Abortion is a big argument in the United States today. On May 7, Georgia governor Brian Kemp signed the fetal heartbeat bill, which means you can not have an abortion after six weeks, because you can detect a heartbeat. According to the Georgia Department of Health, there were 31,991 abortions in Georgia alone in 2017. That is about 88 abortions a day. There were 879,000 abortions worldwide that year. The Georgia-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also did an abortion surveillance in 2015. The report stated that out of every 1000 women there were 11.8 abortions. That is 593,220 abortions in the 49 areas nationwide that responded to the study. Adolescents counted for 9.8 percent of all abortions reported.
People think that abortions are safe but the CDC reported that in 2013, six women died from complications of abortion.
Some people are totally for abortion, but some aren’t. Taylor McClure, President of College Republicans at Georgia State University told VOX, “It’s important to really talk about abortion as a women’s right issue, but I personally think it is more of a human rights issue. I do not think we are violating women’s rights. We are protecting the rights of a baby. In the constitution, something set in stone is the right to life.”
When the heartbeat bill was passed in Georgia this spring, ABC News reported Hollywood celebrities were using social media to express their outrage toward Georgia Republicans who introduced and passed the legislation. Reese Witherspoon, Rihanna, and Kerry Washington were some of the celebrities who participated in this.
I’m beyond upset about the passing of new abortion bans in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Georgia, and Ohio. This is Unconstitutional and Abhorrent. We can not tolerate this attack on women’s fundamental rights.
— Reese Witherspoon (@ReeseW) May 15, 2019
take a look. these are the idiots making decisions for WOMEN in America.
Governor Kay Ivey…SHAME ON YOU!!!! pic.twitter.com/WuAjSVv6TH— Rihanna (@rihanna) May 16, 2019
Women should have the right to decide what happens with our bodies. Join me in donating to @fairfightaction to help provide funding to those doing the work on the ground. ➡️https://t.co/HvnbtrZfVF
#LetGAChoose— kerry washington (@kerrywashington) May 17, 2019
When Alabama completely banned abortion, there were more angry tweets from celebrities on Twitter. Lady Gaga tweeted “It is an outrage to ban abortion in Alabama period, and all the more heinous that it excludes those [who] have been raped or are experiencing incest non-consensual or not.” Chelsea Handler, Chris Evans, and John Legend also were outraged at Alabama politicians who passed the ban.
While many celebrities are speaking for abortion, there are a few pro-life celebs Justin Bieber, Tim Tebow, Patricia Heaton, and Kelsey Grammer. “It gets a bit dishonest to call something reproductive rights when you clearly have a choice well before a baby is conceived,” Grammer reportedly told The Times. “If someone has to die as a result of rape, then we should kill the rapist — not the unborn child.”
Everything Kermit Gosnell was arrested, convicted, and jailed for is now legal in New York – except in New York you don't even have to be a doctor. Nice work @NYGovCuomo. https://t.co/LrnoDYVILV
— Patricia Heaton (@PatriciaHeaton) January 25, 2019
More people are speaking out now and it is splitting up the US. What should we do to fix this situation? Taylor McClure, President of College Republicans at Georgia State University said, “I feel like celebrities have a pretty good influence just because they can reach a lot of people. So whatever they say they has a really big audience and anybody with a really big audience is bound to have a big influence.”
Should celebrities really be this involved in political matters? Should celebrities be an influence to us or not?
Reading this, maybe next time it will be easier to talk about a hard subject with someone.
Taylor McClure talked about how the abortion debate was affecting the United Sates. She said, “I believe it is tearing everyone apart. I feel like everyone has a very strong opinion, but the problem is people can not have a good political conversation without everyone jumping down each other’s throats and insulting them or getting offended. If people can’t learn to have good political conversations, we’re just going to keep on becoming more and more divided and it’s just going to cause bigger fights. No compromises will ever be made.”
To avoid this feeling in other people and keep the world from dividing, go look at Listen First Project. They published ten tips to have a better conversation on difficult topics.Here are three of the tips they suggest:
- Allow others the courtesy of silence while they are speaking.
- Come into a conversation with an open mind.
- Listen to others’ views before sharing your own.
So next time you talk about something very serious, listen to the other person. Do not be judgemental, hear them out and have an open mind. Do not be distracted and make sure to seek out areas of agreement. If everyone used these tips. Maybe we would have a more caring and happy world.
