So I haven't talked much about college life recently.
I thought I would give you my paper which I recently wrote to chew on.
Recently, in my college English class, I had to read this article, "We Do Abortions Here" by Sallie Tisdale. We were given a couple different options from the articles we read to summarize and respond to.
At first, I decided I would write on this and disagree with her standpoint. Later on, I thought I would choose a "easier" topic but after starting to write it felt that God wanted to challenge me to do something that was not only hard from a writing standpoint but also to challenge what my beliefs were regarding this issue. It is not every day that you to publicly state your opinion on such a topic. So I took a leap of faith, got out of my comfort zone, and wrote. I know there are things I didn't cover and a lot of things I could have said differently or worded better, but hopefully what I wrote does not detract from the thesis I was supposed to answer and the main point I am trying to make.
So here is what I wrote. The main purpose of a summary and res ponce essay is pretty much what it sounds like. You summarize what the author writes about, leaving out your own personal opinion, and then in the response the writer is able to agree/disagree, talk about a point the author may not have covered ect.
enjoy
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dirty Work
Abortion.
This word, causing a variety of emotions, carries many different meanings. To
some, it is murder and to others, the ability to exercise freedom of choice. An
extremely touchy and controversial topic, it is one of the most fought for and
fought against rights in today’s society. In her essay, “We do Abortions Here,”
Tisdale shares her experience as a nurse working in an abortion clinic,
addressing her thoughts and ideas on the subject and though I respect her
opinions and choice, I have to disagree with her arguments for supporting
abortion and pro-choice.
Tisdale begins her story by
stating her clinic does abortions. In the clinic where she works, Tisdale goes
through the motions of checking in a girl of eighteen, taking her blood
pressure, and noticing the numerous prick marks of drug needles on her arm. She
then prepares her patient for the abortion. Noting that many people often ask
her how she stands the work, Tisdale says that it is the bond she is able to
create and the support she can give to the woman who come that makes her work
enjoyable most of the time. Enjoying the female company, she embraces the
opportunity to offer support to these woman when they most need it. Tisdale
stating that, “I look at abortion as if I am standing on a cliff with a
telescope, gazing at some great vista,” (378) is enabled to put the horrors and
her own feelings aside to help women as “in abortion the absolute must always
be tempered by the contextual” (378).This means the abortions must be qualified
for each individual situation and the context of it must be looked at in order
to make a proper analysis of the situation. She practices this idea by stating
that abortion is a broken promise to protect and nourish, but a broken promise
a long time ago and she is just a part of helping to relive the weight of that
already broken promise.
Tisdale remembers her younger days and how she
grew up with the “protection” of birth control and the freedom it gave her to
live as she wanted. Looking back she realized it was stupid to put herself in
such danger when pregnancy was so easy to avoid. The problem with these pills,
Tisdale points out, is that they fail more often than people now. Even after
all precautions are taken, “fine print comes to life” (378) states Tisdale and
the warnings that this drug may not completely protect one from becoming
pregnant come true. This is the same conclusion that woman, of all different
ages, backgrounds, and walks of life, come to when they realized they
unintentionally become pregnant.
As her narrative
progresses, Tisdale explains the various procedures that women undergo. Early
on in the pregnancy, “a couple minutes of vacuuming” (378) is all it takes and
the woman is free to go. Later in the trimester, the doctor reaches in and
crushes the fetus in several places with forceps. The woman respond in various
ways during the procedure. Some tear from the pain and others give a sigh of
relief. After the procedure is complete, Tisdale neatly disposes of the
“tissue” and cleans up. In her narrative, she explains that each person working
in an abortion clinic draw their own boundaries, some at after a certain week and
others if a woman has repeated abortions. Her boundary is not to allow the
women to carry the burden themselves and not judge them by their decision.
Coming to the end of her
story, Tisdale states that she knows the feeling of a baby in her arms, and yet
when she sees the little one in the ultra sound, she cannot let it alone. She
points out that a “fetus is created by accident” and “are at least inconvenient,
sometimes quite literally dangerous in the womb, but most often they fall
somewhere in between – consequence never quite believed in come to roost” (382).
After seeing many abortions, Tisdale sees the fruit of broken promises yet also
the promise of freedom. She believes that although it is dirty work, abortion,
if done right is merciful and necessary.
