Letter

In hopes of promoting a change in many people's views, I wrote a letter to the First Lady Michelle Obama to try to convince her of my reasons to make this change:

November 20, 2013

Michelle Obama, First Lady

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20500

Dear First Lady Michelle Obama:

As a freshman in college, I still have much to learn in life.  But what I have learned so far is how important it is to respect life.  All life.  I have researched partial-birth abortion for a school project and in my research I came across a letter you had written to campaign for President Obama in 2004.  In this letter, you had discussed the partial-birth abortion ban and why you believe it is unconstitutional.  You also expressed your concern with protecting the health of the mother.  I understand that you want to protect the legitimate medical practices, but the ban on the partial-birth abortion procedure does not jeopardize the use of this as a medical procedure.  However, lifting the ban would allow people to use the procedure inappropriately.  I am trying to prevent this. 

I know you are concerned with the health of the mother, however, as stated in Section 2, Paragraph 5 of the Bill for the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, this procedure “is never necessary to preserve the health of a woman, poses significant health risks to a woman upon whom the procedure is performed and is outside the standard of medical care.”  Most people who support PBA believe that it is necessary if the woman’s health is in jeopardy, but All About Popular Issues says that it can cause harm to both the mother and the child and this excuse is “a false argument aimed at undermining a ‘law designed to end (a) horrific procedure’.”  I do not think it is worth risking both the mother and the child’s life.

I do not find much sense in having this procedure since it obviously harms the baby and takes its life and it could harm the mother as well. All About Popular Issues also says that 70% of participants in a Gallop poll wanted to ban partial-birth abortion and there was only 25% who were for partial-birth abortion.  This is one of many statistics that prove that most people do not support PBA because they realize the harm it causes and how inhumane it is. 

In your letter you state that banning partial-birth abortion is unconstitutional because it does not protect the health of the mother, but when you look at the facts it turns out that PBA can cause more harm than giving birth to the child would.  So if that is the only way you deem PBA unconstitutional, then I disagree.  Banning partial-birth abortion has more benefits than just saving the lives of both the mother and child because it would not allow people to misuse that freedom.  Many people would undergo PBA for reasons not relevant to life or death situations such as the chance to get rid of a problem they do not want to deal with anymore.  This is not a justifiable reason to kill an innocent human being.  And according to the law, no reason is justifiable to cause the death of an innocent being.  Going through an abortion is emotionally and physically draining.  Why would someone want to go through that if they do not have to?  And in most cases, they do not.  

My goal in writing you this letter is to help you to see why the partial-birth abortion procedure itself is unconstitutional, and why banning it is for the good of women and children.  I hope you consider what I have to say as this is very important to me and many others who support the ban.  I am not trying to persuade you to change your beliefs, but only to see what is best for the country and realize why this procedure is unethical.  I know I am only 18 years old, but who says that a teenager cannot make a difference?  This is what I believe is right and follows the constitution.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Emma d’Epagnier  

Works Cited

Miller, Gina. "Michelle Obama: Partial-Birth Abortion Is 'Legitimate Medical
Procedure.'" Renew America. Renew America, 25 Oct. 2012. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
<http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/miller/121025>. 

Partial-Birth Abortion Act of 2003. 

"Partial Birth Abortion Statistics." All About Popluar Issues. Popular Issues,
2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. <http://www.allaboutpopularissues.org/
partial-birth-abortion-statistics-faq.htm>.