, and social implications. Essays on abortion could explore the various aspects of the debate including the ethical dimensions, the legal frameworks governing abortion, and the social attitudes surrounding it. They might delve into historical changes in ...
Argumentative Essay Outline on Abortion
Paragraph 1: The Right to Bodily Autonomy. One of the main arguments in favor of abortion is the right to bodily autonomy. Every person has the right to make decisions about their own body, and this includes the right to make decisions about their reproductive health. Denying women the right to access abortion services is a violation of their ...
Abortion Essay Writing Guide with Examples
Main body. If you decide to support abortion in the essay, you may write the body part in the following way: 2-3 paragraphs supporting abortion + one counter-argument against abortion. Remember to provide arguments and support them, not just admit that abortion is good or bad.
How to Tell a True Abortion Story ‹ Literary Hub
November 2, 2022. On August 18th, almost two months after the Dobbs decision, I published an essay in The New York Times called " My Abortion at 11 Wasn't a Choice. It Was My Life .". It detailed the molestation I'd experienced as a kid and the subsequent abortion I had in Utah. In the piece, I wondered what my life would be today if I ...
2.5: Common Arguments about Abortion (Nathan Nobis and Kristina Grob)
11 Common Arguments about Abortion Nathan Nobis and Kristina Grob 27. 1 Introduction. Abortion is often in the news. In the course of writing this essay in early 2019, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Georgia, Alabama and Missouri passed legislation to outlaw and criminalize abortions starting at six to eight weeks in pregnancy, with more states following.
The Only Reasonable Way to Debate Abortion
There's a Better Way to Debate Abortion. Caution and epistemic humility can guide our approach. If Justice Samuel Alito's draft majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health ...
There Are More Than Two Sides to the Abortion Debate
The decision to keep the child should not be left up solely to the woman. Yes, it is her body that the child grows in, however once that child is birthed it is now two people's responsibility ...
How to Write an Abortion Argumentative Essay? + FREE Sample
5 Successful Abortion Essay Writing Tips. Tip 1 - Create the Paper Structure. Tip 2 - Outline Your Work. Tip 3 - Plan Your Time Wisely. Tip 4 - Find Good Sources. Tip 5 - Read Abortion Essays Examples. Do's and Don'ts of Abortion Essay Writing. DO'S. DON'TS.
How To Create A Best Abortion Argumentative Essay?
Express your own point of view on the question of abortion. In some cases, you may be asked to write an outline for your essay. It is a table of contents where you enumerate the paragraphs of your essay. To make it as well-directed as possible, select the main ideas of every paragraph and note them down.
Essay on Abortion in English in 650 Words
Essay on Abortion: Abortion is the termination of pregnancy. The termination happens due to the removal of the embryo or fetus. The process of abortion can be natural as well as intentional. The intentional forces abortion involves a decision to end the pregnancy while when this process unfolds naturally without any external forces such as ...
Opinion
The Case Against Abortion. Nov. 30, 2021. Crosses representing abortions in Lindale, Tex. Tamir Kalifa for The New York Times. Share full article. 3367. By Ross Douthat. Opinion Columnist. A ...
What It Means to Anthologize the Literature of Abortion
Everything is a blank, an erased memory. Abortion is not the same everywhere. What I refer to in my poem is called sex-selective abortion, a term that itself adds to ambiguity. It refers to abortion when the fetus is the undesired female sex. Son preference is responsible for 400,000 abortions a year in India alone.
5.1: Arguments Against Abortion
5.1.2 Fetuses are human beings. Some respond to the arguments above—against the significance of being merely biologically human—by observing that fetuses aren't just mere human cells, but are organized in ways that make them beings or organisms. (A kidney is part of a "being," but the "being" is the whole organism.)That suggests this argument:
Five paragraph essay on abortion
Five paragraph essay on abortion. This essay discusses three issues that revolve around abortion in order to help the reader better understand abortion issues in general. This is not a comprehensive list of all the issues surrounding abortion, but does explain three issues and then knits them together in the conclusion to show that the abortion ...
How To Write A Persuasive Essay On Abortion?
The arguments for the persuasive essay on abortion is wrong. You can operate these arguments in a persuasive essay on abortion should be illegal: The medical procedure is a risky one. The possible immediate and long-term consequences are sterility, heavy bleeding, damage of the cervix or womb. Abortion is an irretrievable action so a woman can ...
Persuasive Essay about Abortion
Cite this essay. Download. In November 1972, an episode of the famous American sitcom Maude shook America with its episode « Maude's Dilemma ». In that episode, 47-year-old Maude must face her pregnancy and chooses to get an abortion. The day after the episode aired, producers received death threats, CBS received 17000 letters of protest ...
A research on abortion: ethics, legislation and socio-medical outcomes
The analysis of abortion by means of medical and social documents. Abortion means a pregnancy interruption "before the fetus is viable" [] or "before the fetus is able to live independently in the extrauterine environment, usually before the 20 th week of pregnancy" [].]. "Clinical miscarriage is both a common and distressing complication of early pregnancy with many etiological ...
Abortion Essay Writing Guide That Will Help You Get A+ Grade
Research and data collection are the first steps when writing an argumentative essay. After a topic and a position on it have been determined, the author goes on to develop an outline of the future essay. This allows for the basic structure of the essay to be established. The structure of the outline is as follows:
Without Apology: Abortion in Literature
There are, however, some important exceptions, including Alice Walker's short story "The Abortion," first published in 1980, and Annie Ernaux's 1974 novel Les Armoires vides, or Cleaned ...
A SHORT ARGUMENT AGAINST ABORTION RIGHTS
Extract. In this paper I will put forward a brief argument against abortion rights. The argument concerns itself with the two main ways in which defenders of abortion rights develop their position. The first strategy through which they tend to do this is by arguing against the personhood of the fetus. The second strategy, made famous by Judith ...
Opinion
Read, immediately, Marguerite Yourcenar's "Memoirs of Hadrian." Imitate the writers or artists you most admire; you'll find your own voice and style in all the ways your imitation falls short.