Annotation3 Whether the fertilized ovum is a human?

Annotation3     Whether the fertilized ovum is a human?

      Why do some people disagree taking abortion? Why do they add a stigma on it? You probably think that because life is sacred and precious or that no one could take away the right for the innocent embryo to grow up. However, you should ponder that what is a life and that whether an embryo could have rights before protesting abortion strongly. The book« Life’s Dominion» which is written by Ronald Dworkin, points out many questions about taking abortion.

      Ronald Dworkin is a laws scholar. He wants to find a way to solve the disputative issue about life by analyzing constitution, cases, and human belief. He divides those who are against taking abortion into two parts- one is derivative objection which means they think taking abortion is to deprive babies’ rights and benefits, while the other is detached objection, which means they believe that human life is sacred and valuable. However, from many surveys and cases, Dworkin proposes the contradiction to the two parts. First, how to define a start of a life? It depends. Some people’s answer is when the ovum got fertilized, and some people’s answer is several weeks after the ovum got fertilized. According to a public announcement of a priest of Jew, David Feldman, it said: “In Jew’s laws, an embryo is not a human. Until it quits the womb and comes to the world, it will become a human.” There is no clear and exact timing to define the start of life, how can you regard taking abortion as a murder?

     The next problem is whether an embryo has rights. Dworkin said that: “Unless something owns, or has already had some forms of senses, and that is a kind of mental and physical body life, it will be no meaning to suppose something has its own rights.” He even takes Dr. Frankenstein for example. If he could make the body come alive, then the stop of this experiment would be also seen as a way to take away its right. However, no one thinks that it is unfair to the body or that the body has rights. Therefore, the derivative objection is facing the contradiction.

     Dworkin thinks detached objection could make sense, but it also faces challenges. He mentions that they think it is acceptable for a mother to take abortion when the pregnancy is threatening her life. He continues: “They will usually tolerate more exceptions. Some conservative people accept abortion not only because it could save the mother’s life, but also accept abortion in morality. When the pregnancy is resulted from a rape or incest, then they can also accept abortion. The more exceptions they accept, the more clearly we can see that the reason why they are against abortion is not based on embryos have rights of life.”

     To sum up, people who are against abortion could add stigmas on it, and form an overwhelming stress to women but on the basis of unclear reasons. For those young girls who do not want babies, if taking abortion could release their pressure from money and responsibility or the environment is not prepared for the coming baby, then it is cruel and unfair that you call those pregnant women as murderers.

Source: Dworkin, R. (2002). Life’s dominion: an argument about abortion, euthanasia, and individual freedom (Ya-Ru Chen,Zhen-Ling Guo, Trans.). Republic of China: Business Weekly Publications.

Reflection

1.      Ivy and Zoe:

Their problem is that both of them stand on the same side, and that is they agree that parents should push their kids but not too much. So, for them, they have to seek out the small difference between them; however, that situation makes their sides are not obvious, strong different and opposite. I have seen their annotations and issue paper, I found that their problem is they states their opinions vaguely, and that seems somewhat superficial.

2.      Cassie and 阮郁奇:

Their source is very good and convincing. They want to find some examples in Taiwan to support their topic, but they have difficult doing this. I hope they can find out some powerful examples which are close to us. I think their problem is that they do not really state their opinion and annotation clearly. They could focus on some subjects to study, or we cannot realize the main point.

3.      Kevin and Alice:

Maybe because they had changed their issue, I am not so familiar with their points. Alice talked about many hard sources, and I think she should make it easy for everybody to understand while presentation. Their issue is very interesting, but I hope that they could mention more aspects of privacy on Facebook. And I cannot feel the obvious opposite between them. In the meeting, Kevin said that his difficulty is he thinks people’s attitude toward personal privacy is changing every day, and I agree him. Likewise, Alice thinks this issue is too personal, it depends on users. The issue has to face these difficulties, I think they can try to categorize people’s attitude toward privacy on Facebook and choose what to focus on.    

