The Art of Persuasion The debate between Pro-Life versus Pro Choice is a difficult and unruly topic. Individuals with different backgrounds, opinions, perspectives, and experiences all have particular stances on this sensitive topic. However, any individual can make an excellent and persuasive declaration on their stance with the use of rhetoric. Judith Jarvis Thomson author of, A Defense of Abortion, and Sidney Callahan author of, Abortion and the Sexual Agenda, use rhetoric in a marvelous manner. Rhetoric is a powerful tool, as will be expressed in the pages to follow, because it allows authors and individuals to take a stance in a scholarly fashion. In both pieces authors give viewpoints from both sides of the abortion debate, which …show more content…
Thomson’s action of presenting alternative authors’ work and investigations in her writing not only gives credibility to herself, but to the persuasiveness of her argument. Opposition statements to Thomson’s’ view are presented in her writing countless times. By presenting information from the other perspective Thomson is expressing her understanding and awareness of the opposing opinions, which in return, supplements her credibility. A powerful statement from the conflicting side is expressed by Thomson, “The most familiar argument here is the following. We are told that performing the abortion would be directly killing the child, whereas doing nothing would not be killing the mother, but only letter her die” (Thomson 50). Overall, this proclamation is very compelling and uses emotion to analyze the argument, however, Thomson makes sure that the definition of direct is clearly noted on the page and that there is an example of this definition so the reader is able to truly grasp the definition. Thomson uses this definition to her advantage in explaining that direct killing also means, “The end of saving someone else’s life” (Thomson, 50). The action of presenting an argument from the contrasting viewpoint and turning it into an argument that supports her stance is an extraordinary and clever technique. This particular argument is powerful because it includes emotion with the discussion of the killing of the child or the mother, therefore, it has
The United States has been divided now over the issue of abortion for thirty-three years since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade in 1973. As of today, over 45 million legal abortions have been performed in the United States. Pro-choice advocates hold these 45 million abortions as being 45 million times women have exercised their right to choose to get pregnant and to choose to control their own bodies. To pro-life, or anti-abortion, advocates these 45 million abortions constitute 45 million murders, a genocide of human life in the United States propagated by the court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade. The debate over abortion in the United States is thus a debate of two extremes. One side argues from the personal liberty of the mother. The
In Judith Jarvis Thompson’s article “A Defense of Abortion” she explores the different arguments against abortion presented by Pro –Life activists, and then attempts to refute these notions using different analogies or made up “for instances” to help argue her point that women do have the right to get an abortion. She explains why abortion is morally permissible using different circumstances of becoming pregnant, such as rape or unplanned pregnancy.
In “Unstringing The Violinist,” Greg Koukl analyzes two arguments made by advocates for pro-life and combats them with counterarguments. In contrast, “The Pro-Choice Argument,” by Tanya Luhrmann address the mindset of pro-choice supporters and provides a comprehensive response. This essay will explore each author’s technique the rhetoric their readers. I will go onto to address how each author of their respective articles make their arguments and why they do it. The goal of this analysis is to examine how the authors argue their opinion and determine which style is more effective.
Abortion is arguably one of the most debated topics in the modern 20th century. The sides argued in this debate are pro-life and pro-choice. This debate can be found in politics, planned parenthood discussions, and even philosophy. Many philosophers have tired to settle this debate in terms of morality. Don Marquis addresses this debate in his article “Why abortion is immoral” supporting the pro-life choice. On the other hand, Judith Jarvis Thomson supports the pro-choice position in her article “A Defense of Abortion”. After reading both articles and critically analyzing them I believe that Thompson presents a much more persuasive case.
In today’s society, there is a huge discussion called, ”Pro-Life vs Pro-Choice”. This debate is essentially over whether a woman should have the right to do what she wishes to her body. The majority of all abortion procedures are within the first trimester of pregnancy. This means there is no harm done to the fetus because it is only in the first stages of its growth. It is a known fact that if politicians pass laws against abortions, it will not stop the procedures from happening. If anything, it will increase the number of deaths in women due to illegal and unsanitary abortions.
The controversy that is abortion is a complicated matter. It affects Americans by making them choose between pro-life and pro-choice. Can one truly decide to be either pro-life or pro-choice? This choice is chosen by what one truly believes. Some may believe there is not a choice to be made but a side to choose from. “Pro-choice and pro-life don’t engage the central issue that divides them” (Oliver pg. 19).
I have to agree that marriage relation in the recent generations have given women the chance to be more of an individual, with the same likes and dislikes as men. I didn’t get that she was either Pro Choice or Pro-life from the reading, I will have to go back and read the story but great point. Sanger, hope that if an unplanned pregnancies could be prevented that it would not change the dreams of the parties involved. I have to agree with your example of the Pro-life and Pro-Choice example as far as unplanned pregnancies, myself, I used the hold birth control being covered as an issue for my example. For stance on Sanger’s points still relevant today is a strong one and I like how you voiced your view point on this issue.
