Introduction
My conflicting viewpoint essay is on abortion whereby my stance is that abortion need not be legalized. I support the pro-life movement that advocates that life is precious and should not be so easily discarded. If the trend of legalizing abortion continues, the future looks bleak, given that the rate of deaths in the recent times is very high due to diseases like corona virus, long term ailments like cancers, motor accidents that has become a major killer among others. There is need to preserve and conserve life to ensure that there will be people who remain in spite of the life threatening challenges.
Premise Supporting Pro-Life
There are several premises that support pro-lie, but there are three premises that resonate to me the most. One, legalizing abortion promotes a culture in which human life is easily disposable. That means that life is worthless and people can get rid of it whenever they feel like. I selected this reason since there are young adults who may take this loophole to go around engaging in risky sexual activities because there is an avenue of abortion. That is likely to create a culture of irresponsibility among youths, and they can also contract other sexually transmitted diseases.
The second premise supporting the pro-life position is that women ought to acknowledge the responsibilities that come from becoming pregnant. There is a common saying that has gained prominence in the recent past that ‘choices have consequences’ meaning that every action that a person does comes with its share of consequences. Women need to understand that engaging in sex comes with many consequences, including the risk of getting pregnant. The rationale behind this reasoning is that people consider abortion as an easy way to run away from responsibility by punishing an innocent being. This reason considers abortion as a selfish act that seeks to punish the unborn or the mistakes made by adults.
The third premise advanced by the pro-life group is that women ought not to use abortion as a form of contraception. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention record that 45% of women who procure abortion every year have had a previous abortion. The center further reports that 10% of women who procured abortion in 2016 had had at least three previous abortions (CDC, 2019). These statistics indicate that many women are using abortion as their main method of contraception. The reasoning behind this reason is that plenty of family planning methods exist out there which prevent contraception. It is therefore proper for women who do not want children to prevent contraception in the first place.
Explanation to the believing questions for premises opposing my position
There are several premises advanced that oppose my position on pro-life, among them that women have reproductive choice over their health, which shields them from financial disadvantage. The believing question to this premise is that women only need to have children if they have financial advantage. I am prone to asking whether women who are low income earners should not have children because getting pregnant will put them at a financial disadvantage. Believing in this premise can only exist in an ideal world where there are rich people belonging to the middle and upper class. This view is biased because getting pregnant and having a baby does not happen abruptly. A woman who gets pregnant has nine months to make the necessary financial arrangements to avoid being on the financial disadvantage. Also, decisions and choices come at an opportunity cost, and becoming pregnant comes at an opportunity cost of foregoing one’s career. It takes brevity and courage to bring up a child like our parents were. We cannot all be born from a rich family and it took courage for our parents to bring us up in poor and average families.
The second premise opposing my position is that abortion is necessary because a baby should not come to the world unwanted because the decision to bring a baby requires proper planning and preparations. The reason advanced is that children who are born unwanted are likely to suffer from low birth weight and the possible risk of parental abuse. This premise is backed by statistics that 45% of American women have unintended pregnancies. Nonetheless, that does not give women the green light to get rid of the baby as one may give birth to such child and give them up for adoption.
Thirdly, the pro-choice group supports abortion on grounds that abortion reduces crime as the rate of crime has significantly dropped in the past 18 years since abortion was legalized (PROCON.ORG, 2020). This reason puts jitters in me because it paints a picture that the children got rid of in that period were predestined to be criminals and offenders, while those that were born in that period are innocent and cannot commit a crime. If abortion indeed reduces the rate of crime, then juvenile delinquency should be zero. Yet, cases of children shooting other children and engaging in violence have increased, and these are the candidates for future offending.
Biases
In exploring the positions that are for and against my position on abortion, I was prone to biases that influenced my decisions and reasoning. The confirmation bias affected my reasoning that entailed seeking out information and data that confirms pre-existing ideas (Dwyer, 2017). The positions that supported the pro-choice confirmed ideas that I already know such as reproductive choice and financial impact of pregnancy that comes with pregnancy. I also suffered from self-serving bias whereby I tend to attribute negative outcome to factors and events outside ourselves. For instance, I considered that women who procure abortion are weak and run away from the responsibility.
Enculturation
The way I was brought up and the religion that we profess has played a key role in influencing my biases. I was brought up in a culture that values life and life is considered sacred. Therefore, getting rid of it is considered immoral and irresponsible. I have grown up with these views and find it hard to change that view. The enculturation is so deep-rooted that makes it nearly difficult to accommodate the dissenting views.
Indeed, my views on the topic of abortion have changed because I have learnt the art of asking the believing question, and asking myself the questions of what if I supported the opposing view. The believing game has helped me to be objective and accommodative o other views, even if I do not agree with them. The critical thinking involved helps me to move from the know zone to the unknown zone (Elbow, 2006 p 16)because I have learnt about important statistics that have been backed as grounds for supporting pro-choice decision. Indeed, the assignment is really an eye opener.
