Intro 1.5mins

Set the scene

Let us all for just a second imagine, imagine you are running around on the grass. It's your choice, you may get hurt but you take the risk. All is well until you step on a thorn. You don't want it and it is not going to do you any good having it in your foot so you remove it. Problem solved. This is a lot like having an abortion don't you think?

greeting

Ladies and Gentlemen, I will address you on the thorny issue of abortion and raise serious points that are not only true, but also correct.

arguments

Does a foetus have the right to be in the body of a woman that does not want it to be there? This is an organized and structured speech, questions you have will be answered. Especially if your questions concern the safety of the procedure, the effects on society, religious issues, government laws and the psychological effects a termination can have.

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Body 5.5mins

Abortion

Abortion is the ending of a pregnancy by the removal of the developing foetus. This is performed using one of two methods. Surgical abortion is the most common method used in almost ninety percent of cases in the first twelve weeks of pregnancy. Medical abortion involves taking medications prescribed by a physician. Some may say that a beating heart means the foetus is alive and removing it would be murder. If the foetus is unborn it is not human and is still relying on it mother to live. Many of the fanatics that insist abortion is murder are the terrorists that kill the doctors and nurses that run the abortion clinics. If they are the supposed PRO-life advocates how can they deem it necessary to go around and murder a human being to protect only the potential human? I am not saying all the terrorists are murderers... Some are bombers and arsonists. They want abortions to remain illegal and by killing doctors that support it makes it a whole lot easier

Laws

In every state in Australia there is legislation in place restricting abortion. These date back to the offences against the person act of 1861. In Queensland the laws regarding termination are vague and unclear. But in the states of NSW, VIC and TAS an abortion can only be performed to preserve the mothers physical and or mental well being. It doesn't get any better in the remaining states. According to the World Health Organization unsafe and illegal abortions cause the death of thousands of women every year while thousands more are seriously injured. Legal abortions protect women's health with safe sterile procedures. If this is a free country why is our government outlawing individual rights and the freedom to choose. If abortion becomes a criminal offence punishable by death for example then the people that need one will move underground like everything else criminal making it dangerous and risky. Forcing women to bear an unwanted child is not good for family relations. If you were forced to go through a great deal of effort for something you did not want would you like it just because it's there? An unwanted child is in a lot worse position than an unwanted foetus.

Safety

You are now more likely to die in childbirth than in a legal and safe abortion. As with all surgery there is a risk involved. Today the risk is very small with less than one death for every 100.000 abortions. When you compare this to the death rate for pregnancy at 7.5 deaths to every 100,000 live births. If a pro-life terrorist tries to sway you with the idea that abortions are dangerous and complicated. Unless you ask the village idiot to perform it instead of a sterile skilled doctor, you will realise the fact that an abortion is one of the safest surgical procedures available.

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Society

The abortion issue is not really about abortion. It is about the value of women in society today. Should women have the right to make their own decisions or should these decisions be made for them? Do women have the right to choose whether or not to have children? Or does the government make that choice? Anti abortion leaders not only oppose choice, they also oppose women achieving equality and freedom. Most of them seem to believe that life begins at conception and ends at birth. Is that respect for life? With names such as "The Army Of God" you have to wonder what they are hoping to achieve. Then there is the compulsory pregnancy movement that believes once you are pregnant you are stuck with it until it's born. These people would like to return to the days when a woman had few or no choices some even think contraception is to liberating for them and don't believe they are able to make their own decisions.

Religion

Many religious groups and religious people support the right to choose. They believe a woman has the right to make her own contraception, abortion and childbearing decisions. They recognize people will come to different conclusions and that people must be able to make their own decisions according to their faith, beliefs and their conscience. The Religious Coalition for Reproductive choice is a group of over 40 religious organizations that are pro choice. Some people think that most major religions forbade abortion while on the contrary nearly all branches of Protestantism, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism all grant women this right. One in four abortion patients in Australia are Roman Catholic, there is even a group called "Catholics for a Free Choice".

Psychological effects

It has been said that long lasting emotional trauma is caused after an abortion. There is no scientific proof at all to support this claim at all. Adoption for some people is the answer but giving up a baby after you have held it in you arms is infinitely more traumatic and does leave a mark on them for the rest of their lives.

Conclusion

To summarize each individual woman is the best judge of what is the best possible decision for her. Options are closed off and some are forced to do something they don't want to do. Australian laws are out of date and need to be reformed. Even though it is safe as houses, nobody wants to build. Our society is losing the point there are way to many nuts in the world fighting for people that aren't people yet. The pro-life movement if it can be called that is looking at this from the wrong point of view. Just because women have the option of choosing abortion does not mean that every woman in Australia will rush out and have one. It's just a choice to make. If they want to hide from the modern era they can. In a free country you need freedom.

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