I didn't have time to finish the blog I was working on for today, so in the interest of keeping things going consistently, I thought I'd just post this speech I wrote for my Public Speaking class during the semester. It's done in the format of Monroe's Motivated Sequence and could maybe use a little tweaking, but I'm pretty proud of it nonetheless. I posted it in my Facebook notes, so it is sort of a rerun if you've been previously following my writing. Next time I promise new material.
I. ATTENTION STEP
A. ATTENTION GETTER: Who here agrees that the Holocaust was a good thing? (PAUSE) Seriously, can I get a show of hands? (PAUSE) Of course no one here would actively agree with such a dark era in history—and with good reason. And yet every day with silence and a nod of approval, we condone a modern massacre—the hidden holocaust of abortion. Everyone please stand. (Then I’ll tell a few at random to sit down.) According to a statistic from the CDC, it has been estimated that more than one third of our generation has been wiped out by way of abortion. If that statistic were applied to this classroom, (however many) of you shouldn’t be alive. As startling as that statistic is, that figure does not even include the mothers who have died from medical complications or the emotional trauma that abortion entails.
B. RELEVANCE: I’m going to come at this topic in a way you probably aren’t used to; I will lay aside political agendas and religious overtones and stick to the facts. This topic transcends religion. In fact, 47% of women who have abortions claim Protestantism and 27% identify themselves as Catholic. I have no interest in condemning pro-choice advocates to Hell or waging war against them, just to tell you a few things you may not know.
C. CREDIBILITY: As somewhat of a feminist, people are often surprised by my unyielding pro-life stance. What they don’t realize is that it’s largely BECAUSE of feminism that I think this way. I’ve done quite a bit of research on both sides before reaching the decision to stand against abortion, especially because some of my loved ones have experienced it. I gleaned a lot of this information from The Alan Guttmacher Institute, a research arm of Planned Parenthood, and the Centers for Disease Control.
D. THESIS: I have come to the conclusion that abortion is harmful to a woman’s psyche, body, and place in society.
· TRANSITION: Like speeding on an empty road, people try to justify abortion as a victimless crime. But is it really? What kind of emotional damage does it cause on the parties involved?
II. NEED STEP
A. MAIN POINT 1: ABORTION IS POISONOUS TO A WOMAN’S PSYCHE.
1. According to the American Journal of Public Health, women who choose abortion typically experience higher rates of physical and sexual violence than women who choose to have the child. In a study of almost 1,000 abortion patients from Fall 2007 to Summer 2008, more than 12% reported being physically hurt by someone in the past year, with 10% identifying a current or former partner as the abuser.
a. This study is a perfect example of how abortion perpetuates a cycle in which women lose the ability to respect themselves.
b. Like a person who pops diet pills but doesn’t change his or her eating habits or begin to exercise, seeming “easy fixes” like abortion cause a weakening of the muscles used for determination and resolve.
2. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, 54% of women having abortions used a contraceptive method during the month they became pregnant. Among those women, 76% of pill users and 49% of condom users reported using the methods inconsistently.
a. This statistic further illustrates the point that responsibility becomes optional.
b. Potential mothers and fathers continue to be reckless and sloppy because they are surrounded by an enabling society who tells them that the mess is easily swept away.
3. In 2002 Mark Crutcher, of the pro-life group Life Dynamics, ran a study that surveyed over 800 Planned Parenthood clinics and National Abortion Federation affiliates. An actor posing as a 13-year-old girl impregnated by rape called the clinics. In the recorded conversations, the group found that over 90% of the clinics promised to cover up the rape and provide her with an illegal abortion--a plan and procedure unreported to either police or parents.
a. Although only a very small proportion of procedures are performed for victims of rape or incest, I think we can agree that covering up the problem only aids the detrimental pattern of sexual abuse and the criminals who cause it.
b. Abortion teaches women to ignore their issues and they’ll just go away.
c. It is understandable to want to forget such a painful experience, but pretending it never happened is not the solution to the problem and can only cause further emotional crippling.
4. According to abortionfacts.com, in a study of 500 women who had abortions, researchers found that 50% expressed negative feelings. Up to 10% were found to have developed “serious psychiatric complications.”