4.      Perly and Joanne:

I like their issue, but as the professor said, their sources are not strong and professional. Although their presentation was interesting, I didn’t heard any powerful sources in their annotation. And I think they could find some foreign source or essay to support their points of view. Moreover, they could find some cases in company which asks employee to wear uniform, so that their issue will include more aspects of whether uniform is necessary.

5.      Ruby and Emma:

I think our annotation needs more sources of foreign viewpoints. We could find some foreign sources which mention their attitude toward taking abortion. And my annotation1 and 2 are all talking about students themselves, maybe I could try to more aspects, like laws or religion. My comments on Ruby’s annotation is that she talked how sinful abortion is and how many people choose to take abortion, but I think those points will not make people turn to give birth. Maybe she can propose more benefits about giving birth.

Transcription

Emma & Ruby: Hello, everyone.

R: I am Ruby.

E: I am Emma.

E&R We are going to talk about ‘’Should University Students Take Abortion.’’

R:And I think University students should not take abortion.

E: And mine is the opposite.

R: Emma, I got a secret to tell you.

E: What is the secret?

R: I…I am pregnant.

E: Pregnant? Who is the father?

R: Of course my boyfriend.

E: Well, so what will you do?

R: I think I want to deliver my child. Because life is so precious that nobody can give it up. Everyone should cherish every life. And many couples around the world have difficulty getting a baby. They may desperately try many medical methods such as conducting artificial insemination. The process is costly, and prolonged but is not 100 percent successful. And the average amount of abortion is twice twice as much as the amount of childbirth. That means if there are 170 thousand children given birth, there will be 340 thousand children killed because of abortion. So can you guys imagine that such a cute baby is killed during the process of abortion? I can’t endure the pain.

E:Well, okay, But I think you should consider whether you can face these problems. So I want to ask a question to you: do you make money for yourself? And for the living expense? If you do, please raise your hand. You supporting yourself. Living expense, that means you don’t ask money from your family. Okay, so how about you?

R: I take money from my parents.

E: See~~ So most of students do not have enough money for supporting themselves, not to mention to support their kids, even they can go to work, I think their basis of financial capacity is still not enough for the unexpected baby. And if the boy doesn’t want to be responsible to the baby, then the girl has to shoulder the burden by her own self, and I think it also bring another problem, is the family and marriage. If the couple wants to build up a family, I think the relationship between college students is still not steady enough, and if they just get married because their child, then I think it probably will be the problem when they want to get divorced.

R: You talk about economical problems. And in my annotation 2, the Article 26 of University Act was amended in 2008. It mentions that a student pursuing a bachelor degree or above may request for prolonging the studying term on account of pregnancy, childbirth, or childcare for the toddler under three years old. As for our school, the academic rules of NCU, Reg.40 notes that students students can apply for temporary suspension of study because of pregnancy, childbirth, or childcare for the toddler under three years old. And the accumulated suspension length is limited to 4 years. The period of suspension will not be taken into account for the total suspension length. So students can stop their studies at college. And they have more time spending with their child and have more time earning money in order to support the economic needs for a child and for the whole family.

E: So you and your boyfriend will make up a family?

R: I think if my boyfriend doesn’t want our child, I will immediately break up with him and raise the child by myself.

E: okay, but even you can accept that your boyfriend doesn’t want to have the child, and you can be the single parent, I still think that you think whether you are prepared, is mature enough to face the unexpected baby. I think the most important is that you have to face the mental stress. I think you have to face the change of identity, and you have to face the stress from the family, because maybe your family cannot accept that you get pregnant under no marriage, or the school, peers, maybe your peers will throw the strange eyes to you. It is in my annotaiton2, about the impact to mothers.

