Robert Alderman American Government Word Count- 1,788 0606128

The Semantics of Abortion Abortionthe very word incites strong feelings and opinions from those who hear it. Since the 1970s, this divisive issue has dominated modern American politics, and not an election has gone by where there hasnt been a candidate who has loudly proclaimed his views on the subject. And for good reason! As the years have passed since the Supreme Courts infamous Roe v. Wade ruling, an even greater cloud of doubt has been cast over the legality of the procedure- and this sentiment does not merely stem from right-wing extremists or religious fanatics (as Planned Parenthood would like you to believe). It comes from medical experts that have worked the field for over thirty years, legal experts that have compared the Courts ruling with the very words of the U.S. Constitution, and common sense coupled with the simplest of books: a dictionary! Make no mistake- any person who truly wishes to discover the truth of this matter will find it. In the words of the Good Book, Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened (Luke 11:9-10). (1) Abortion is murder! No, reallyit is. And if you want to prove it, just check out Planned Parenthoods official website! Simply click on the Pregnancy category on the left side of your screen, followed by the How Pregnancy Happens link, and find the word embryo in the information contained on the page. If you click it, the web site will take you to its official glossary, where it bluntly defines it as the organism that develops from the preembryo and begins to share the womans blood supply about 1618 days after fertilization. (2) Now, focus on the word organism for a moment and pull up your trusty Merriam-

Robert Alderman American Government Word Count- 1,788 0606128

Webster Online Dictionary in a separate window on your computer. The definition reads, An individual constituted to carry on the activities of life by means of organs separate in function but mutually dependent: a living being. (3) A living being?! Wait a secondI thought that babies were not alive until they were born? But it says right there on Planned Parenthoods website that an embryo at only 16-18 days is an organism- which means its a living being, and therefore, alive! This brings us to another important word: kill. Using the same online dictionary, the definition reads, To deprive of life; to put an end to. (4) So, let me illustrate this concept to you. If I step on a frog hopping across the road and crush it, it is dead. I have deprived it of life. If I had not interfered, the frog would have kept jumping across the road and theoretically would have continued to exist. But because I stepped on it, I put an end to its life. Therefore, I have killed it. In the same way, if a womans pregnancy does not experience any outside interference, the living organism thriving within her womb will develop into a human being that will mature, live a full life, and eventually die. But if a doctor numbs her cervix, stretches it open, inserts a hollow plastic tube with a very sharp edge into the uterus, and creates an enormous suction that literally tears the babys body and placenta apart from the force of itwell, he has effectively put an end to its life. And therefore, he has killed it. Now, lets take this one step further. What is the definition of murder? The MerriamWebster Online Dictionary states, To kill (a human being) unlawfully and with premeditated malice; to slaughter wantonly (inhumanely). (5) We already know that abortions are premeditated. Obviously, the woman has to think about her decision before

Robert Alderman American Government Word Count- 1,788 0606128

she makes it, and the doctor has to choose that line of work before he can perform the grisly procedure. But the question remains whether or not it is being done maliciously, unlawfully or inhumanely. In order to truly answer it, we have to look at some statistics on why women choose to have abortions in the first place. According to a 2004 survey, 74% of women cited their primary reason for obtaining an abortion was because having a baby would dramatically change my life. Comparatively speaking, only 1% of women that sought to obtain an abortion had done so because they had been victims of rape. (6) What conclusions can be drawn from these figures? Simply put, most women that have abortions do so for selfish reasons. The entire principle of parenting is to sacrifice ones own wants (or even needs) for the sake of ones children. Thats love. Any parent knows that. But to allow some stranger to literally tear your unborn child apart because you would rather have your freedom and not be tied downwell, that is just inhumane and despicable. Furthermore, according to the preamble of the U.S. Constitution, it is unlawful to do so, no matter what Roe v. Wade says. The first line reads, We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. Lets focus on the word posterity for a moment. Pulling out our trusty dictionary again, we discover the following definition: The offspring of one progenitor to the furthest generation; all future generations. (7) So, as Joseph Farah, founder of WorldNetDaily.com noted, those Americans who benefit from our Constitution