5. 30-50% experienced sexual dysfunctions immediately after the procedure ranging from loss of pleasure from intercourse, increased pain, an aversion to sex and/or males in general, or the development of a promiscuous lifestyle.
6. 33% intensely desire another pregnancy to make up for the one they lost. Once they succeed in conception within the first year, they find that the same problems still exist and end up forced into another abortion.
7. In a survey of 100 women suffering post-abortion trauma, 28% attempted suicide one or more times, 49% admitted drug abuse, and 39% began to use or increased their use of alcohol.
a. Is abortion then a quick-fix?
b. Feelings of self-hatred, numbness, guilt, and defensiveness last long after the procedure is over.
B. MAIN POINT 2: ABORTION ALSO HAS PHYSICAL CONSEQUENCES.
1. According to Czechoslovakia’s Deputy Minister of Health Dr. Bohumil Stipal, “roughly 25% of the women who interrupt their first pregnancy have remained permanently childless.”
2. A survey from the Medical Journal of Australia found that forced dilation for abortion resulted in a weakened cervix unable to carry the weight of a pregnancy. “Cervical incompetence” was found in 75% of women who underwent the abortive dilation.
3. Incomplete abortions, where body parts of the fetus are accidentally left in the uterus, as well as insertion of medical instruments into the womb can cause infections and severe bleeding. In rare cases, these complications can even lead to death.
a. We have to ask ourselves: are these risks worth taking to remove an “inconvenience?”
b. Decisions made now can affect the future ability to have a family and even stay alive. Other types of complications can kill both mother and child in the delivery room years down the road.
c. Better to face the consequences of our actions now then deal with worse problems later on which include more than 100 types of possible complications.
5. I visited an online forum for women who had recently had abortions. Nearly every post related to excessive bleeding following the procedure for which they were prescribed birth control, which only on some occasions actually helped the problem.
6. Alternately, abortion activists might question: “What about when the pregnancy is a risk for the mother?” However, only about 10% of abortions are carried out for legitimate medical reasons. The other 90% put their lives at risk when an array of other choices might prove less harmful to both mind and body.
7. According to the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, abortion can also increase the risk of premature birth in later pregnancies: an issue which can have severely crippling effects on the child such as autism, cerebral palsy, and other serious health risks.
C. MAIN POINT 3: ABORTION CAUSES DAMAGING SOCIETAL TRENDS IN WOMEN.
1. Few people know that Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, corresponded with Hitler. Her master plan for eradicating minority populations in America was to encourage abortion until they no longer produced offspring. To some who ignore her history of racial hatred, however, she is a hero for women’s rights. These days such an agenda doesn’t exist. Does it?
a. According to an article in First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, approximately 80% of abortion clinics are located in neighborhoods where minorities compose most of the population. This decision is probably more of a business decision than anything else—sexual problems are more prevalent in poverty-stricken areas.
b. And yet the horror lies in the numbers. African American women make up less than 13% of the population, but make up 37% of the women who have abortions in our country.
c. Black women are almost 5 times as likely to have abortions than white women. Hispanic women are almost 3 times as likely.
d. Under the guise of lending a helping hand, a cycle of ethnic and economic oppression is allowed to continue. Rather than educating and informing these women how to avoid unwanted pregnancies (and thus the average $400 cost per abortion according to AGI), we keep clinic business booming with return engagements.
e. A disturbing statistic from AGI states that around 14% of all abortions in the U.S. are paid for with public funds. That means you and me are paying for poverty-stricken women to lose pieces of their sanity, physical well-being, and sense of responsibility.
2. Another alarming trend lies in the statistics regarding age and marital status.
a. The CDC says that at least 80% of abortions are performed on unmarried women.
b. Women between the ages of 20-24 obtained 33% of all abortions.
c. Another target group is young, unmarried women. In this critical learning and growing period of life, they are being taught that what they do does not matter because every choice has an escape route. This “do whatever you want” sort of attitude is reflected in growing divorce rates and other such societal issues.
