Normalizing Abortion

Robert Smith

October 31st 2018

Men cannot get pregnant. Therefore, we don’t know how it feels for women to carry a child. As of recent, the debate that abortion should be illegal has been increasing at a category high. Especially with the new presidency of Donald Trump, who has policies that are against the ideals of abortion. However, there should be no discussion; abortion needs to be normalized. The positive effects on which abortion can cause on the woman, the economy, and society itself are all reasons as to why regularization of abortion needs to occur.

Terminations of babies are usually stigmatized under a negative light; however, abortion can cause many positive occurrences. Women who are denied abortions because of the gestational limit are more likely to undergo financial stress. A study at the University of California showed that women who are turned away from the procedure were three times more likely to be below the poverty line in more than two years, compared to other women who obtained an abortion. The women who were turned away (about 76%), were also shown to reap the benefits of unemployment. This study not only displayed financial stress that is caused by not receiving an abortion but also revealed women who don't get abortions are also subjugated domestic violence. Women who are unable to terminate their baby, are more disposed to the pains of domestic violence. WIthin the same study, it proved in that unwanted pregnancy can increase the probability of a partner to inflict controlling methods upon women, causing abortion not to occur and the unhealthy relationship to pursue. Abortions can have thousands of useful results not only to the woman who has it, but also the economy in which surrounds them.

Economic developments have began to show that abortions can improve a nation's financial wealth and systems. Abortions in all, leads to a reduction in the amount of welfare that taxpayers have to pay. As stated before many women who don’t end up getting the abortion that is so desperately needed, are more prone to receive government assistance. This in turn would mean that the kid that they are going to birth is also going to receive welfare, which puts a deficit on economy and a drive on taxes. It was analyzed by the Congressional Budget Office that a bill that would place a ban on abortion later than 20 weeks would exponentially enlarge the deficit of the federal government by 225 million dollars. Abortions have also been proven to help the employment rate skyrocket. According to Chelsea Clinton, between 1973 (the year that on-demand abortion became available) to 2009, women have been able to enter the workforce at exceedingly high rates. This has caused an increase the GDP of the United States at a mark of around 3 trillion dollars ! Not only will fully legalizing and normalizing bring a better economy, but also set us on track to becoming a better society.

It may seem that society and abortion have no correlation and that these two terms have no parallelism between each other. However, that is not the case. Society could see massive improvements if the pro-choice agenda was normalized. Legalizing and dismantling the pro-life agenda could contribute a crucially significant reduction in the rate of crimes. According to research done by Steven. D. Levitt, a famous advocate of being pro-choice, it was found that "women who have abortions are those most at risk to give birth to children who would engage in criminal activity.” Meaning that their child would most likely grow up to be a criminal if they were to give birth as they are not raised in the most optimal environment, this, in turn, shows that crime is less likely to occur when legal abortions with no gestational limit are available to the public. Abortions have also been seen as a benefactor to society, as it controls the world’s population size. By 2050 the world’s population is set to increase by 2.3 billion, malnutrition, poverty, lack of education and medicinal benefits, pollution are some but not all of the negatives issues that could affect society if overpopulation were to become an issue. Nevertheless, with around 56 million abortions being executed every year, the population can be sustained.

In the final analysis, it can be proven that abortions are a necessity and the negative ignominy that are placed on them need to abolish. If this were to occur women unemployment rates would drop significantly, and they wouldn't experience the agony of domestic abuse. The economy would gain a tremendous boost in GDP as a significant amount of women would be able to enter the workforce, and taxpayers wouldn’t see a rise in the annual amount of taxes that they have to pay. Lastly, society itself would not have to undergo significant setbacks such as starvation, malnutrition, rising crime rates, and poverty, if abortions were made regularized. So, in all abortion is something everyone should have an open mind to, and be able to have a positive, pro-choice mindset about the topic.

Works Cited

“Should Abortion Be Legal ?” Procon.org, ProCon Organization, 2 July 2018, 11:13:58 AM PST, abortion.procon.org/.

Wolffe, Richard. “Trump's Only Fixed Position on Abortion Is His Disdain for Women | Richard Wolffe.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 1 July 2018, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/01/donald-trump-abortion-supreme-court.

How You Can Stand up by Walking Out

Posted on March 13, 2018

By:Violet Covey

National High School Walkout Day—a protest against gun violence—is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, March 14. Gun control and gun violence have become fiery controversies ever since the fatal shooting and killing of 17 students and faculty (with an additional 14 injured) on February 14, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Because of this tragic event, Druid Hills High School, as well as many other schools across the country, staged an earlier walkout last Thursday, February 22. Students with signs in hand marched through the bus lane in front of the school, opposing America’s mild treatment of gun control, as well as demanding lawmakers to protect their people by taking this topic more seriously. After witnessing how easy it was for mentally ill Nikolas Cruz, 19, to obtain a gun, students like junior Riley Christian, feel more action needs to be taken in restricting who can and cannot own a gun. “The fact that a senior can buy an assault rifle is ridiculous… The sad thing is, no real change can happen in Congress or any federal level of government because half of the government is in the pocket of the National Rifle Association, and value money more than human lives.”

