In the abortion issue, there are two main groups, pro-life and pro-choice. Aside from these majorities there are also groups of peoples and individuals who have mixed feelings on the issue. In the United States, political decisions regarding people�s rights (including abortion rights) are decided upon by our federal and state legislatures which are mainly consistent of two parties, the democrats and the republicans.
In this country, it is widely believed and accepted that the democratic party is more left wing and liberal, whereas the republican party tends to be more right wing and conservative. Our current President, George Bush is a republican. This fact leads many to the conclusion that President Bush would generally be a conventionalist, which in many cases causes a person to be anti-abortion or pro-life. As President of our country, George Bush has the right to deliberate upon his decisions with regards to his own personal opinions as a republican, but he also has to take into consideration the rights of the American people and what is best for their common good. That is not to say that republican beliefs are not beneficial to the American people, just that when decisions are being made of such critical importance, all sides of an issue should be taken into consideration.
The issue of partial birth abortion is far from clear cut. There are many different types of partial birth abortion and times of pregnancy at which they can take place. Many people have a firmly set opinion in their mind as to whether abortion in general is morally right or morally wrong. Often times these opinions are so strong , as with most highly controversial issues, that people can not come together or compromise and agree with one side or another. In the case of abortion, both sides have extremely strong arguments and can offer plenty of irrefutable facts to support their respective causes. However, in the particular case of partial birth abortion, the pro-choice side seems to be at a disadvantage as far as the conviction of the validity of their cause. They can no longer use the phrase, �The unborn is just a clump of cells.� In fact, in the case of the majority of partial birth abortions, the fetus has taken on a full likeness of a human baby and is indeed almost completely developed.
Over the past ten years abortion has become a huge political debate, particularly, partial birth abortions. People are fighting to preserve the woman�s right to end her pregnancy in this manner, and contrarily to completely eliminate it. Congress has approved national bans on partial birth abortion twice before, but they were both vetoed by President Clinton in 1996 and 1997. More recently President George Bush has indicated that he is in favor of introducing a federal law that would ban partial birth abortion, except in cases where the fetus is dead or severely malformed, or where the mother�s life is at risk. On August 3rd of 2000, President Bush spoke at the Republican National Convention. �I will lead our nation toward a culture that values life -- the life of the elderly and the sick, the life of the young, and the life of the unborn. I know good people disagree on this issue, but surely we can agree on ways to value life by promoting adoption and parental notification, and when Congress sends me a bill against partial birth abortion, I will sign it into law.�
On that note, I will say that I could not agree with President Bush more. I am not personally against abortion, in fact two of my best friends have had abortions and I was there with them throughout the entire experience and supported them and their decisions in every way that I could. It is not up to me to decide what any woman does with her body. My friends are like my family, whether or not I agree with their decisions, I will always stand by them. In spite of this, it is my personal opinion that abortion is murder. Regardless of any scientific proof to the contrary, in my eyes, abortion is the taking of an innocent life. Furthermore, the very idea of late term abortion or partial birth abortion is abhorrent to me. In my eyes, the simple fact of the matter is that there are more humane ways of dealing with the conception of an unwanted child. Last week, when President Bush addresses the Union he made a statement that he would work to eliminate partial birth abortions. If I had been in the House on that night I would have undoubtedly been a part of the audience that applauded him with a very worthy standing ovation.
written on 2003-02-04 at 8:23 p.m.
she / lost