R: Ok, but if finally I try my best to raise my child and find out that I have , I don’t have enough ability to raise my child, maybe I can take adoption into my consideration. Moreover, abortion is really harmful to women’s body. It can lead to infertility because the child in the uterus is not moved out completely. And doctor, the doctor may also hurt the endometrium. So, to sum up, I want to give… I want to deliver my child because life is so precious. I can apply for temporary suspension of study to earn money for my child. And abortion is harmful to women’s body. It can lead to infertility forever.

E: In my opinion, I think that some people think taking abortion is immoral, but I think they do not really understand how stressful and serious it is. We just think the baby is innocent, we should also consider the impact to mothers. My conclusion is that girl should think twice that whether she is get ready for the baby, because you cannot give up when you don’t want to be the mother. And if you cannot overcome these problems, I think you really should take abortion to the consideration. 

R: No way!

E＆Ｒ：Thank you for your listening. J

Revised annotation 2

The impact to young mothers

For those students who are pregnant, taking abortion becomes a serious problem, especially they have not expected the coming of this child. Some people are against taking abortion because they think it is immoral to take away a life. Obviously, they stand on the side of the baby; however, I think people should not neglect that what will have an impact on the mother. This article in E-Soc Journal has mentioned many aspects of the impact when young students get pregnant and if they give birth. Below are my summary and analysis about the impact in the article.

First, those pregnant students have to face the overwhelming pressure from their family and during giving birth. In traditional Chinese family, it is unacceptable for girls to get pregnant when they are not married. Girl’s pregnancy probably could make the family does not know what to do, and that they may be hostile to the incident. Besides, the author said an important point: “Even if giving the birth, the young girls usually do not know how to do when they face changing their role and the duty of supporting a baby.” The young mothers probably do not know what their kid needs, and they lack the experience and patience. Some of them cannot bear the stress then turn to ignore their child or even become violent toward children.

Second, whether the environment is suitable for the mother and baby is also a problem. The author said: “When the young girl decide to give birth, she may endure the pain from the bad living environment, malnutrition, unemployed, not enough work or suspension, and not enough train of career or dependency on finance. The possibility her life falls into poor is higher than those 20s married mothers.” I think it is not easy for a young girl to take care of herself and the kid, not to mention under the unprepared and immature environment. The situation may have influence in both of mother’s and baby’s future.

I think the reason why students’ pregnancy could bring many aspect of impact is that most of students do not expect they will get pregnant. They have not prepared to be parents, and they have to receive many mental stress. They are students and parents in the meantime, if they go to work, then they will have less time with their kids, and that could result kids’s educational problem. What’s more, the unfriendly stereotype with students’ unmarried pregnancy still exists in the society. So if they cannot overcome these difficulties, I do not think giving a birth is a better way.

Keyword:

Malnutrition: a poor condition of health caused by a lack of food or a lack of the right type of food.

Source: Wang Shu Qing (2004). The related factors of young unmarried girls’ pregnancy and the policy of prevention and guidance. E-Soc Journal,36, Retrieved from: http://mail.nhu.edu.tw/~society/e-j/36/36-43.htm

Original:

即使在寶寶生下來之後，年輕女孩在面臨角色的突然改變及育嬰責任，常常也顯得不知所措（楊佳芳、李孟智，1996）。加上懷孕的任務，有太多的心理任務要完成，其成功與否都將深深影響自己和寶寶的未來。

當年輕女孩決定生下小孩之後，她就可能承受居住環境不佳、營養健康不良、失業或未充分就業、輟學、職業訓練不足或經濟依賴等痛苦。她的生活陷入窮困的機率比二十幾歲已婚母親高

Revised Annotation 1

Why do some college students rather take abortion?

In this video, there are two sides discussing whether students in university should take abortion or give birth when they are pregnant.

Below are the two main points about why some people do not want to give birth.

