Courtney Stallings

English 211C
Professor Sipin
Feb. 14, 2015

Abortion, Right or Wrong?

In the United States there are many controversies that are argued about, abortion being
one of the biggest ones. There are many reasons women get abortions; including health risks for
the mother, health risks for the child, not ready for a child, rape, etc. There are many people that
feel that this is outright murder of a living human being. They feel as if no matter the
circumstance that abortion should no longer be allowed. I am prochoice in the matter of abortion.
I am not going to argue against abortion, I am going to argue why I think the author was
successful in conniving the reader that she did the right thing in the matter of terminating her
pregnancy.
I choose to read the article I Had To End My Pregnancy To Save My Life by Susan Ito. I
feel as if this article was successful in explaining what happened with her pregnancy. In this
article Susan Ito begins to talk about that in spring of 1989 she found out she was pregnant with
her first child. Following the news that she was pregnant in the spring, in the fall of 1989 she
began to realize something was not right. She later found out that she had preeclampsia. Upon
finding out she had preeclampsia and what it could do to her, she found out that she was going to
have a baby boy. "Baby needs at least two more weeks for viability. Hes already too small, way
too small. But you... He looked at me sadly, shook his head. You probably cant survive two
weeks without having a stroke, seizures, worse. He meant I could die. (Paragraph 27).

Following the news that the baby couldn't survive if she delivered him at that point and that she
would not survive if she waited, she was faced with the decision to abort her unborn son. This
was a hard decision for her to make, she did not want to loose her child. Ultimately she chose to
have the abortion although she was not completely comfortable with it to save her own life. She
now has two daughters following the abortion. In the end she states I wish us peace for all that
we have chosen. (The very last line.), she is saying that no matter the past and the choices that
were made that we should make peace with our decisions and that those decisions were the best
decisions we could have made under the circumstances. In the case of this article she had to
terminate her pregnancy in order to save her life.
Susan Ito was successful in arguing her decision with the use of pathos. She appeals to
the readers emotions by explaining what happened to her and her unborn son. As well as
explaining the trouble she had accepting the fact she had to terminate her pregnancy to save her
own life. We struggled through the night. Im not going to lose this baby, I said. Im not going
to lose you," he said.(Paragraph 33). She was adamant about not loosing her child, she would
have done anything to keep that child and her life as well. I signed papers of consent, my hand
moving numbly across the paper, my mind screaming, I do not consent, I do not, I do not.
(Paragraph 38). She gives us the emotion she was feeling through the word choice in her article,
the reader can understand that this was hard for her and not easy at all. Circumstances like this
are extremely hard to deal with. No one that was in hopes of starting a family wants to be told
that their child wont make it and neither will they if they dont terminate the pregnancy. This
was my first experience of being a mother. I went home at the end of the week, gushing fluid,
peeing and sweating quarts of the liquids my body hadn't been able to release. I wept oceans. My

parents called me several times a day. "Is there anything you need? What can we do for you?" I
could imagine them wringing their hands, pacing, feeling helpless. "Nothing," I said dully. I need
my baby. (paragraph 48 and 49). This is not an easy thing for someone to deal with it takes time
for them to heal.
Susan Ito was successful in arguing her decision with ethos and logos as well. Even
though this article had a major emotional appeal, ethos and logos are used as well. Susan Ito
made the decision to terminate her pregnancy with logical thinking, it took her some time to
wrap her head around the idea of terminating her pregnancy, but in the end she knew it was the
only thing she could do. As she battled wit the pros and cons of not terminating the pregnancy,
she knew it would be a hard life for that child and for her and her husband as well if she
continued with the pregnancy. If she had continued with the pregnancy it could have killed her
and the child before she could have even had the chance to deliver. Knowing these risks, she
knew that the logical thing to do in this situation was to terminate her pregnancy. ...If I had
refused to give up on Samuel's chances. Maybe I wouldn't be here today. Maybe I would have a
severely disabled son. (paragraph 52). Susan Ito knew that in the end she made the choice she
had to make, neither choice would have been easy for her or her husband. If she had not
terminated her pregnancy, she may not have survived and then had two daughters. It may have
been a really hard choice to make, but it was the choice she had to make in the circumstance she
was in.
I believe Susan Ito was extremely successful in her argument of defending why she made
the choice she made. I am saying that abortion should still be an option for women. As I
explained the article, the reason the author terminated her pregnancy was to save her life. There
are many cases out there like this one. In her case neither her or the baby had a chance of living

if she waited two weeks. The more likely thing is that both her and the child would have died. So
therefore there was no other option for her. The only option that was on the table for her was to
terminate her pregnancy. So if abortion was illegal, this mother would have not only lost her
child, but her own life. She wouldnt have the two daughters she has now and her husband would
have not only lost his unborn child, but his wife as well. I think that she made the right decision
for the position she was in. As I stated before I believe that Susan Ito was successful in her article
with arguing her decision with ethos, logos, and pathos.

Works Cited
Ito, Susan. I Had To End My Pregnancy To Save My Life. MSN: Health and Fitness. MSN, 23
January 2015.

Direct Link: http://www.msn.com/en-us/health/wellness/i-had-to-end-my-pregnancyto-save-mylife/ar-AA8uqmx