Thesis Statement

Abortion has long been a confusing and controversial issue among pro-life, pro-choice, and especially political type of people.  

Abortion Politics

Lee, Ellie. "Abortion Politics." Spiked. Spiked Inc., 24 Oct. 2002. Web. 24 Oct. 2011.

http://www.spiked-online.com/Articles/00000006DAF1.htm

This article, written by Ellie Lee, mainly deals with the United Kingdom parliament not resolving issues regarding abortion in the past 35 years even though many issues still remain. An issue talked about in the article deals with mothers actually having say in whether or not to terminate the pregnancy and not have it rest solely with the doctors. Another concern deals with women wanting the extent of abortion shortened from 24 weeks to only 12 instead. Ellie Lee's main intent is to persuade the UK parliament to bring abortion back into plain sight and make possible revisions on the act it passed in 1967. Her main audience is the UK parliament because she uses many issues that parliament hasn't taken a stand on yet, such as women having the right to terminate the pregnancy or not. There seems to be no bias comments int this article, however, it does leave out a lot about pro-life peoples' opinions. The article was informative and gave another perspective on abortion that doesn't deal with the United States.

50 Million Abortions since Roe Vs. Wade

Joseph, Dan. "Nearly 50 Million Abortions Have Been Performed in U.S. Since Roe v. Wade Decision Legalized Abortion." csnnews. Cybercast News Service, 25 Jan. 2011. Web. 23 Oct. 2011.

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/nearly-50-million-abortions-have-been-performed-us-roe-v-wade-decision-legalized

Dan Joseph, a journalist for CNS news, compiles statistics over the past decade and explains how they have decreased or increased. Also, based on reports, abortions have been down 1.3 million from the 2.5 million they there were in previous years. In addition, Joseph gives more statistics one how Hispanic/African American people are more likely to have an abortion than a caucasion person is. The author's intent is to persuade people with the facts and show them what the actual stats are. Dan Joseph's main audience is anyone who wants to know the facts about abortions and anyone old enough to have an abortion. He supports this by giving many stats about abortion such as 35 percent of all U.S. women will have had an abortion by the age of 45. There aren't any biases as this was an informative article only. This particle provided a lot of information about abortions and would be a good site to look at again.

The Growing Aversion to Abortion

Chapman, Steve. "The Growing Aversion to Abortion." Real Clear Politics. Creators Syndicate Inc., 20 Jan. 2008. Web. 13 Oct. 2011.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/01/post_11.html

Steve Chapman, an author for Real Clear Politics, explains how abortion, which was viewed as evil but necessary, has now changed to it may be necessary, but it is evil. He goes on explaining how abortion numbers have dropped since 1990 from 1.61 million to 1.21 million. Also, Chapman explains that when abortion was passed by the Supreme Court in 1973, most people had very little understanding of fetal development. However, with technology regarding ultrasound images from the womb, combined with the dissemination of facts by pro-life groups, the veil of abortion has been lifted. Chapman's main intent is to show people how views have changed about abortion since 1973, when it was passed making abortion legal. His main audience deals with Americans in general and especially the ones who are involved with politics. Chapman supports this by saying women are having fewer abortions and also teenage opinions have begun to change as the times have changed. There aren't biases in this article, but it does sound like he is leaning more towards the pro-life people as he doesn't give very many supports for abortion. I thought this was also a good article because it gave a lot of examples as to why abortion shouldn't be okay. 

Pro-Life and Pro-Choice? Yes!

Church, George J. "Pro-Life and Pro-Choice? Yes!." Time Magazine U.S.. Time Inc., 6 Mar. 1995. Web. 12 Oct. 2011.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,982636-2,00.html

George J. Church, a write for Time Magazine, asks if anything new can be said about abortion, and goes on saying that there is definitely one more thing to be said about abortion. It is that abortion is justifiable only in extreme cases-but that nevertheless the state must respect the right to receive and perform abortions. He mainly explains why and why not abortion should be allowed, and yet immoral at the same time. The author's intent is to persuade Americans to make sure that the people hold the power to make abortion decisions and not have the state hold that power. George Church's main audience is anyone who is capable of having a baby and is thinking about getting an abortion. He supports this by saying, "What we must do is not ask the state to impose our views on those who disagree about abortion." There aren't any biases in this article, however, it may seem like Church is leaning more towards the pro-choice side of things, but at the same time, he takes the pro-life views into consideration also. The article was very informative as it took both sides into consideration, and it also gave good insight about how states shouldn't be able to make life changing decisions such as abortion.  

