Introduction
The debate on abortion has haunted the American Society for many years. The Pro-life and Pro-choice parties have engaged in heated debates over the years, and they seem to have reached a point where different communities uphold different opinions on the matter. However, the outspoken nature of the members of each opposing party on the issue of abortion has always resulted in more controversial arguments developing. Political leaders in the United States have particularly used this issue as a way to appeal to the masses. The orientation of the leaders on this matter has a major effect on their ability to harness supporters from the public. However, most political leaders try to steer away from this controversial debate. President Obama is one of the few leaders that are not afraid to air their views and stand on this issue, and he has been quoted many times stating his position as a strong supporter of the pro-choice party. While his boldness in tackling this topic is admirable, President Obama upholds many fallacies in his arguments for abortion.
Analysis of Argument
Billy Hallowell, a reporter at The Blaze TV, posted an article on the company’s website highlighting five of the most controversial speeches that President Obama has given in his position as the president. In the first speech, President Obama was praising the efforts and achievements of the Planned Parenthood Program that has developed clinics across the nation to facilitate health care services for women. The president was particularly impressed by the program because it provides women and young girls with products to prevent pregnancy and abortion services. The president clearly stated his position on abortion when he said, “Somewhere a young woman is starting a career who, because of you, can decide for herself when she wants to start a family” (Hallowell, 2013). This statement revealed that the president believes that every woman should have the right to decide whether to keep her pregnancy or terminate it. This implies that the president does not consider abortion as an act of killing.
President Obama has claimed that laws that prohibit abortion are aligned with the laws of the 1950s in the United States. He has always held the stand that American society should continue embracing laws that enhance freedom of choice for the women. The second speech in the news article entailed this stand of the president. The speech was based on Obama’s thoughts about the conservative politicians who had been advocating for the elimination of funding for the Planned Parenthood Program. Pro-life advocates in the political arena in the United States have always looked to choke any program that increases the success of the pro-choice party in facilitating abortion services. In this speech, President Obama said, “…there’s still those who want to turn back the clock to policies more suited to the 1950s than the 21st century” (Hallowell, 2013). This sentiment highlights Obama’s thoughts about laws that prohibit abortion. He believes that making abortion illegal in the nation would be a move geared toward embracing policies that were proven irrelevant in the past.
In the third speech, the president was particularly direct in highlighting his thoughts about the arguments forwarded by the pro-life party. The first claim against the pro-life advocates was that their efforts had led to the adoption of pro-life laws in two states, which meant that the women and young girls in the respective states would not have easy access to services aimed at preventing unwanted pregnancies. In the second reference of abortion in the speech, the presidents said, “In North Dakota, they just passed a law that outlaws your right to choose, starting as early as six weeks, even if a woman is raped” (Hallowell, 2013). This statement highlighted the fact that the president does not believe that life begins at conception. Pro-choice supporters do not consider the stage of development of the fetus at termination. The last point against abortion was that adopting laws that prohibit abortion is a violation of the rights provided to women by the Constitution. The president was probably referring to the freedom of choice. In the last speech, the president affirmed that the Planned Parenthood Program is there to stay during his rule. He claimed that despite the challenges that the program has been facing, its projects are set to prevail in American society.
The five speeches highlighted by the news reporter were effective in providing a clear argument against the development of laws and programs that are pro-life in the United States. The president used indirect words to highlight his support for the pro-choice party, and he was particularly happy that the Planned Parenthood Program is a success across the nation (Hallowell, 2013). Additionally, the speeches revealed that the president is adamant about his position, and he believes that nullifying the laws that permit abortion would be pulling the nation back to the old days where women’s rights were continually abused. By citing the rights of women, the president appealed to many supporters because it revealed that he is committed to protecting women and their rights in American society. Many are the times that political leaders develop speeches that are aimed at appealing to specific groups of people in society, and the highlighted speeches were mainly targeting the women in the audience. It is appropriate to assume that the president reached out to the pro-choice supporters in the respective audiences quite effectively.
Fallacies in the Argument
While the different speeches would be plausible for members of the pro-choice party, the sentiments presented by the president in the respective speeches were completely misplaced from a pro-life perspective. For instance, in the first speech, the president claimed that women should have the right to decide whether to keep their pregnancy or terminate it. This is a fallacy on the part of the president because the Constitution dictates that the government should employ all necessary efforts to protect life. The president should, therefore, be actively engaged in promoting programs that advocate for the protection of life rather than its termination. Additionally, it is apparent that the president did not want to sound like he was supporting the termination of life directly; hence, he used the words, “…is able to decide for herself when she wants to start a family” (Hallowell, 2013).
Secondly, there is a fallacy in the second speech because the president stated that prohibitory laws of abortion should be considered outdated by the American Society. This statement was purely designed to reveal that President Obama is ready to ignore the morals of American society by granting women the right to murder their unborn children. The fact that the president believes that facilitating abortion services is a modern culture shows that he is not willing to look into the religious and moral implications of the act. Additionally, the last two speeches were geared toward rebuking the fact that some states were actively embracing pro-life policies (Hallowell, 2013). His agitation with such states revealed that the president is strongly against the right to life when it comes to unwanted pregnancies. His sentiments would particularly be considered biased because he claims to be among the leaders looking to protect lives in the nation, yet he is clearly for the killing of innocent children. The president and other pro-choice supporters have traditionally tried to shift their arguments from the fact that abortion is equivalent to murder.
Conclusion
It is easy to discover that most pro-choice supporters in the abortion debate prefer to air their arguments for abortion without mentioning the actual process. They are always looking to use indirect messages to air their sentiments. However, there are many fallacies that they attract in so doing. President Obama’s speeches betrayed his claims that he is willing to protect life in American society. He indicated that he is willing to ignore religious and moral issues that are implied by the legalization of the inhumane act of abortion. There is a need for more states in the United States to embrace policies that protect the lives, especially by limiting the number of abortions. Women should be compelled to embrace a pro-life perspective because abortion is an act of killing.
Reference
Hallowell, B. (2013). Obama’s 5 Most Controversial Statements About Abortion and ‘Women’s Rights’ During His Planned Parenthood Speech. Web.