Instead of focusing solely on the issue of gun control, Druid Hills High School is having its own full day dedicated to activism on March 14. The goal of Druid Hills’s day of activism is to have all students’ voices heard. “…all of first period will be focused on open discussions about solutions dealing with what we can do as children of this nation to implement change and help our local politicians realize our stance on different issues,” said Lisa Medford, who is in charge of Druid Hills’ Walkout Day. Many students are on board with Walkout Day like Christian who said, “The gun control issue has been a thing for a very long time, and it really is a shame it has come to this for real change to be discussed… The walkouts and marches and protests are really having a great impact, and yet our president only offers ‘Teachers with Guns.

’” Some students, such as Senior Trinity Burke, do not completely agree though. “The walkout seems like a good idea, but it may not have the intended effect. How will walking out influence what the government does to gun laws?” Burke said.

When I asked Medford how last Thursday’s walkout will be different from the walkout in March, she said, “Last week’s walkout was a little unorganized. The main difference is that we are taking part in the national walkout. We will be getting the entirety of our student and staff population. Then, at 10 o’clock, we are going to walk out together and have a few student speakers and hopefully some other outside speakers come together. It is going to be more official, more organized, and hopefully make more of an impact.” According to Medford, Walkout Day will begin with “discussions regarding the second amendment versus safety, ethics, and moral dilemmas,” during first period, followed by an actual walkout starting at 10 o’clock for all students wishing to participate. Finally, after that, “we will get the opportunity for our seniors and those old enough to register to vote so that we can enable change.”

The walkout, in addition, is geared toward President Donald Trump, who is, unfortunately, very influential in our lawmaking. On February 22, Trump said on Twitter, “….immediately fire back if a savage sicko came to a school with bad intentions. Highly trained teachers would also serve as a deterrent to the cowards that do this. Far more assets at much less cost than guards. A ‘gun free’ school is a magnet for bad people. ATTACKS WOULD END!” in an attempt to better combat gun violence. Lisa Medford further spoke on Trump’s statement saying, “[Trump’s] tweet about arming teachers as a resolution to this issue, I find, is terrifying. [Trump] making [his views] public is not something I agree with and something that I find as us going in the right direction if local politicians also view that as an answer.” The types of statements made by President Donald Trump and many of our other leading political figures undoubtedly centralize the lack of common sense utilized when making controversial yet significant decisions for an entire nation.

When dealing with gun control laws, it is important to remember that although school shootings are a problem, general gun violence is a much greater issue facing the US that is seldom discussed. It is not until a calamitous event like the Columbine High School massacre or the Orlando nightclub shooting takes place. We can not and should not wait for an instance of gun violence in order to address it. If we have learned anything from prohibition, it is that outright banning guns will not prevent gun violence. Outlawing all guns is not the answer but neither are our current gun laws.

Keep your health in check this flu season

February 28th, 2018

Keiko Smythe, Staff

The winter of 2017 leading into 2018 has been one of the worst flu seasons in nearly a decade. The flu is a common viral infection that can every so often, be deadly. The flu season usually occurs in the winter months and can easily be spread with something just as simple as a physical interaction with the infectee. The flu is easy to contact but very difficult to dispel. The symptoms of the flu virus include muscle pain, dehydration, coughs, chills, fatigue, loss of appetite, sweating and overall discomfort. Just like there is no cure for the common cold there is also no cure for the common flu. The flu vaccination is supposed to keep you flu prone during the flu season, however there are various side effects and complications behind this “treatment.” In fact, there are many other and much more healthier ways to keep your immune system strong this flu season!

Flu Shot Complications?

Flu vaccines cause antibodies to develop in the body about two weeks after the vaccination process which cause these antibodies to provide protection against infection with the viruses that are in the vaccine. On the other hand, if your immune system is low and/or out of balance when the virus is introduced into your body with the vaccination, it could result to health consequences. Effects of the flu shot are nausea, headaches and muscle aches which makes plenty of parents and potential clients skeptical. There are studies that show that the vaccination doesn’t even work. The Center for Disease Control said that much of this year’s seasonal flu vaccine doesn’t match the projected resource that’s in the flu shots now and that it’s just too late to change it. However, while admitting there’s a great percentage that this year’s flu shot

will not work, the CDC recommends to keep giving the shots to those willing and to take a chance anyways.

Easy Prevention Tactics

It’s easy to prevent viruses and sickness to protect your immune system during the flu season. In the winter, viruses are very active, so it is very important to keep yourself healthy and your immune system healthy. Ways to prevent the spread of the flu is to avoid close contact with someone who is infected and if you do, try to avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth afterwards and wash your hands immediately with antibacterial soap. Another way is to simply stay at home when have become infected, since it is the easiest way to prevent others from catching the virus.

So why is the flu so deadly this year? The lack of vaccine effectiveness and decrease in prevention results in more total infections. This leads leads into more hospitalization which is the main reason the flu is increasingly contagious this flu season. There are a plethora of reasons for the outbreak, but if we keep our bodies clean, our immune systems thriving and use these helpful tactics to prevent the spread of the flu, the number of infected will decrease.