Controversy Report, Abortion: The Correct Response to Overpopulation in Mexico City?

The Controversy Report below is a rather simplistic examination of the legalization of abortion as a response to overpopulation, specifically in Mexico City. This report is set-up in the format required by my Environmental Biology teacher. I would much rather have gone into greater depths, but according to my Biology teacher, I should not "think and do so much." In the midst of many issues I had throughout this course, I was finally able to get this report to the teacher. Hopefully my efforts were effective, as slight as they may have been. In the end, I got a 75 out 80 on this report. My PowerPoint on this subject wouldn't even load for the class, but at least I got the truth out. So here it is...

Controversy Report
Abortion: The Correct Response to Overpopulation in Mexico City?

THE CONTROVERSY: Should abortion have been legalized in Mexico City as a response to overpopulation and if so, should more cultures, such as India, be following in line?

THE PLAYERS: Pro-Abortion v Pro-Life, specifically those with environmental concerns; Pro-UNFPA v Anti-UNFPA

IMPORTANT FACTS:
Necessary definitions:
-Abortion: 1 "Also called voluntary abortion, The removal of an embryo or fetus from the uterus in order to end a pregnancy [...]"; 2 "Also called spontaneous abortion, miscarriage [...]" (Dictionary.com).

-Overpopulate: "to fill with an excessive number of people, straining available resources and facilities" (Dictionary.com).

-Malthusian Growth: "A population explosion followed by a population crash; also called irruptive growth" (Principles of Environmental Science, 387)

-Carrying capacity: "The maximum number of individuals of any species that can be supported by a particular ecosystem on a long-term basis" (Principles of Environmental Science, 384).

-Population Doubling Time: approximately 70 years divided by the growth percentage (Principles of Environmental Science, 77).

-Quality of life: also "well-being" or "standard of living," "It is measured by many social and economic factors." (Wikipedia).

-Life: 1. "the condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms, being manifested by growth through metabolism, and the power to adaption to environment through changes originating internally."; 2. "a corresponding states, existence, or principle of existence conceived of as belonging to the soul." (Dictionary.com).

-Family planning: 1. natural--"Also known as fertility awareness, periodic abstinence and the rhythm method, this approach entails not having sexual intercourse on the days of a woman's menstrual cycle when she could become pregnant or 2. using a barrier method (such as a condom, the diaphragm or a cervical cap) for birth control on those days" ("MedTerms").

-Religion: "any and every worldview; any set of standards, beliefs, or suppositions" (Grant).

-Culture: "religion externalized" (Grant).

-Thomas Malthus:

Malthus came to the conclusion that resources were growing arithmetically while the population was growing exponentially. He came across this notion in 1798 and wrote upon his reasoning in An Essay on the Principle of Population.

-The legalization of abortion in Mexico City

After many years of a predominately Catholic stance on abortion, Mexico City approved the bill for legalizing abortion, 46 to 19. The decision was wildly controversial and everyone seemed to have a firm stance on either side of the matter (Roig-Franzia). The new law allows "women to have an abortion up to 12 weeks into their pregnancy if having the child 'would negatively affect their life project.'" With that said, "opinion polls show that Mexico City residents support abortion rights up to the 12-week limit, although national polls show a near-equal split." (Lliff). The passing of this bill abolished a "seven-decade-old law that levied criminal penalty against women who have abortions" (Roig-Franzia).

-The UNFPA

UNFPA stands for the United Nations Population Fund. "UNFPA supports countries in using data for policies and programmes to address the complex linkages between population dynamics, poverty and sustainable development." The goal of UNFPA is to diminish overpopulation throughout the globe by utilizing abortion, sterilization, and the common forms of "family planning," etc.

-China and Easter Island are two cultures that have each responded very differently to the onset of overpopulation.

--On Easter Island, an entire civilization disappeared once they surpassed their said "carrying capacity." They destroyed their vegetation ecosystems; they ate more of their food resources than could be replaced naturally; they desolated their environment; and therefore they transformed and lost their cultural identities. Before dying out, the civilization was forced to turn to cannibalism and a continuous state of war. Their once thriving environment dwindled down to skin and bones, literally.

