|
By Anna Gordon
When discussing the difficult and sensitive topic of abortion, one can't simplify matters the way politicians love to
do; by splitting people up into the two groups of Pro-life and Pro-Choice. Pro-Choice is defined as believing that a woman
is in charge of her own body, and that she has a right to make her own decisions concerning it, including the decision to
terminate her pregnancy. In the minds of many people, some who I am familiar with, the Pro-life people are those who are driven
by their religious beliefs to say that abortion is wrong and that a woman should carry out the full term of her pregnancy
no matter what. The point behind pro-life thinking however, is not necessarily be driven by religious beliefs but driven by
problems with the way abortions are administered.
The most common form of abortion used in the first 12 weeks of the fetus's life is suction aspirtation. In suction aspiration
a suction curette (a hollow tube with a knife-edged tip) is inserted into the womb. This instrument is then connected to a
vacuum machine by a transparent tube. The vacuum suction, 29 times more powerful than a household vacuum cleaner, tears the
fetus and placenta into small pieces, which are then sucked through the tube into a bottle and discarded. After the first
12 weeks have passed, the Dilation and Evacuation, or D&E method of abortion is often used until the 18-week gestation
period. This is one of the horrifying abortion methods that account for 91.3% of abortions done in the United States.
Dr. Ranalli, a neurologist at The University of Toronto concluded that the "spino-thalamic" system is fully
developed at about 12 to 14 weeks of gestation. This is the system that conveys pain signals from pain receptors throughout
the body to the thalamus, [the part of the vertebrate brain that lies at the rear of the forebrain.] The pain that the fetus
goes through during an abortion is indescribable and should not be allowed, even if you don't consider the baby to yet be
a human being. If we were to subject an animal to that sort of torture the uproar from animal rights groups would be unimaginable.
It is even more ironic that those who are in favor of stricter animal rights, less animal testing and better conditions for
animals at farms are also some of the strongest advocates of pro-choice ideals.
Luckily, because of modern medicine chemical abortions are now becoming available and can be used during the first seven
weeks of the pregnancy, before the fetus is able to feel pain. Chemical abortions are administered through injections making
them far less invasive and far less painful for the mother. These are the only abortions that are justified on all levels.
Unfortunately, chemical abortions are only effective during the first seven weeks of a pregnancy and only account for a very
low percentage of abortions done in the United States. This is not to say that ALL abortions should be outlawed after the
seven-week gestation period. In special cases abortions are necessary and should be administered. These include cases in which
an abortion is needed to save the life of the woman, in order to prevent the woman from experiencing permanent disability,
when the fetus is so malformed that it will only live a matter of hours after birth, or when the pregnancy was the result
of rape. It is necessary that abortions be regulated in this manner because due to the intricacies involved with abortions,
the procedure can be abused. Abortion should not be just another form of birth control.
Clearly, some concessions do have to be made. One cannot be so hard headed as to say that all abortions should be outlawed,
especially in the cases where the mother’s life is in jeopardy. However, abortions should be regulated and administered
in only select cases. Call me Pro-Life if you like but you'll just be oversimplifying the issue.
Recipe for Recession (1/4)
By: Jenny Dai
Signs of a downward economy have been popping up everywhere. According to the New York State Labor Department, the unemployment
rate of our nation has jumped from 4.3 percent at the end of 2006 to 4.8 percent at the end of 2007. The rise of unemployment
is particularly explicit in NYC- it has jumped from 4 percent to 5.2 percent from the end of 2006- to that of 2007. It may
only appear to be a 1.2 percent increase but that 1.2 percent stands for some 97,000 people. On top of that, add the sliding
value of America's houses along with dwindling consumer expenditure, and the banks dealing with subprime lending, you have
the recipe for a recession.
The Bush administration has its own plan to stimulate the economy. Though it has not been approved, tax rebates have been
proposed. Theoretically, these are designed to boost consumer spending and therefore invigorate economy. However, these rebates
will not benefit the economy in the long run since these rebates are one-time payments after all. Though it might help a family
pay back a little fraction of their debt, the money will not stretch far enough.
It is certainly not up to us to lift ourselves out of this potential recession. So we look to our other leaders. Fortunately,
they took action. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke slashed interest rates. While that might mitigate the situation now, its side
effects might lead to other problems. The falling of rates such as LIBOR (the rate at which international banks lend to each
other) and the Fed funds rate (the rate at which banks pay when they borrow from each other) is basically an effort to put
money into the system. So what is wrong with inundating the banks with money? Money is good; we like money. However, the negative
consequence of that is inflation. Inflation is not only detrimental to consumers for obvious reasons; it also hurts society
as a whole. That is because in the long run it widens the gap between the rich and the poor in society. Thus, this is not
the proper path that would lead America to a prosperous economy.
Though our president and Federal chairman may not have effective plans, the American economy is not a lost cause and recession
is not inevitable. The main hope involves the weakness of the US dollar. You heard me; the dollar’s frailty can
benefit the economy. That is because the dwindling value of the dollar can increase exports and therefore boost the economy.
As one of our last hopes, we ultimately rely on our next president to come up with some answers. Getting our troops out of
Iraq among other issues, are important, however, our next president needs to focus on the economy and make drastic changes
that will not further the recession.
|