After reading Tisdale’s
essay and becoming more educated in what happens at abortion clinics, I have
come to realize there is more to the abortion than the just the procedure. Ever
since I was young I have had a love for children. Though I have grown older and
realize the various reasons why people would consider abortion to be
acceptable, I feel there is ultimately no way to justify it as it eliminates
the babies rights to live, and goes against what I believe is right.
One of the first points
that Tisdale makes that I would argue with is that “abortion is a matter of
choice, privacy, control” (380). This statement, particularly the word choice,
does not seem to fit today’s ideas of freedom. Our society is leaning more
towards woman’s rights and equality for all women to choose to vote and obtain
higher positions. This is great, but that also allows them the freedom to
choose whether or not to have an abortion. What those who are for woman’s
right’s do not now is that they are not speaking for all women. They are not speak
out specifically for the “fetus” or baby girl that, if given the chance, would
grow into a woman herself one day and possibly further the woman’s cause,
making a difference in the world. It seems that there is still prejudice
against those who lack a voice but who are no less important. There is
something that keeps people from killing adults who are malformed or handicapped
and yet why are defenseless babies not also protected. The safest place for
anyone should be in the womb, yet is the number one cause of death in America
today (Suzanne Eovaldi). According to Tisdale, even those who participate in
these medical procedures admit that doing abortions are not just another task
but creates in them emotions and those doctors will create their own boundaries
which they choose not cross. There is then a sense of moral wrong, which is put
in every person, that causes them to not take life away from a more formed baby
and yet that does not stop people from taking life away from a less formed baby
or a baby born with “defects.” People today are being allowed to pick and
choose who is worthy to live, simply due to their whims and justify doing so
depending on the situation. There is too much freedom and choice given to
people in this area which often times leads to the death of one who did not
have any choice or control over the situation.
As far as “the promise of freedom” (382) in abortion
goes, not supporting abortion does not hijack the woman’s right to choice but
rather supports the babies right to live, which every human being has. When a
woman realizes she is pregnant, she is not faced with just one option. She can
decide to carry the baby and raise it or give the baby to an adoption agency
and therefore still has choices. For those who have been wrongly mistreated and
raped, who only make up one percent (U.S. Abortion Statistics), these options
still stand. As extremely difficult as
is to continue to carry the baby under these circumstances, women and those who
fight for pro-choice need to remember that it was not the babies fault for being
concepted and therefore the baby should
not bear the weight of other’s actions
and face murder. In aborting the baby, the woman is in a sense letting the man win
by getting rid of the evidence of his mistreatment of her in the end, killing
an innocent baby is not going to take away the hurt caused and will not reverse
what happen. However, by carrying the baby to full term and putting them up for
adoption, a pregnant mother is giving the priceless gift of a new life to a
family who has no hope of having their own child and also providing the child
with a loving, supportive family. She also gives the baby a chance to live and
in doing so is able to bring a happy ending to a terrible circumstance.
To end, abortion is a
weighty topic as Tisdale excellently pointed out in her essay, “We do Abortions
Here.” Because she brought up some points I disagreed with, I was positively
challenged to consider why I had a problem with abortion. This topic is
relevant to everyone who reads it whether or not they are pro-life or
pro-choice. People need to be informed of the facts of abortion and the reasons
for why it still exists because it does still exists today and deals with the critical
issue of death. Although there seem to be three different types of people, pro-choice,
pro-life, and those who do not pick a side, there are really there are two
groups: pro-choice and pro-life. Those who are neutral need to be careful as,
in their not speaking out against this issue, they are allowing abortion to
continue and inadvertently supporting pro-choice. For those who support pro-choice,
they should remember abortion is not just a simple choice or a freedom issue but
rather the difference between life and death for another human being.
Works Cited
Suzanne Eovaldi. "Stunning Report:
Abortion Leading Cause Of Death In America." Western Journalism. N.p., 30
Dec. 2013. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.
Tisdale, Sallie. "We Do
Abortions Here: A Nurse's Story." The Norton Reader. 13 edition. Marilyn
Moller, et al. New York: W.W. Norton
& Company, 2012. 377-284. Print.
"U.S. Abortion
Statistics." Facts About Abortion:. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct.
2014.
