chapter 8 viewpoints (critical reading for college and beyond)

CHAPTER 8
VIEWPOINTS
Viewpoints is a technique of improvisation that provides a vocabulary for thinking about and acting upon movement and gesture, position from which something is observed or considered, a rationalized mental attitude.
For example abortion is one of the most persistently controversial issues in American culture and politics today. Since the 1973 national legalization of abortion, competing groups have fought to either restrict or increase access to the procedure, leading to heated debates among political activists, religious organizations, state legislatures, and judges.
This conflict is perhaps reflective of the nation’s ambivalence over abortion. While it is often depicted as a two-sided debate, the abortion controversy is actually quite multifaceted, involving complex speculation on biology, ethics, and constitutional rights. Those who identify themselves as prolife, for example, generally contend that abortion is wrong because it kills human life, which they believe begins at conception. However, some pro-lifers grant that abortion should be allowed in cases of rape or incest, or when the pregnancy threatens the life or health of the mother. Those who identify themselves as pro-choice often maintain that abortion must remain legal because a woman should have the right to control her body and her destiny. But some pro-choicers also believe that there should be certain restrictions on teen access to abortion and on abortions occurring after the first trimester of pregnancy. This mixture of opinions is probably why Gallup polls consistently show that 50 to 60 percent of Americans favor abortion “only under certain circumstances.”
I believe to each is own, I also believe that abortion shouldn’t be used as a form of birth control.