--Contrarily, the Chinese culture took notice of their ever growing population and the government took action. In China, it is against the law to have more than one child, unless you can afford the extensive taxation. It is also illegal to give your child up for adoption or abandonment. The only option for parents, obviously aside from the prevention of conception, is abortion. Unlike many Western cultures, when a child is born in China, they are already considered to have lived for nine months (or however long the impregnation lasts). When a child is aborted in China, the entire culture considers the fetus "alive." These two cultures outline two possible consequences for those specific responses to overpopulation.

PRO-ABORTIONIST SIDE: We find that the use of abortion in response to overpopulation is a wise decision and other cultures should certainly follow.

-Abortion helps ease the strain of overpopulation; for resources especially in Mexico are sparse and waining.

Mexico City Legislator, Jorge Diaz Cuervo, "'a key supporter of the abortion bill for the Alternative part' said that [...] legal abortion also means that there will be fewer unwanted children in the future and a reduction in the social problems associated with them, like crime" (Lliff). The economy in Mexico is terribly poor and the resources available are quickly fading.

Rapid economic growth in developing countries has typically been accompanied by serious environmental degradation. Mexico is no exception. According to a recent World Bank study, 40% of the country's aquifers are overdrawn, less than 10% of its municipal waste water is treated, air quality in a number of large cities is dangerously poor, and deforestation rates are among the highest in Latin America" (Blackmen, 1).

These statistics are only the beginning. And as the rate of population increases, the well-being of the country is sure to dissipate as well.

-The fetus is not a living being, so abortion is best as a whole for cultural growth.

Having an abortion does not kill anything. It is capable of saving a mother's life and by terminating unwanted pregnancies, future generations may receive a better existence. It is more important to protect the life of the mother and her endeavors than the mess of tissue and matter within her body.

-If abortion is not utilized, then eventually overpopulation would force civilization into an Easter Island like defeat with cannibalism and war.Since Mexico City has instigated a potentially saving move of action, the fate of Easter Island is less likely to be the fate of Mexico. Now those who need to have an abortion will be able to do so without endangering themselves. The culture of Easter Island killed itself off by not practicing wise decisions and allowing overpopulation take control of everything.

-These evidences identify the reasons why legalized abortion was a wise choice for Mexico City in response to overpopulation.As a result of intelligent planning, we are likely to see a better, stronger Mexico in the years to come. In effect, other cultures should plan on taking on these same laws. Impoverished cultures, specifically, like that of India, are in dire need of instituting a plan like that of Mexico City. UNFPA deserves more funding in order to help propitiate the advancements occurring in Mexico City and onto the utter most (Hovde, 2).

PRO-LIFE SIDE: We understand that abortion is always a poor choice and it will always propitiate a culture of death rather than life.

-Overpopulation is not the issue many portray it to be and abortion does not lend aid to the problem. Malthus had personal intents that interfered with his studies and as we are beginning to see, population and resources are growing at a reasonably consistent and linear rate. In the past 100 years, resources have been growing steadily and some scientists now believe that resources currently appear to be levelling off (BIO 105IN, "Soil and Foods"). However, many scientists agree that this is simply the cyclical pattern of the world. In addition,

"over the last 20 years, Mexico has made enormous progress in developing the capacity to better protect its environment. In the 1990s, it passed three major national environmental laws and began in earnest the difficult process of building environmental regulatory capacity at the state and municipal levels. Mexico also strengthened its federal environmental regulatory agency by, among other things, consolidating a number of national institutions with related missions, and separating standard setting and enforcement functions. These and similar efforts have already become fruit. Perhaps the most visible sign of progress has been a substantial improvement in Mexico City's notorious air pollution" (Blackmen, 1).

It is evident that the legalization of abortion was made all to quickly, for its existence is all too unnecessary. Legalizing abortion will only add a plethora of new problematic issue for the struggling, but progressing environment of Mexico.

