Distance Presentation #2: Part 1

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64 Replies to “Distance Presentation #2: Part 1”

    • I have a couple questions. If children and pregnancy are such responsibilities, shouldn’t the woman take the appropriate precautions to not get pregnant in the first place if a child is unwanted? Second, what about the father’s rights? It takes two people to create a baby, so why is it only the women’s choice to terminate and the father has no say in what happens to his baby. Third, is your position that a fetus is alive or not?

    • To me this seemed more along the lines of what happens to children that are put up for adoption, the abuse and neglect that children suffer while being in foster care. You had a good point about it being the woman’s choice to get an abortion or not but it is also her responsibility if she doesn’t want children to take those precautions to prevent pregnancy. I think that you hit on a few points also that went beyond abortion into what could happen to the children that are kept at birth. All that said sounds like it will be interesting.

      • I liked your point on it being the women’s choice overall, but I also think the father should be able to apart of the decision making as well, depending on the situation. I also believe that is the women’s responsibility to prevent getting pregnant if they do want a child. I look forward to your full speech.

    • Really great introduction April! You were very clear about your perspective and gave solid reasons as to why others should believe the same. I agree with Lauren that addressing the father issue will make your debate stronger and more in depth along the “my body my choice” lines. Really great work!

    • This is very well thought out. You have a lot of supporting thoughts about what supports your position of prochoice. Perhaps your argument could include facts about social services surrounding and how much it costs society to support a child for parents that are unable to afford them. I think it may be offensive to assume that all unplanned or unwanted births result in abusive parenting. There are many women that give birth to children that are perfectly capable of caring for them emotionally and financially but still end up abusing them.

    • You talk about not hurting the basis of heterosexual marriage. With allowing homosexual marriage, would the law be written as between two people, implying that it doesn’t matter the sex as long as it stays between two people. By accepting homosexual marriage, some people fear this could open the door to also accepting polygamy.

    • You made several good points..somethings that I would include and you may have already are the statistics, You mentioned that if homosexual marriage were made legal this would lower the need for wealth fair ? what is the percentage at now? how much would that change? You also mentioned family values, compare values within a heterosexual home compared to that of a homosexual home. Just a few ideas for some really great points of interest.

    • Really great introduction Lauren. I like how you based your argument in objective, legal and even economic terms and steered clear of emotion. Keeping this in the legal framework makes it quite clear why a free society would allow homosexual marriage. Thanks!

    • You mentioned that the legalization of homosexual marriage would aid in placing foster children. Are homosexual couples are more likely to adopt or use other methods of attaining natural born children?

    • While I see the point you are trying to make,center on the fact that most abortions are for other reasons than rape, medical necessity or disability. Consensual sex is what starts conception by stating that a rape victim shouldn’t get an abortion, it portrays the idea that her suffering through the next ten months doesn’t matter.Creating more harm than good. Or a 12 year old raped by a male family member has no choice but to give birth when she is still a child herself.
      Also Would include the safe haven law…

    • I agree with you that life starts at conception and that everyone should be given the opportunity to life. Do you think our country should have more resources in place to handle unwanted pregnancies and children, or should the responsibility remain solely with the woman or man?

      • A little of both. When you engage in sex you know what it can lead to. So yes, you need to take responsibility for you actions. Though, all children need to be cared for no matter what, so yes, we differently need way more resources to help women and men who need other outlets for their babies.

    • Although I disagree with your stance, you made a good argument in your introduction. I do think that if you could address the tough topics like rape and incest it would show you acknowledge some specific issues and how/why you still justify your stance. Cheers to diversity!

      • I am defiantly going to address those issues. Only about 1 percent of abortions are done for that reason. So it comes down allowing abortion to be legal for only 1 while 99 percent are doing for other reasons like I listed in my intro. But that doesn’t mean laws can’t include exceptions and such.
        Diversity is what makes us unique.

    • Actually babies can start feeling physical pain 8 weeks after conceptions. Also you state that the constitution gives women rights to privacy but how about the 14th amendment that gives us right to life and that should not be taking from us. Lastly, you state that it is not a baby because they can’t survive outside the womb well many babies born need breathing aid, does that mean they are not babies because they need help to breath?

    • Woman do have the right to decide what happens to their body, but she also has the responsibility to prevent pregnancy by taking precautions against unwanted pregnancies.
      The 14th amendment states No person was allowed to be deprived of life… when does a fetus become a person?? conception at birth.??

    • I like that your argument is geared towards a woman’s right to her body and that pregnancy is risky and does put a tremendous amount of strain on a woman’s body. Do you think an unborn fetus should have the same of similar rights of everyone else?

    • Nice introduction, Morgan. I like how you framed much of your discussion around safety…a public health issue. If women are refused this right, it will happen nonetheless. Done professionally, it is safe. It might be nice to bring in a little “real life” scenario in your discussion to explain how no one ever WANTS to go through such a procedure. How difficult the decision is, and how fortunate we are in a free society to choose what’s right for our bodies. Thanks.

    • I like your argument and agree that every woman should have the right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, because as you stated if a woman does not want to be pregnant she will terminate the pregnancy regardless of the law, the law just allows her to perform the abortion in a safe and private manner. I think using supporting evidence of women terminating pregnancies using unconventional methods and the rate of death provides good support for your argument.