Reflection of Topics

Lowering the drinking age, illegal immigration, abortion, athlete obligations, lethal injection, and gay marriage are the six topics I chose to possibly write my paper about. Lowering the drinking age would be a very good topic to write about, however, I am currently writing a paper about it now. There definitely is numerous data about lowering the drinking age. Illegal immigration is a rising problem in the United States and could easily have a thirty page paper about it, but I don't think it would be my forte to write about something that really isn't my problem to begin with. Abortion is probably the most highly debated topic in America today, in fact, it even helps separate the democratic and republican parties. I think this would most likely be my best choice to write about. Athlete obligations wouldn't be very ideal to write a paper on because it isn't really a major topic compared to abortion or illegal immigration. Lethal injection is, yet again, in the same predicament as athlete obligations. Most people don't think about lethal injection because it's shadowed by other major problems such as abortion or illegal immigration. The last topic I chose to blog about was gay marriage, which would be a pretty good topic to write about, especially since Minnesota may possibly be the next state to approve gay marriage. I think that I'm going to chose abortion because it is a highly debated topic in the United States, and there will be a lot of useful information about it that I can look up to put in my paper.

Gay Marriage

Murchison, William. "The Gay Marriage Fantasy." Real Clear Politics. Creators Syndicate Inc., 8 Apr. 2009. Web. 26 Sept. 2011.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/04/the_gay_marriage_fantasy.html

The author, William Murchison, writes about how there really isn't such a thing as gay marriage, it is what some people simply "call" gay marriage. He states that a marriage, a real one between a man and a woman, brings them together for mutual society and comfort, but also, more deeply, for the long generational journey to the future. Also, he describes marriage, as historically defined, across all religious and non-religious views, is about children and the childbearing process. However, a so called gay marriage, is definitionally sterile and is impossible for extending generation purposes. The author's intent is to persuade people that gay marriage should not be considered marriage at all, in fact, should not be even legal. Murchison's main audience pertains to those who are for gay marriage as he tries to persuade it is not right for gays to get married. William Murchison is very bias throughout the entire article especially when he says, "The Iowa court's decision in the gay marriage case is pure nonsense." The article was informative, however, it was very bias and one sided in his argument. I think this would be a great topic to write a paper about, but I may choose a different artice to use other than this one. I also believe it would be a great topic for others to write about as it is a rising conflict in America today.      

Lethal Injection

Brulliard, Karin. "Lethal Injections Called Flawed." Washington Post. The Washington Post Company, 15 Apr. 2005. Web. 26 Sept. 2011.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54799-2005Apr14.html

Washington Post writer Karin Brulliard states that some prisoners who are receiving lethal injection treatment are not being sedated properly and are awake enough to suffer agonizingly painful deaths. She also researches that among 49 inmates, only 6 had levels of thiopental, the anesthetic, high enough to perform surgery making the other 43 susceptible to feeling significant pain throughout the entire process. Without the proper amount of anesthesia, the study says that inmates would endure suffocation and extreme pain during lethal injection. The author's intent is to persuade people that without proper sedatio, the lethal injection process can be quite painful deeming it unjust and unconstitutional. Karin Brulliard's main purpose is to get government officials to recognize lethal injection is bad and should be illegalized. This article was very informative and remained unbias during almost the entire article. Brulliard researched the studies of doctors who sought to find out whether lethal injection was cruel and unusual or not. I believe this would be a great topic for me because I strongly believe in the promotion of lethal injection and this article would help with my opposing views. I think this topic could be quite interesting for others, but yet at the same time could be totally against their morals to support lethal injection.  

Athlete Obligations

Hamm, Mia. "Mia Hamm Writes of Athlete Obligation to Community." Who Gives?. Athletes For Hope, 27 Nov. 2009. Web. 21 Sept. 2011.

http://are-athletes-obligated.org/2009/11/mia-hamm-challenges-misty-may-morgan-pressel-warrick-and-julie-foudy/

Mia Hamm, a successful professional soccer player for the United States, tries to encourage other celebrity athletes and non-athletes to give back to their community whether it's through funds or simply volunteering. She tells a story about how her borther was diagnosed with aplastic anemia and had to watch her hero gracefully leave this earth. Mia Hamm tries to urge other athletes to come up with their own foundations like she did with The Mia Hamm Foundation. Mia Hamm's main intent was to persuade others to give back to the less fortunate and those who need extreme attention in the medical area. Also, her main audience is everyone who is more fortunate than most others, basically all of mankind but mostly other pro athletes like herself. There aren't any fallacies or biases in this article because it should be everyone's civic duty to volunteer when they can. The article showed how important it is for people to participate. Also, it shows that pro athletes aren't just millionaires with so much money they can't even spend it all, they are responsible people who can show who they really are through actions rather than words. I think this would be an okay topic to write about, however, a lot of people don't necessarily think of pro athletes as bums. It may be a good topic for people who enjoy sports or reading how they impact others' lives with foundations they create on their own.  