-The fetus is a life and killing it in order to supposedly save other lives is not a wise choice.Life is not a subjective term that can be manipulated for convenience. The courts do not have the power to define the point at which life begins, for it is a precious commodity that we cannot truly measure with dates and data. An unborn child is simply not a gathering of tissues, an object of conception. From a biological stance, a life is "viable" if that subject is growing, developing, reproducing at a cellular level. A living creation exists within the womb. An intentional abortion is the forced ending of that life. (Willke, 1-4). Yet, abortion activists often refute these facts, opting for a philosophical definition of life and life is seen as little more than a fulfillment of conditions and standards. The motivation to avoid over population and save lives should not result in the subjugation of life and truth.

-If abortion is put into practice, then we would be forced to deal with a culture like that of China, where life's value is diminished and the environment would be tainted with a deathly mentality.

In China, parents are forced to terminate their children. There is a group of people who, after adopting from China, moved there for the sole purpose of catching, reviving, and aiding the babies whose parents have thrown over a certain bridge located outside of a large city. After interviewing a couple from this group, who asked to remain anonymous, the fact was made clear, that the notion of whether or not one believed abortion did terminate a life is irrelevant; for the limitations put into place by the Chinese government has cultivated a culture of death. Worldview analyst and author, James Baldwin explains,

"[If] truths change, we can expect that things that were once censured to be embraced, and vice versa. But if truth changes, it opens up the whole slippery slope: How do we know that it's okay to kill babies in the womb but it's wrong to kill babies outside the womb?" (141)

-These evidences identify the reasons why legalized abortion was an unwise choice for Mexico City.

Abortion will only cause devastation, not only immediate devastation to its sufferers, but permanent cultural devastation. Funds to organizations such as UNFPA would be better placed somewhere else.

MY OPINION AND RATIONALE:

-Abortion stimulates a bad environment and does not increase a quality of life.

-Many people might go to Mexico City just to get an abortion, which will take away from Mexican culture and add undesirable novelty to the issues at hand.

-Examples of other cultural responses to overpopulation, like China and Easter Island, outline my understanding of the issue.In the biology course I took last semester, after we discussed both the consequences of Easter Island and China, one student affirmed that we are at a catch-22. He believed that abortion and the culture of China may be preferable to that of the cannibalistic and war-like tendencies of Easter Island. I find this mentality despicable, unrealistic, and ridiculous. Are these really our options? Either we stimulate a culture that throws the innocent from bridges or we result to eating one another and killing? This is a pathetic way to live and think. Rather than obsess over death, we should look to propitiate life. We should first dedicate our efforts to taking good care of the resources we have. We need to practice good stewardship and discontinue the use of excuses, like that of abortion.

LITERATURE CITED:

1. Aronson, Raney. PBS Frontline: "The Last Abortion Clinic." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2005/11/01/DI2005110100955_pf.html.

2. Baldwin, J.F. The Deadliest Monster: An Introduction to Worldviews. New Braunfels: Fishermen, 1998.

3. BIO 105IN. "Soil and Food." http://webct.pima.edu:8900/30629200730/module4/Unit-13-Soil-and-Food-Resources.html.

4. Blackman, Allen. "The Cutting Edge and the Nitty Gritty: Environmental Protection in Mexico." http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:vzVf6sHuMBEJ:www.rff.org/Documents/RFF-Resources-149-cuttingedge.pdf+mexico+resources,+environmental&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us.

5. "Dictionary.com." http://dictionary.reference.com/.

6. Exposing the Overpopulation Myth. http://www.whatyouknowmightnotbeso.com/overpop.html.

7. Grant, Dr. George. Franklin Classical School. Humanities Studies. 2000-2005.

8. Hovde, Elizabeth. Population Connection: The Columbian. "Population aid mired in controversy." http://www.populationconnection.org/Press_Releases/press163.html.

9. Lliff, Laurence. "Proposed Law to Legalize Abortion Roils Mexico City." The Dallas Morning News. 20 March 2007. http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/033007WA.shtml.

10. "MedTerms." MedicineNet.com. http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=9770.

11. "Mission for Population Control: India." http://www.populationcontrol.org/mission.asp.