    • Nice work Kendra. I like how you lay out the facts and really just summarize it with “Alaska doesn’t need to be part of an experiment”. I agree wholeheartedly. Too much at risk. It might be nice to hear about the importance symbolically of salmon and what it means to native cultures…that this is more than resources and business…it’s identity and culture.

      • Thanks! I think that this portion discussed in tandem with the economic importance of salmon could be really powerful, so I’m glad you think so too!

    • I like your argument and agree with you that the mine would cause more damage than it is worth to Alaskans. Is there a way to extract from the mine without destroying the fishing and salmon spawns? What are the proponent’s suggestions for dealing with the waste material if they were allowed to mine?

    • In your intro you stated that this would help children in foster care and help bring homosexual families together. Do you believe that same sex couples can be effective in parenting children of the opposite gender? For example, two female parents parenting male children.

      • Yes I believe so. Just like there is single mothers raising sons and vice versa. With any parent raising a child there is going to be struggles. I think as long as the love and genuine care for your children is there, it will be fine.

    • Nice introduction and I agree! The more stable, loving homes the better. I think it might be good to expand on the economic benefits of the “family unit”. Also, to address the religious element would show you acknowledge the basis of the opposing argument and how/why you justify your position. Thanks!

    • I agree that homosexual marriages will not influence heterosexual marriages; however, is there evidence that homosexual couples would have a positive effect on the placement of unwanted children? Do homosexual couples have a strong interest in adoption or prefer other methods of attaining natural born children?

    • Is this meant for only American citizens? There seems to always be conflict and debate over having illegal immigrants vote as well.

      • I think illegal immigrants should not be allowed to vote. However in the effort to ensure that illegal immigrants don’t vote legitimate voters are discriminated against and suppressed.

    • Thanks Monique. The issue of voter discrimination does need to be addressed more. I think it might be helpful to flesh out some statistics around “how this happens” and then some proposed solutions.

      • Thanks for your suggestion. I think some of “how it happens” is strategic and meant to suppress votes and then other instances occur when states are legitimately trying to prevent people who are not legally able to vote from voting.

    • People are often asked to show some form of identification in order to vote, in an effort to prevent illegal immigrants from making decisions in our country. The downside is that some of the restrictions can be viewed as discriminatory. What do you propose that will not interfere with Americans voting but prevent illegal immigrants from voting?

    • I am not sure if this relates or not but due to poor diet and lack of exercise, someone can have high cholesterol. With that leads to coronary heart disease. So even though they choose to have a bad diet and little exercise, we still call it a disease and help them fix the problem. Doing drugs may be a choice like a poor diet. Though, once addiction sets in, it becomes a disease that needs medical attention to get rid of it. Though it may be a choice to start, I think there becomes a point that it does become a disease.

    • Interesting perspective, Sierra. I look forward to hearing your final presentation. I like how you mapped out the 3 main topics you will address and that you are clearly seeing addiction as a behavior beginning with choice. Hot topic. Thanks for sharing. It will probably be helpful to discuss, in depth, your understanding of addiction- causes and implications.

    • I am interested in listening to your argument that addiction is not a disease. Why do you think addiction is often labeled as a disease and in some case treated as such?

      • I think it is often labeled as a disease because it eventually breaks away from being a choice into something bigger that can cause health problems and things like that, i do not think that the word disease is the right word to associate with that change. thanks for your question!

    • Health is something I have always been interested in, so I can’t wait to hear what else you are going to add to your presentation. I especially liked how you gave your three main points, this is something I chose to do in my presentation as well. I think that drugs and addiction is a great topic to discuss, especially with what goes on in the world today.

    • I agree that the use of birth control should remain between the woman and her doctor. Why do you think politicians often debate the use of birth control? Why is it not left as a private matter between the woman and her doctor?

    • What kind of decisions need to be made between a woman and her doctor? What about women under 18? I think this is a great topic. I think discussing how teens can get contraceptives and how it will be helpful.

    • Again, I think that birth control is a great topic! I am looking forward to the rest of your presentation. I think that I would add somewhere in there about women who are under the age of 18, do they have the right to get birth control?

  1. Nice work, Iris. I’m sure you plan to back up your claims with statistics and references. As a listener, I am interested to hear why providing birth control to teens in AK is a public health issue, supported by simple economics (if nothing else). This is a hot topic and I think it is often nice to keep these discussions in the legal and economic realms, keeping emotion out. Good job!

    • Great job Iris. I think you picked a great topic to discuss, I look forward to hearing more and possibly hearing statistics. I find this topic very interesting because I have to agree with providing birth control to teens in Alaska, because I come from a village where many teens do not take advantage of that and are having children at such young ages.

    • I agree that unfortunately, money has to do with everything in this country. If you have it your great but if you don’t then you are basically screwed. How do we even that socioeconomic difference though? More taxes to pay for it? More volunteering in helping educate more people?

    • I think you propose an interesting argument in terms of the effects of historical trauma. I agree that access to health care should be a basic human right. I am interested in hearing what you propose in order to further educate and assist vulnerable populations in terms of health and lifestyle choices.

    • I think your topic is interesting. I am glad to get a little bet of background and how it is tied to culture. I also like how you brought up this being a social justice issue. I look forward to hearing your speech.

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