Abortion

Peikoff, Leonard. "Abortion Rights are Pro-Life." Capitalism Magazine. Capitalism Magazine, 23 Jan. 2003. Web. 21 Sept. 2011.

http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/politics/abortion/2404-abortion-rights-are-pro-life.html

Leonard Peikoff, a writer for Capitalism Magazine, focuses on the big debate about abortion and how others perceive it. Peikoff explains that the embryo inside the female cannot be compared to a real life human being because basic rights only apply to individuals already born, not to collective parts within that particular woman. He goes about how it's the female's decision and no one else's. It may not be right to have an abortion, however, the woman carrying the fetus should not be put at fault if she feels she isn't fit for taking care of the child. Peikoff's intent is to persuade all people that abortion isn't unjust, it's simply a life decision containing consequences that may or may not be right. His intended audience mainly deals with anti-abortionists because he wants them to realize some people aren't fit to raise babies and they shouldn't be shunned or looked down upon by society for getting an abortion. Leonard Peikoff believes it is a fundamental principle of freedom to have an abortion. Peikoff's article was very informative and provides great insight for people who may believe that abortion is wrong or simply unjust. There was one particular bias remark he made which was "To compare an embryo to an infant is completely ludicrous." I think this would be a great topic for me to write about because I've always been interested in this highly debated issue and have been asked to share my views on it quite often. I also believe it would be a great topic for others because they should investigate the negatives and positives about what may be a life changing decision for them one day.  

Illegal Immigration

Franks, Trent. "Enforce Immigration Laws." The Opinion Pages. The New York Times Company, 6 Sept. 2011. Web. 13 Sept. 2011.


Trent Franks, a republican member in the House of Representatives from Arizona, states his opinions about enforcing laws about illegal aliens, or also known as illegal immigrants. He goes on explaining the United States was founded on law and justice, and it was simply the founder's dream to have a janitor and senator completely equal in both benefit and constraint. Franks also believes it is merely the government's job to protect and serve America by enforcing illegal immigration laws. Trent Franks intention is to persuade government officials to take action against the rising illegal immigration numbers. He is primarily trying to persuade the government and possibly eligible voters to do something about this particular problem in our country today. As Franks states, "The Obama administration has arrogantly refused to enforce existing immigration laws, and states have been left with no option but to enforce the laws and protect their citizens themselves." This statement ensures the article of being extremely bias because Trent Franks does not believe Obama has done anything about the illegal immigration problem, even though he doesn't take Obama's point of view into perspective. This article was extremely bias, but it was to be expected considering Trent Franks is a republican and President Obama is a democrat. I think this would be a great topic to write about for myself because illegal aliens are a rising problem in the United State of America. I also think it would be a great topic for others, however, I wouldn't use this article as a source because of the extremely bias comments Franks makes.

Lowering the Drinking Age

Cloud, John. "Should the Drinking Age be Lowered?." Time U.S.. Time Inc., 6 June 2008. Web. 12 Sept. 2011.

John Cloud, an author for Time magazine, tries to disprove John McCardell Jr. and his followers by stating specific percentages and other data against lowering the drinking age. McCardell provides reasonable information on why the drinking age should be lowered, however, Cloud believes it isn't enough to lower the drinking age. Cloud also gives specific examples on how drinking fatalities have actually decreased in America since 1984 even though McCardell takes a different position thinking they have increased since then. Cloud is mainly targeting adults and soon-to-be young adults, particularly the driving class parents. John Cloud's intent is to persuade people to not vote for lowering the drinking age in America or anywhere for that matter. For the most part, Cloud is not very bias with his remarks toward the drinking age being lowered. This article provides decent information about drinking, however, it lacks many other factors that may play into lowering the drinking age. I think this topic would be a great one for me because of the many young adults, like myself, are being targeted. This article could potentially be a good topic for others because they are also being targeted and may have some interest in drinking at an early age.