3. According to AGI, 14% of all abortions are paid for by public funds. That essentially means that we all become accomplices in repeated injustices to the poor.
a. Poverty-stricken women are another key demographic in the abortionist’ business model.
b. Women who are already at rock-bottom are only further subjected to a self-deprecating, paralyzing cycle of supposed convenience—and they aren’t informed that they can be more than a victim because then those tax-payer dollars won’t be flowing into the clinics anymore.
b. Canada has recently introduced a maternal and child health plan to stop the needless deaths of more than 400,000 women and children a year. Experts around the world are praising this plan. One thing it doesn’t include? Government funding for abortion. So, wait. A plan constructed to ensure women’s health doesn’t encourage abortion? Go figure. Maybe they’ve actually done their research. After drawing fire from many pro-choicers such as Hillary Clinton, the Prime Minister has decided to stand resolutely behind the original plan while encouraging education regarding contraceptive methods and pregnancy prevention.
II. THE SATISFACTION STEP
A. Educate the masses.
1. Rather than hurling agendas and sales tactics at women, consequences of their decisions should be considered in sex education. Counselors at many abortion clinics, as many undercover studies have shown, are trained to function like used car salesmen. They want to make the sale, so they downplay everything that is wrong with the procedure. Yet instead of ending up with a broken-down ’85 MonteCarlo, you end up with your own version of post-traumatic stress disorder.
2. In this day and age, “abstinence only” methodology is sadly unrealistic. Addressing the how-to of dealing with pregnancy should be something every woman knows about.
a. We discuss what could happen if you “do the dirty,” but we don’t explain the ramifications of every decision afterward.
b. The dangers of abortion should be taught. For that matter, so should what the adoption process entails as well as how difficult it is to raise a child.
c. Every option should be considered—and by considered, I mean given an in-depth exploration of what it means.
B. Prevent pregnancy.
1. The best way to avoid abortion and its risks is to avoid unwanted pregnancy.
2. Proper, consistent, and responsible contraceptive use is almost always an effective way to prevent conception of a child. Condoms and birth control are inexpensive and easy to administer.
3. If you’re not willing to take precautions, and you’re not willing to deal with the consequences of your stupidity—then you’re probably not emotionally mature enough to be sexually active.
C. Seek alternatives.
1. Thousands of couples every year desire to adopt a child.
a. It’s true that giving up one’s own flesh and blood can be devastating, but as many people would tell you, it can be rewarding to know that you gave your child a chance to have a better life.
b. Many abortion advocates try to talk women out of this option. They say it’s too difficult or painful. Is it less painful, I wonder, to endure the hardships that I’ve elaborated on today?
2. I want to say that we should make abortion illegal. I personally believe it should be so. But according to David Quintero, a former hospital worker who saw the devastating effects of back-alley abortions before Roe vs. Wade, making them illegal will only cause further damage to women, especially the poor, as they try to go about it themselves.
3. Therefore, I believe knowledge and an increased sense of responsibility is the cure to this holocaust. We simply cannot, in good conscience, continue to let these women slip through the cracks.
IV. THE VISUALIZATION STEP
Imagine a world where every woman is strong, responsible, and informed—where each one reaches her full potential without self-imposed obstacles and pain. I am not naïve enough to believe that the end of abortion will be the end of all problems, but I do fully believe that if women were educated about the risks and learned from others who have walked through it, we would be taking a step toward that kind of world. We would be facilitating mental and physical health and ending an era of gender and race oppression. Thank you for your time. I hope it helps you.
Works Cited
"Abortion patients report higher violence." The Nation's Health 40.7 (2010): 5.
Academic OneFile. Web. 5 Nov. 2010.
Francis, Babette. "Abortion and pretermbirth." Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons 15.3 (2010): 65. Academic OneFile. Web. 5 Nov. 2010.
Quintero, David. "Choice for all." The Humanist July-Aug. 2010: 2. Academic OneFile. Web. 5 Nov. 2010.
Rose, Lila. "Fighting for life: for four years, twenty-two-year-old pro-life activist Lila Rose has waged war against Planned Parenthood. It's bigger--but she's stronger." First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life 206 (2010): 14+. Academic OneFile. Web. 5 Nov. 2010.
Webster, Paul Christopher. "International experts laud Canadian child and maternal health plan." CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal 182.9 (2010): E399+. Academic OneFile. Web. 5 Nov. 2010.
http://www.abort73.com (with statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and the Allan Guttmacher Institute, a research arm of Planned Parenthood)
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