Robert Alderman American Government Word Count- 1,788 0606128

are not only those of us now living, but also those of us who have yet to be born- our children, grandchildren, even our great-grandchildren. (8) Born or not, this Constitution is established for them. And under the U.S. Constitution, any American- posterity includedshall not be deprived of life without due process, whether by the federal government (the 5th Amendment) or the states (the 14th Amendment). Life is an unalienable and undeniable right that cannot be taken away by the Supreme Court or anyone else for that matter! So, looking back at the definition of murder (which is defined as the unlawful killing of another human being), and contrasting that with the supreme law of this land (which clearly states that our future generations cannot be deprived of life without due process), we can very easily conclude that abortion (a type of killing) is unlawful and illegal- which makes it murder. Also, let us take a look at the language included in the Roe v. Wade decision. The Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Constitution guarantees a womans right to privacy. However, if an observer carefully scours the document in question, he will find that there is not a single instance in which a right to privacy is ever actually mentioned. But he will find the right to life referenced over and over again, pertaining to American citizens and their posterity. This brings us now to the basic question: does a womans so-called right to privacy (which does not appear in the Constitution) trump the posterity of our nations right to life (which does appear in the Constitution)? The answer is simple. No, it does not.

Robert Alderman American Government Word Count- 1,788 0606128

Pro-abortionists constantly trump the womans right to choose. They even refer to themselves as pro-choice (a meager attempt at distancing themselves from the brutal reality of the procedure). But are women not exercising that choice when they willingly engage in the act of sexual reproduction? For that is what sex is! When a woman (or a man) chooses to have sex, they are making the choice right then and there. They are creating life! Just as a person who doesnt want to get fat would avoid eating at McDonalds every single day of the week, a person who doesnt want to have children should avoid having sex. Thats where a womans freedom of choice existsin the bedroom, not an abortion clinic. No one on this earth has the right to choose the wholesale murder of their own children. Even more egregious than this is the blatantly hypocritical double-murder law. If a man shoots a woman who is pregnant and kills both the fetus and the mother, he is charged twice for murder! The unborn child is treated in all respects as a full-grown human being. But if a woman decides that the child would be an inconvenience to her life, she can walk down to an abortion clinic and have a medical expert rip the baby apart without the somewhat humane blessing of anesthesia? Of course, you wont hear any politician foolish enough to try and revoke this law. It would be political suicide! And the reason? Because deep down, we instinctively know as human beings that it is wrong. A pregnant woman carries the posterity of our nation in her womb. Killing that woman and her child is killing two separate people, whether one is still physically dependent upon the other or not. In conclusion, it is a simple matter of semantics to get at the truth of abortion. With a simple dictionary, acute observation, and a little common sense, one can easily see why abortion is a crime and should be illegal. Contrary to popular liberal belief, those who

Robert Alderman American Government Word Count- 1,788 0606128

oppose it are not extremists who aim to make women second-class citizens. They are actually trying to protect women from the most heinous crime that can ever be committed against her- the invasion of her womb and destruction of her unborn children. Thomas Jefferson once said, The care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the first and only legitimate object of good government (March 31, 1809). This author humbly agrees with him. Our government is responsible for ensuring that its people survive and thrive. How is it accomplishing this when it is allowing the wanton slaughter of our unbornour future generations?

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Works Cited 1. Luke 11:9-10. The Holy Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996. 2. www.plannedparenthood.org. 2009. Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc. Nov. 1, 2009 <http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/glossary-4338.htm#e>. 3. www.merriam-webster.com. 2009. Merriam-Webster, Inc. Nov. 1, 2009 <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/organism>. 4. www.merriam-webster.com. 2009. Merriam-Webster, Inc. Nov. 1, 2009 <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kill>. 5. www.merriam-webster.com. 2009. Merriam-Webster, Inc. Nov. 1, 2009 <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/murder>. 6. Finer, Lawrence B.; Dauphinee, Lindsay A.; Singh, Susheela; Moore, Ann M. Reasons U.S. Women Have Abortions: Quantitative and Qualitative Perspectives. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2005, 37 (3): 110-118. Guttenmacher Institute, New York. 2005. <http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/psrh/full/3711005.pdf>. 7. www.merriam-webster.com. 2009. Merriam-Webster, Inc. Nov. 1, 2009 <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/posterity>. 8. Joseph Farah, Why Abortion Is Still Illegal, WorldNetDaily.com, 2009. <http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=22817>.