1. Rather take abortion cruelly, than consider it reluctantly.

2. How can children support children? A mistake will be a permanent regret

In this video we can notice that for most of students, the main reason why they rather take abortion than giving birth is Money. “College students do not really have enough financial capacity. Some of them probably still have to ask money from family. If give a birth, then will you use the money that parents give to support your child or just ask family to take care of it?” said a male student. They think in finance, some of students still have to depend on family, how could they have enough money to support a child? Most of students have no stable job, and do not have time to earn much money. They think it is even hard enough to support themselves.

The second part is marriage. They think it is necessary for children to have parents, and it means they have to get married. However, the baby is unexpected, they haven’t consider whether the lover is their spouse. They are afraid of regretting to get married. They do not want the child becomes the reason for them to get married or the trouble when they decide to get divorced. “The most important is, I think the relationship between students is still not that mature, you have to consider whether the person is the one you will live with forever, so will you marry him/ her?” said a male student. Some of students are mature in physical, so they have sex, but the truth is that in both of mental and their relationship, they cannot be responsible to the possible result that having sex would bring.

I think immature is the most important reason for students not to give birth. Because those external problem, like money, still can be solved. However, the inner problem about mental mature cannot be solved in a short time. In the video, those students think how children can support children. For some of immature students, they are afraid of taking the responsibility, and they even cannot take care of themselves, so that they do not want to have more troubles. Furthermore, they do not really think it is a baby, most of them treat it as a trouble. Because being pregnant is unexpected, especially under no marriage, they think it is a fault. In the video, the host asks a question: “Who will you tell you are pregnant first?” and no one wants to tell their parents first, because they do not want to disturb parents. Although they think they are able to deal with the situation, they are subconscious to treat it as a mistake.

To sum up, the side that supports taking abortion tends to consider real life problems and about their future. They all admit that they don’t have enough money and are not mature to have a baby, so taking abortion becomes a way for them to escape these troublesome problems.

Original content:

1.      與其勉為其難 到不如快刀斬藕絲

2.      小孩怎能養小孩 一失足成千古恨

Rather take abortion cruelly, than consider it reluctantly

How can children support children? A mistake will be a permanent regret

告訴男朋友是一件很困難的事，第二個是還要聽他的反應，如果他今天跟我說你不要生下來，你就會想說他一定是不會愛我，如果它叫我生下來，你又會開始想說那有經濟能力嗎？如果生下來會娶我嗎？如果要思考這麼多很難過，那就直接拿掉就好。我覺得大學生真的沒有能力，小孩生出來會很可憐 也會麻煩到父母，因為你絕對沒有辦法自己照顧他。 (2:00~2:50)

At first, it is difficult to tell boyfriend that I am pregnant. Second is to listen to his recreation. If today he asks you not to give a birth, you will think he doesn’t love certainly. If he asks me to give a birth, you will starts to think do we have the financial capacity? Will he marry me after I give a birth? If I have to consider many aspects in despair, I think it will be better to take abortion straightly.

I think college students really have no capacity, the child will be poor, and you have to ask parents for help, because you can’t take care of child by yourself.

大學生的經濟能力實在是沒那麼強，有些人可能一個月還是跟家裡拿錢，生下來後，是要拿家裡的人給你的錢去養他？還是就要丟給家裡養？那是一個很大問題，而且生下來你沒辦法給他一個完好的生活，連奶粉錢可能都是問題的時候，生下來要幹嘛？重點我覺得大學生彼此之間的感情都還不是那麼成熟，可能這個人是不是你一輩子要走下去的人，那你這時候要不要跟它結婚？(6:47~7:20)

College students do not really have enough financial capacity. Some of them probably still have to ask money from family. If give a birth, then will you use the money that parents give to support your child or just ask family to take care of it? It is big problem, and you cannot give child a good life, and when milk powder becomes a problem, why give a birth? The most important is, I think the relationship between students is still not that mature, you have to consider whether the person is the one you will live with forever, so will you marry him/ her?

Source: ctitv (2011-05-03). 5/3 College Talk: If College Students Are Pregnant (part2). Retrieved(Oct.10.2013) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cn5nhnBMFg