Persuasive Essay

Riley Pavelich
Persuasive Essay
Advanced Comp.
9 September 2007
Abortion: Bestial or Indispensable?

I do not think anyone has ever said, “Killing babies is right.” That is because it is not. But being wrong and being necessary are two different things. Although it may be morally wrong to kill an unborn child, it might be the only option for some women. Some issues to consider are, the horror of self-inflicted or inadequate abortions, the financial strain of raising a child and the unreasonable demands unaborted babies would place on foster care systems.

If you are willing to stick a wire clothes hanger into your body to be rid of your child, I am sure the issues of legality will not stop you from doing it. It has been estimated that before abortion was legal, as many as 5,000 women died because of poorly preformed abortions. If doctors are not allowed to do it, there will always be someone less skilled willing. If the women are determined to have it done they should get the proper care. Thousands of women died as a direct result of outlawing abortion.

What kinds of women get abortions? Many think the answer to that question is selfish women who do not want the baby because it would reflect poorly on them. However, 48.2% of women who get abortions have family incomes of less than $29,999 per year, and 64.4% are never married women. For a single parent living in the west, it takes an average of $187,408 to raise a kid. That is from birth to age 18. That does not even include college. For the babies’ first year, it’s estimated to cost $7,568. I do not need to tell you that that is quite a big chunk of cash for someone who makes less than 30 thousand a year.

Many people think that all unwanted babies should go to foster care or adoption agencies. I personally would like to see that happen, but it is not realistic. If all the aborted babies were born, there wouldn’t be enough room or funding in foster care to take care of them all. In the U.S., there are 1.37 million legal abortions per year. Worldwide there are 46 million. There are not enough people that want children to adopt all these kids, and I am not even factoring in all the illegal abortions, which is estimated to be about 20 million. Even if there were enough people willing to adopt children, what about the ones with birth defects? The adoption rates for mentally disabled children are not high.

Please do not think that I support abortion. It might not be the right option, but it needs to stay an option. Without abortion how many mothers would be dead, how would the babies be financially taken care of, how many kids would flounder in adoption agencies? The consequences are too much to risk. So even if you would never get one, do not condemn those who do.