Essay/Term paper: Abortion: abusive parents

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Abortion

Abortion: Abusive Parents


Everyday there are pregnant mothers who abuse drugs and alcohol totally
ignoring the living, growing person inside them. Then, when these children are
born, they are usually born with a drug addiction or birth defects which
sometimes leads to death. One thing's for sure, these children's lives are
greatly complexed before they even reach the light of day. Which leads to my
position that the rights of the child should be extended to the unborn. A
mother should not have the right to use drugs or drink alcohol while she is
pregnant, it is unfair for the child not to even have a chance for a normal life.

If a mother beat her baby and was reported to the child welfare board
they would be thrown in jail without a second thought, but just because a child
is not yet born doesn't that mean that a mother can do anything she wants to it.
Take a child who has been born, then goes through the pain of having an abusive
parent. If the parents are exposed to the authorities they will go to jail and
lose the rights to the child, and with proper counseling and therapy the child
will live a normal life. Yet, if the child is unborn, the mother can do
whatever she would like, even if it means harming the baby and the authorities
can do nothing. When the baby is born, the child might have irreparable brain
damage or some physical defect and would not be able to live a normal life, for
the rest of it's life. The abuse that the unborn child goes through is the same
as if it was born but the severity is much greater, and nothing can be done. To
me, this is child abuse of the worst kind. An unborn child is getting abused
with drugs, alcohol, or whatever the mother may be ingesting, and the child is
unable to defend itself. If the child was born it could call someone for help,
but an unborn child cannot speak and therefore needs someone to speak for it in
case of any danger that might come to it.
Our unborn children should have the same rights as any living person.
In our society we give rights to any living creature, human or not human. Is it
right that we give more rights to animals than we do our own unborn? I figure
that unborn children are not far off from animals. Animals are living creatures
who grow, eat, sleep and cannot communicate with human beings, and unborn babies
are living beings who also grow, eat, sleep and cannot communicate with us. If
we can give rights to animals who are not even our own species, why can't we
give rights to our own unborn children. We initially gave rights to animals on
the basis that they were helpless and were unable to speak their minds, yet,
unborn babies are in the exact same boat, and we still overlook them.
I believe that if we don't give rights to abused children before they
are born they will have to live a life of great pain after they are born, a life
that we could have prevented. Usually, if the parents abuse a child or has a
drug/alcohol problem, the child will be taken away from the mother and placed
into foster care until adopted or the mother is rehabilitated. But, if the
child is abused while still in the mothers womb, then it might have physical or
mental defects and it won't be so easy for the child to get adopted and/or the
mother might not want the child back. A child should not be denied a chance to
live a normal life just because it's parents are not responsible enough to have
a child. These children should be protected against any wrong doing on the
mother's part, and have a chance to a normal life.
It is sad but true, but in our society the mentally and physically
handicapped are not accepted and even ignored by the common person. I don't
think it is right to bring a person who is going to be handicapped, by what
their mother consumes during the time of her pregnancy, into a world such as
this if we can do something about it. To be handicapped means to be totally
dependent on whoever would be willing to take the time to take care of you, for
the rest of your life. By making laws that will protect the right of the unborn
children, who are incapable of communicating with us, we can protect them from
harm until they are born so that they at least have a chance to a normal life.
If we can give rights to an animal that will most likely not have any effect on
anyone's life, why can't we give rights to an unborn child who will have an
influence on many people thoughout his or her life. Obviously there will still
be many mothers who will not be caught using drugs while pregnant, but if we
could save just one child from a life of total dependency and misery, then it
would be worth while.