Abortion Legality
General Introduction: One ongoing controversial issue that has been around since the early 1800s is abortion. Abortion is the ending of a pregnancy by removing an embryo or fetus before it comes outside the uterus. There are two sides to this argument: pro-choice versus pro-life. Pro-choice is for abortion and pro-life is against abortion. The United States of America has made abortion available since 1973 under all circumstances while many other countries have made abortion illegal under little to no circumstances. The question as to whether abortion should remain legal or not has remained.
Source #1:
Summary: The article “This is what life was like for women in America before Roe v. Wade” by Rickie Solinger is a narrative essay that focuses on how difficult it was for women to have abortions in the past. They were tortured and harassed by authorities when confronted for having abortions. While talking about abortion, the author touches on topics like citizenship, pay, and job opportunities for women.
Rhetorical Situation: The article was written due to recent events that took place during the time the article was published. During this time, the United States Congress was electing a new Supreme Court Justice and there was lots of controversy surrounding one nominee: Brett Kavanaugh. Many Americans were worried that if Kavanaugh, someone with sexual assault allegations, were to be selected as the new Supreme Court Justice, then the rights of women could be negatively affected. Solinger, the writer of this article, is a credible source as he has a wide knowledge for these topics since he provides an extensive amount of information in the article (confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice nominee Kavanaugh, Roe v. Wade court case, and women’s rights history) and is a “historian who studies the history of reproductive rights in the US”.
Audience: The article attracts an audience of people interested in reproductive rights and women’s rights. Solinger mentions that he is a “historian who studies the history of reproductive rights in the US.” Therefore, what he writes is more specifically meant for people interested in the social issue of reproductive rights. Also, the title of the article hooks in people interested in history and women’s rights because it mentions the Roe v. Wade court case and living conditions for women in America.
Purpose: The purpose of the article is to inform the audience that if certain changes are made to the Supreme Court, then women’s rights will be in danger of being taken away and times will take a turn for worse. He mentions at the beginning of the article that if Kavanaugh is confirmed to be a Supreme Court Justice, then “the majority of justices could favor the recriminalization of abortion at some point…” meaning that abortion could be made illegal again. He brings about what life was like for women before Roe v. Wade to show that when abortion was illegal, women had to go through many hardships such as not being able to get higher in their job industry, small wages, reliance on a male figure for economic needs, little to no liberty, etc. Similarly, this can happen again if abortion is made illegal.
Genre: The article is a narrative essay since it is under the “First Person” section of Vox.com. The description of this section is “Vox’s home for compelling, provocative narrative essays.” Also, narrative essays are told from the author’s point of view, and it is evident that the article is told from Solinger’s point of view as he uses pronouns such as “I”, “our”, and “we”; “To envision what our [emphasis added] future holds… we [emphasis added] only need to look to the decades before the nationwide legalization of abortion…”
Stance: Solinger is pro-choice in the debate of abortion legality. In the last sentences of the article, Solinger states, “As before … women will be forced to flout the law to achieve personal dignity and safety. Such treatment of women ought to be an intolerable idea in a modern democracy.” By saying this, Solinger proves that he does not support the mistreatment of women like how it was before Roe v. Wade. Women would have to disobey the law to have an abortion in order to make themselves feel dignified and safe. Similarly, if abortion is recriminalized, then women will have to go against the law again in order to have an abortion.
Source #2:
Summary: The article “How should the legality of abortion be determined?” published by America, a weekly Catholic magazine publication, is a magazine article that focuses on responses made by people for the question asked in the title of the article. The question was asked through a poll done online. Respondents chose from the following options: Supreme Court decision, constitutional amendment, a statewide referendum, U.S. Congress, state legislature, international law, and executive branch.
Rhetorical Situation: The publisher felt the need to write about the poll’s results because the publication encourages the different opinions people have in society. Taking the poll would allow people in society to express their opinion on how abortion legality should be determined. From the drop-down menu of the website, it is evident that the publication advocates different voices in the community to give their own take on topics discussed in their articles. Lastly, the publication is based on the Catholic point of view and abortion is an important topic to Catholics, being another reason for the publication to write and conduct a poll about abortion legality.
Audience: The article targets the respondents of the poll, the weekly ‘Politics & Society’ section readers of America magazine, 58-80 year old individuals, and Catholics. The respondents of the poll would be interested to view the results of the poll they have taken, leading them to read this article to find out the results. Also, since the article was published under the “Politics & Society” section, this article is dedicated to the politics and society readers of America weekly magazines. Moreover, a graphic on the article that gives the breakdown by age of people who took the poll shows that poll takers that were aged between 58-80 were the largest share of respondents. This shows that 58-80 year olds are most concerned and opinionated on abortion legality, proving that the article about abortion legality appeals more to 58-80 year olds. Further, this magazine is founded and written by Catholics of the United States so another group of audience would be Catholics since what the publication writes could be relatable for people with the same religious beliefs.
Purpose: The purpose of the article is to inform readers about the results of a poll that asked how the legality of abortion should be determined. This is clear because the article primarily consists of data from the poll, “the largest share of respondents (30 percent) told America that the legality of abortion should be determined by the Supreme Court…”
Genre: The article is a data analysis since this article consists entirely of facts, more specifically results from a poll. The magazine article is a data analysis and not a data report because the writer cites what people said on the poll to understand the reasoning behind why poll takers chose certain options, “‘Michael Mullen of Laguna Woods, Calif., explains that he gave this answer because ‘I think…’”
Stance: The writer of this article does not hold an apparent attitude towards abortion legality throughout the article; the article mainly focuses on the opinion of their readers. However, other articles under the same Catholic publication reveal that the publication is pro-life (against abortion). From their titles, “Anyone who recognizes the humanity of the other unborn should support the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh” and “To end abortion, we need to narrow the gap between civil and moral law” show that the publication is against abortion. Catholics strongly believe that proceeding with abortion is an act of evil.
