ABORTION: o The financial wellbeing and development of children is negatively impacted when

PRO: their mothers are denied abortion

1. Abortion is a safe medical procedure that protects lives.  After being denied an abortion, household poverty increased and lasted four or more
Death rate for legal abortions is 0.7 deaths for every 100,000 abortions years, resulting in an inability to cover basic expenses including food, housing and
 1-2 deaths per 100,000 (plastic surgery procedures) transportation.
 3 deaths per 100,000 (colonoscopies)  A denied abortion was associated with a lowered credit score, increased debt, and an
 3-6 deaths per 100,000 (tonsillectomies) increase in negative public records including evictions and bankruptcies.
9 deaths per 100,000 deliveries (childbirth) o The households were also more reliant on government assistance.
 “Abortion pill” (Mifeprex) has a better safety record than common over-the-counter  Davus Slusky (Associate Professor of Economics; University of Kansas) “If a
drugs (Tylenol, penicillin and Viagra) woman of childbearing age dies, it has enormous economic consequences…. It’s
o Medication abortion (a combination of Mifeprex and Misoprostol) mortality rate of someone who society has invested in and who has many productive economic years
6.5 deaths per one million patients. ahead of them,”
2. Abortion bans endanger healthcare for those not seeking abortions.  60% of women seeking abortions already had other children.
 Medical treatment for nonviable pregnancies (ectopic pregnancy) is often exactly the o Being denied an abortion worsened the well-being of their older children (not
same as an abortion. meeting childhood development markers)
o Ectopic pregnancies occur when a fertilized egg implants somewhere other than o Women denied an abortion  more likely to have serious health complications,
the uterine cavity. poor physical and mental health for years, stay with abusive partners and were
 About one in 50 pregnancies are ectopic (nonviable) more likely to be raising their children alone five years later. 
 Bleeding from ectopic pregnancies – 10% of all pregnancy-related deaths,  Turnaway Study (longitudinal study examining the effects of unwanted pregnancy on
 leading cause of maternal death in the first trimester.  women’s lives) – “Abortion does not harm women,” & “Women who receive a wanted
 Other pregnancies can be nonviable (e.g. when there is little or no chance of the baby’s abortion are more financially stable, set more ambitious goals, raise children under
survival once it is born/ if the baby has died in utero) more stable conditions, and are more likely to have a wanted child later.”
 Treatment for ectopic/other nonviable pregnancies – same as abortion.  o The study finds that many of the common claims about the detrimental effects on
 1 out of 10 pregnancies ends in miscarriage (Weise, 2022) women’s health of having an abortion are not supported by evidence.
o Drugs used for medication abortions (only treatment recommended for early  Example, women who have an abortion are not more likely than those denied
miscarriages) the procedure to have depression, anxiety, or suicidal ideation. We find that
o Same surgical procedure used for abortions is recommended (later or complicated 95% of women report that having the abortion was the right decision for them
miscarriages) over five years after the procedure (The Turnaway Study, 2016, D. Foster;
o Some abortion bans include specific exceptions for nonviable pregnancies and The Turnaway Study: Ten Years, A Thousand Women, and the
miscarriages, some are too vague to be practicable. Consequences of Having - or Being Denied - an Abortion)
o Healthcare providers may refuse to perform a procedure that could be interpreted
as an “on-demand” abortion for fear of liability or prosecution. The Turnaway Study does find serious consequences of being denied a wanted abortion on
women’s health and wellbeing. Women denied a wanted abortion who have to carry an
unwanted pregnancy to term have four times greater odds of living below the Federal
3. Abortion bans deny bodily autonomy, creating wide-ranging repercussions. Poverty Level (FPL). 
 US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated, “eliminating the rights of women to make
decisions about when and whether to have children would have very damaging effects In addition, women denied abortion are:
on the economy and would set women back decades…. In many cases, abortions are  More likely to experience serious complications from the end of pregnancy including
of teenage women, particularly low-income and often Black, who aren’t in a position to eclampsia and death.
be able to care for children, have unexpected pregnancies, and it deprives them of the  More likely to stay tethered to abusive partners.
ability often to continue their education to later participate in the workforce.”  More likely to suffer anxiety and loss of self-esteem in the short term after being denied
 According to a turn away study about “The Harms of Denying a Woman a Wanted abortion.
Abortion Findings from the Turnaway Study“ conducted by the University of California,  Less likely to have aspirational life plans for the coming year.
San Francisco.  More likely to experience poor physical health for years after the pregnancy, including
o Denying a woman an abortion creates economic hardship and insecurity which chronic pain and gestational hypertension.
lasts for years.  The study also finds that being denied abortion has serious implications for the children
o Women turned away from getting an abortion are more likely to stay in contact with born of unwanted pregnancy, as well as for the existing children in the family.
a violent partner. They are also more likely to raise the resulting child alone.
DEATH PENALTY:
PRO:


REFERENCES:

Abortion - Top Arguments For and Against - ProCon.org. (2022, June 24). Abortion.

https://abortion.procon.org/

The Turnaway Study. (2016). ANSIRH. https://www.ansirh.org/research/ongoing/turnaway-

study

Death Penalty - Pros & Cons - ProCon.org. (2022, January 26). Death Penalty.

https://deathpenalty.procon.org/#:~:text=Proponents%20of%20the%20death

%20penalty,costs%20less%20than%20life%20imprisonment.