Abortion and the Moral Decay of America Essay -- Argumentative Persuas

Abortion and the Moral Decay of America    Abortion is a tough issue for our country to deal with. There are, on both sides of the argument, well-meaning and intelligent people - as well as the opposite. Despite the difficulty of this issue, it must be confronted, as it is simultaneously rooted in and influential towards the moral foundations and political ideals of America. As a concerned American and a pursuant of open-mindedness, I have reached the conclusion that abortion is a such a threat to America's public and private morals that it should be outlawed in all cases except for when the mother's physical health is seriously threatened. In order to support this conclusion, I intend to address and the pro-choice arguments as represented in the Planned Parenthood site Nine Reasons Abortion is Legal and other pro-choice Internet sites. I will refute their arguments as either misguided in their conclusions, inapplicable or insufficient to justify abortion. [Good introduction, though your paragraphing is a bit odd--why all the short paragraphs?   title of the PP site should be in quotations, both as it is given here and within parenthetical cites below. In general, it's best not to announce your intentions, but to "just do it."   Also, let me say that below I offer many points to counter your refutations--and I'm sure that has to do with the knowledge that you aren't arguing for your side of the argument. I probably wouldn't be as contentious if I thought these were your beliefs. ] One popular argument posed by choice advocates is that "legal abortion [is] critical to sustaining women's freedom" (Nine Reasons.) Outlawing abortion, the argument goes, inhibits a woman's ability to decide the paths her own life will take ... ...News On-line WHO HAS ABORTIONS. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/19PIE.HTM. Date visited: March 7, 1997.    [Your in-text citations need to match the citations in the list. For example, "Abortion as Birth Control" is given in the parenthetical cite, but it is alphabetized as Planned Parenthood. Also, webpage titles need to go in quotation marks, both in the list cited and in the parenthetical citations. You present good refutations for many of the points made by Planned Parenthood's "Nine Reasons" site. The problems involve the supposition that the abortion option is particular to our society--and it isn't. Even primitive cultures often have identified plants that act as abortifacients. Your refutation might have been more effective if you had chosen a single claim to refute instead of nine claims. Still you have made a fine effort.]