Source #3:
Summary: The article “Abortion Rates: Where and Why They’re Falling” by Gabrielle Levy is about abortion rates dropping significantly. The use of contraception is one of the main reasons why this change is happening as it has become more easily accessible around the world. A contraception is something that tries to keep the egg and sperm apart so that a woman cannot get pregnant (i.e. condoms, birth control pills, etc.) Imposing strict abortion laws did not seem to lead to fewer abortions. Surprisingly, the data in the article showed that less restrictions on abortion lead to fewer abortions.
Rhetorical Situation: Levy felt the need to write this article because there is a common misconception about how people think abortion rates are dropping substantially. The rate at which women are getting abortions has dropped at significant rates in the past decade around the world. Many believe that this change is caused by the restricting abortion laws. However, a recent Guttmacher Institute report reveals that this is not true.
Audience: The article draws attention to government officials and pro-life supporters. In trying to limit abortions from happening, governments around the globe enforce rigorous abortion laws. Levy aims at these government officials by using data to show that strict abortion laws do not lessen the number of abortions but rather cause unsafe ones, “… according to a new report, … laws restricting abortion do not result in the procedure occurring less frequently, merely less safely.” Government officials and pro-life supporters would read this article to identify why the laws are not working and what they could do to accomplish the task of limiting abortions from occuring.
Purpose: The purpose of this article is to inform the audience about a new Guttmacher Institute report which finds that abortion rates are dropping significantly in countries where contraception is widely available, and that “…stricter abortion laws do not lead to fewer abortions,” but adversely causes less safe ones, “… millions of women living in countries where abortion is highly restricted continue to experience the negative consequences of unsafe abortion.”
Genre: The article is a report analysis as it consists entirely of facts and graphics from a Guttmacher Institute report. Levy analyzes the information obtained from the report to fulfill the purpose of the article (to show how the declines in abortion are from the use of contraception and not from strict abortion laws. She does this by stating “The data show that, while stricter abortion laws do not lead to fewer abortions, preventing unwanted pregnancies has a significant effect on reducing the number of terminations.”
Stance: The author is against the idea of strict abortion laws. She indicates that regulating rigorous abortion laws does not drop abortion rates, but rather causes more unsafe abortions. She states, “As of 2014, … at least 22,800 women die each year from complications from abortions that are not considered safe” showing that restricting abortion laws are problematic. Additionally, she does not provide facts and evidence which may prove that strict abortion laws are beneficial in any way.
Source #4:
Summary: The article “Anti-legal attitude toward abortion among abortion patients in the United States” by Rachel G. Thomas, Alison H. Norris, and Maria F. Gallo is about a study done to determine if abortion should be illegal in all or most cases. Abortion patients took a survey and most of the respondents had an anti-legal abortion attitude believing that abortion should be illegal in all or most cases. After having an abortion themselves, they do not support the legality of abortion while women who have not gone through abortion choose to support.
Rhetorical Situation: Abortion legality has been a great concern for many around the world. A study was done by credible professors at Ohio State University to determine what abortion patients, women who have gone through an abortion, believe the choice should be for abortion legality. The study was also performed to identify reasons why people believe in pro-choice or pro-life.
Audience: The article attracts Ohio State University students and those interested in abortion legality. The study was done in The Ohio State University so students at the university may be interested in reading about the study that was done in their institution. Also, since this is a study about abortion legality, the readers most likely would be someone interested in or researching this topic. The study can provide those researching this topic with information for their research.
Purpose: The purpose of the article is to inform the audience about how a study was taken place, the results or what they learned from doing the study, and conclusions drawn from the data and results of the study being taken place.
Genre: The article is a study report as it is divided into sections like “Objective”, “Methods”, “Results”, “Conclusions”, and “Implications” which is a basic format in organizing the information and data of their study.
Stance: The authors, or the conductors of the study, are pro-choice in the argument of abortion legality. They believe that the abortion patients that did not agree with abortion legality could just be going through a cognitive dissonance (conflicting thoughts), “Some abortion patients do not agree with abortion legality… could experience a degree of cognitive dissonance.” They do not seem to believe that abortion should be illegal since they are assuming that those in the study who voted for it to be illegal are not thinking straight.
Final Thoughts/Conclusion: In recent times, abortion has become increasingly controversial causing more authors, like the ones discussed, to write about it. In all of the sources, the authors use different types of writing to discuss the same topic of abortion legality. The purpose of the articles all tie into the same idea of what impact the decision of abortion legality might have on society. The authors of these articles hold different stances in their writing and through their individual stances they show their audience, commonly those interested in abortion and women’s rights, how certain decisions can affect society negatively.
Works Cited
“How should the legality of abortion be determined?” America, 6 Aug. 2018, p. 6. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A550492951/OVIC?u=cuny_ccny&sid=OVIC&xid=462e0162. Accessed 16 Sept. 2018.
Levy, Gabrielle. “Abortion Rates: Where and Why They’re Falling.” USNews.com, 21 Mar. 2018. Infotrac Newsstand,
http://link.galegroup.com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/apps/doc/ A531888258/STNDu=cuny_ccny&sid=STND&xid=
746da768. Accessed 16 Sept.2018.
Thomas, Rachel G., et al. “Anti-legal attitude toward abortion among abortion patients in the United States.” Contraception, vol.
96, no. 5, 2017, p. 357. Academic OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com.ccny proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/apps/doc/
A522832589/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=AONE&xid=e37d9198. Accessed 16 Sept. 2018.
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