12. National Geographic: Eye in the Sky. "Human Impact: Overpopulation." http://www.nationalgeographic.com/eye/overpopulation/overpopulation.html.

13. "Quality of Life." Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality_of_life.

14. Roig-Franzia, Manuel. "Mexico City's Legislature Votes to Legalize Abortion." The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/24/AR2007042400803.html.

15. Roig-Franzia, Manuel. "Mexico City's Legislature Votes to Legalize Abortion: Comments" The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/comments/display?contentID=AR2007042400803.

16. Stanley K. Monteith, M.D. "The Population Control Agenda." http://www.radioliberty.com/pca.htm.

17. UNFPA. "Population Issues Overview." http://www.unfpa.org/issues/index.htm.

18. William Jefforson Clinton Memorial Library: "Population Control." http://www.clintonmemoriallibrary.com/population-control.html.

19. Willke, Dr. and Mrs. J. C. Abortion: Questions and Answers. Cincinnati: Hayes, 1988.

20. World Population Awareness. http://www.overpopulation.org/.

Kipling and Jeremiah, Today

Looking in on Palmer's Rudyard Kipling

The task of the Anglo-Indian administrator is, indeed, the finest opportunity for that heroic life to the celebration of which Mr Kipling has devoted so many of his tales. This hero has a task which taxes all his ability, which promises little riches and little fame, and is known to be tolerably hopeless. It offers to him a supreme test of his virtue--a test in which the hero is accountable only to his personal will; whose best work is its own reward and comfort.

"Gentlemen come from England," writes Mr Kipling in one of his famous Indian tales, "spend a few weeks in India, walk round this great sphinx of the Plains, and write books upon its ways and its work, denouncing or praising it as their ignorance prompts. Consequently all the world knows how the Supreme Government conducts itself. But no one, not even the Supreme Government, knows everything about the administration of the Empire. Year by year England sends fresh drafts for the fighting-line, which is officially called the Indian Civil Service. These die, or kill themselves by overwork, or are worried to death, or broken in health and hope, in order that the land may be protected from death and sickness, famine and war, and may eventually become capable of standing alone; but the idea is a pretty scary one, and men are willing to die for it, and yearly the work of pushing and coaxing and scolding and petting the country into good living goes forward. If an advance be made, all credit is given to the native, while the Englishmen stand back and wipe their foreheads. If a failure occurs, the Englishmen step forward and accept the blame. (Palmer 38, 39)

Although I hear the tinge of an anti-war yet effectually anti-peace mindset (which exists only in extremes of acceptance), I feel Kipling, and in effect Palmer as well, was in many ways prophetic, if not in actuality then at least in application. And while he recognized that the country of his focus could never stand alone, we must also understand that, of course, no country may stand alone. The foundation of success cannot be due to any man. In addition, the faults and failures of men and mice must be due to us all. We must adopt responsibility for all the flaws of mankind, yet still never live in guilt. We must take on the mentality of Jeremiah as seen in Lamentations 5:16-17,

"The crown has fallen from our head;
Woe to us, for we have sinned!
Because of this our heart is faint;
Because of these things our eyes are dim"

Although Jeremiah was one of God's chosen, he was accountable for the sins of his people. We must be always accountable yet remain living in constant grace. As in all things, there is a precious balance. It is grace in an antithetical reality. Black and white, no grey; yet forever grace for those who accept that gift. This is what it means to be balanced AND antithetical. No extremes, yet still a duality of light vs dark. It is not yin and yang. It is right vs wrong plus grace and mercy. Our people have sinned, and we diminish the efforts of our modern heroes. We have forgotten our history and are therefore condemned to failure. But there is hope yet. We have needs to be wise and discerning. Our choices in these upcoming days, and all days to come, must be balanced and antithetical. We must take on the charge. We must progress, not digress. Our eyes are still dim, but through the recognition of our calling and an understanding of our past, we can clean our worldview eyeglasses and correct our vision. Perhaps this is obvious. Perhaps this is unlikely. Perhaps this is difficult. But just maybe, this is truth. And truth is worth the struggle.