There are many different pros and cons or pro-life and pro-choice things to consider with this topic. Personally, I have always had a hard time deciding if I should be pro-life or pro-choice, but I have never looked too much into the topic. I have always thought that you should be able to get an abortion in certain cases like if it is health threatening, rape, or incest. However this has always been a huge topic that many politicians argue on. So for this journal I am going to take a look at both sides and decide for myself.
Governor Mike Pence of Indiana recently signed the House Bill 1337, making Indiana the second state to ban abortion because of the fetus disability, ethnicity, or gender. The bill has escalated an uproar political debate between pro-life and pro-choice advocates.
Most people don’t know that there has been approximately 57,762,169 abortions since the decision was made in Roe vs. Wade in 1973 (Life News). Some people look at this number and are appalled. But others see this and think of all the people who used abortion as a means to a second chance. Abortion has long been a controversial topic in the U.S. but lots of people are choosing sides without really knowing all the facts. Abortion can be seen from many different sides but most know these sides as pro-choice or pro-life. Pro-choice is known for supporting women’s right to choose whether they want to have the baby or not and pro-life is known for supporting the life of the unborn child. The big question is who are abortions really hurting and who is pro-life really helping.
Out of all modern social controversies, perhaps the most heated controversy is that of abortion. In today’s society you are either a Pro-life or a Pro-choice, there is not a middle ground. Pro-life are individuals who believe abortion is immoral and should be stop for the wellbeing of women and unborn babies. In contrast, the Pro-choice individuals do not necessarily promote abortion, they just believe women should be the ones to make decisions over their bodies and health. Although the two main sides of the abortion debate have concerns for human life, pro-life activists worries more about the fetus and morals, a clear difference from the pro-choice that worries more for the women and their rights. Based on the points I explored, the pro-choice arguments are stronger than pro-life arguments. Most of both groups arguments comes from peer-reviewed researches from well-known sources to support each individual concept. Effects on women,socio-politics, and fetus are some of the main point of conflicts between the pro-life and pro-choice advocates.
The restrictions and the debate that surrounds the issue of abortion has changed dramatically throughout the course of history and it continues to change until this very moment. All around the world and in every known society, women have used abortion to control their reproduction, regardless of it’s legality. Abortion used to be exercised freely in the United Sates, up Until all the states started to ban It and place a lot of restrictions on it. They stated that a woman can not abort except in extreme cases in which the mother’s life might be in danger. After the restrictions caused a lot of health issues and raised concerns on women’s health, The Government abolished all the restrictions. In this paper I will analyze and discuss three main positions on the issue of abortion. First, there are those who associate themselves with the title “pro-life”. These individuals are anti abortion, birth control, embryo research or anything that can control or cause any harm to the fetus. Second, there are those who at the other end of the spectrum who firmly believe that if a woman decides to abort, then it is her constitutional right to do so without any interference from the government. Third, are those who believe that if a woman is raped or her life is in danger, then abortion should be completely and solely up to the woman, but other than that, abortion should be illegal. This group of individuals are also for birth control and do not oppose educating
The ethical dilemma regarding the “Pro-choice Vs. Pro-life can be answered by the Deontological ethical theory. The Deontological theory is also called the duty-based ethics. To explain, Deontological theory states that the righteous of an action or a deed is determined by the principal motivation of doing that particular act ("BBC - Ethics - Introduction to ethics: Duty-based ethics", n.d.). In addition, according to Immanuel Kant, the philosopher who introduced this belief, the justification of an individual’s every action should be based on one’s own reason and mental analysis rather than analyzing it based on traditions (Kurtz & Burr, 2016). Furthermore, Kant’s work titled, “Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Moral, explained that human beings
Abortion has been one of the biggest controversies of all time. Many people believe that women should get to decide what she would do with her body. The definition of abortion is; “The termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to being capable of normal growth”. Abortion is one of the most controversial topics today. Although there are two sides of the debate pro-choice and pro life, arguments are mainly centered around the Roe v. Wade decision, women’s rights and state restrictive laws.
Abortion. This word leaves most people feeling uneasy after just saying it out loud. The discussion of abortion is continuously left open-ended with millions of opinions, arguments, and questions. Abortions occur every single day leaving potential fathers devastated or thrilled, leaving friends and families broken and distraught or in contrast, proud. More importantly, leaving the potential mother uncertain and even destroyed. But with abortion in mind, what is considered wrong and what is considered right? What is moral and what is immoral? Is all faith in humanity questioned at the sole argument of either aborting or not aborting an unborn child? Moreover, who is granted the superior authority on deciding what is morally correct or incorrect this day and age. As I said before, bottomless questions and vast accusations tend to be the fuel for this fire. It is as if society is waiting for the perfect, yet, moderate argument on abortion, tying up all of the loose ends and meeting somewhere in between what is right and what is wrong when considering abortion rights. Is there even a common ground of understanding when debating the existence of another human? The endless and twisted argument continues to linger on, although Judith Jarvis Thomson’s “Defense of Abortion” communicated insightful views which in fact influenced my very own ideas on the argument of abortion.