According to this BBC News story, recent World Health Organization (WHO) statistics show that although the rate of abortions appears to have stabilised worldwide, the rate of unsafe abortions continues to increase, especially in developing and undeveled countries. According to Dr. Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, who published the United Nations Organization (UN) report, the "cruel and failed strategies" of "condemning, stigmatising and criminalising abortion" are largely to blame for this rise in unsafe abortions (Maternal mortality sect., ¶ 11).
As I've already suggested, my main reason for blogging this news report is that it is not directly relevant to the abortion question on the set of argumentative essays from which you are now choosing to write an answer. However, it does show why such questions matter: they are of more than academic interest, with people literally dying or living as a result of decisions that are made by law makers and others, so that although only indirectly, such reports as this one might be a useful source for someone who chooses to write on that particular question.
I don't think my own answer to that question, nor my response to the BBC report, are especially needed here, so will abstain from giving them now. When you read my essay answering the question, you will likely be able to correctly infer my response to the WHO statistics as reported.
In the meantime, you might like to consider why this report is at best only indirectly relevant, why it cannot directly support an answer either way to the question as asked. I thought it might help you to clarify your ideas answering the questions on "Understanding the Question", as will arguing your case on the question of whether wearing blue jeans is Thai culture.
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References
It's still OK to blog BBC News articles that interest you, but they no longer count for your weekly blogging-the-news post.
ReplyDeleteYour questions that you gave me are very interesting!
ReplyDeletePeter,
ReplyDeleteI will choose this issue for the last essay.
Every question in the copies is difficult to me, but I think this question will be less challenging than the political issues or terrorism.
Even though this article is indirectly relevant to the answer, I know it will make me to guide the writing in certain ways.
Thank you.
Sunny,
ReplyDeleteThis issue has certainly been controversial for a long time: along with things like gay marriage, it continues to rage in American politics. And unlike the blue jeans issue, people's lives are lost and saved because of decisions made by governments on this question, decisions which are often very poorly reasoned.
I was also thinking of adding a question on the legal basis of gay marriage, but I thought that coming to an decent definition of marriage might be too difficult.