My conflicting viewpoint essay is on abortion whereby my stance is that abortion need not be legalized. I support the pro-life movement that advocates that life is precious and should not be so easily discarded. If the trend of legalizing abortion continues, the future looks bleak, given that the rate of deaths in the recent times is very high due to diseases like corona virus, long term ailments like cancers, motor accidents that has become a major killer among others. There is need to preserve and conserve life to ensure that there will be people who remain in spite of the life threatening challenges.
Premise Supporting Pro-Life
There are several premises that support pro-lie, but there are three premises that resonate to me the most. One, legalizing abortion promotes a culture in which human life is easily disposable. That means that life is worthless and people can get rid of it whenever they feel like. I selected this reason since there are young adults who may take this loophole to go around engaging in risky sexual activities because there is an avenue of abortion. That is likely to create a culture of irresponsibility among youths, and they can also contract other sexually transmitted diseases.
The second premise supporting the pro-life position is that women ought to acknowledge the responsibilities that come from becoming pregnant. There is a common saying that has gained prominence in the recent past that ‘choices have consequences’ meaning that every action that a person does comes with its share of consequences. Women need to understand that engaging in sex comes with many consequences, including the risk of getting pregnant. The rationale behind this reasoning is that people consider abortion as an easy way to run away from responsibility by punishing an innocent being. This reason considers abortion as a selfish act that seeks to punish the unborn or the mistakes made by adults.
The third premise advanced by the pro-life group is that women ought not to use abortion as a form of contraception. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention record that 45% of women who procure abortion every year have had a previous abortion. The center further reports that 10% of women who procured abortion in 2016 had had at least three previous abortions (CDC, 2019). These statistics indicate that many women are using abortion as their main method of contraception. The reasoning behind this reason is that plenty of family planning methods exist out there which prevent contraception. It is therefore proper for women who do not want children to prevent contraception in the first place.
Explanation to the believing questions for premises opposing my position
There are several premises advanced that oppose my position on pro-life, among them that women have reproductive choice over their health, which shields them from financial disadvantage. The believing question to this premise is that women only need to have children if they have financial advantage. I am prone to asking whether women who are low income earners should not have children because getting pregnant will put them at a financial disadvantage. Believing in this premise can only exist in an ideal world where there are rich people belonging to the middle and upper class. This view is biased because getting pregnant and having a baby does not happen abruptly. A woman who gets pregnant has nine months to make the necessary financial arrangements to avoid being on the financial disadvantage. Also, decisions and choices come at an opportunity cost, and becoming pregnant comes at an opportunity cost of foregoing one’s career. It takes brevity and courage to bring up a child like our parents were. We cannot all be born from a rich family and it took courage for our parents to bring us up in poor and average families.
The second premise opposing my position is that abortion is necessary because a baby should not come to the world unwanted because the decision to bring a baby requires proper planning and preparations. The reason advanced is that children who are born unwanted are likely to suffer from low birth weight and the possible risk of parental abuse. This premise is backed by statistics that 45% of American women have unintended pregnancies. Nonetheless, that does not give women the green light to get rid of the baby as one may give birth to such child and give them up for adoption.
Thirdly, the pro-choice group supports abortion on grounds that abortion reduces crime as the rate of crime has significantly dropped in the past 18 years since abortion was legalized (PROCON.ORG, 2020). This reason puts jitters in me because it paints a picture that the children got rid of in that period were predestined to be criminals and offenders, while those that were born in that period are innocent and cannot commit a crime. If abortion indeed reduces the rate of crime, then juvenile delinquency should be zero. Yet, cases of children shooting other children and engaging in violence have increased, and these are the candidates for future offending.
Biases
In exploring the positions that are for and against my position on abortion, I was prone to biases that influenced my decisions and reasoning. The confirmation bias affected my reasoning that entailed seeking out information and data that confirms pre-existing ideas (Dwyer, 2017). The positions that supported the pro-choice confirmed ideas that I already know such as reproductive choice and financial impact of pregnancy that comes with pregnancy. I also suffered from self-serving bias whereby I tend to attribute negative outcome to factors and events outside ourselves. For instance, I considered that women who procure abortion are weak and run away from the responsibility.
Enculturation
The way I was brought up and the religion that we profess has played a key role in influencing my biases. I was brought up in a culture that values life and life is considered sacred. Therefore, getting rid of it is considered immoral and irresponsible. I have grown up with these views and find it hard to change that view. The enculturation is so deep-rooted that makes it nearly difficult to accommodate the dissenting views.
Indeed, my views on the topic of abortion have changed because I have learnt the art of asking the believing question, and asking myself the questions of what if I supported the opposing view. The believing game has helped me to be objective and accommodative o other views, even if I do not agree with them. The critical thinking involved helps me to move from the know zone to the unknown zone (Elbow, 2006 p 16)because I have learnt about important statistics that have been backed as grounds for supporting pro-choice decision. Indeed, the assignment is really an eye opener.
