Abortion

1.     1. At first glance, I noticed that the pro-choice website seemed to look much better than the pro-life website. As with anything, first impressions are very important and I think presentation is a factor that convinces readers. I thought it was very interesting how the websites disagreed with each other directly on the website instead of just promoting their own beliefs. I think that this is affective in order to convince people, but should not be done on their main website because it does not advertise what the website is about. Since I believe in the right to chose, I think that the arguments on the pro-choice website are better and are presented in a stronger way.

2.     2. I personally believe that a parent should have the right to know if their child is having an abortion but should not be the one to decide the outcome. As a seventeen or eighteen year old you are viewed as an adult and with this title you are capable of making decisions on your own that are in your best interest. Since a parent is still responsible for their children I think they should be notified about the decision and should be consulted with.

3.     3. A father should absolutely be notified if their child is going to be aborted. Since it takes two people to create a baby, it is both of their decision. I don’t think the father would even have to be notified because in most cases the father would already know what is going on with their significant other.

4.     4. Since the facts are very biased towards pro-choice, I found it difficult to get a complete view on the laws in Illinois concerning abortion. One new piece of information that I previously did not know was that Governor Pat Quinn is pro-choice. One law that I found interesting was that Illinois law restricts young women's access to abortion services by mandating parental notice. I disagree with the fact that it restricts their access because many parents understand that having a baby is a ton of work and a responsibility. When a baby is wanted and two people are ready, it is a blessing. When it is not, it creates a burden on young adults, and most parents realize that a baby as a teenager is too much of a responsibility. When a teenager has to take care of themselves, and a baby, it creates a lifestyle and environment that is very difficult. I disagree with the websites stance on this law because I think parents should be notified if their child is pregnant and wants to have an abortion. 

Death Penalty #3

The stages in a capital case are very in depth and provide areas where the accused have the ability to provide a case for themselves. Also, this process protects the rights of the accused by allowing a clemency process, which guarantees that the person is in fact guilty. I think that the system displayed on the website is sufficient to make sure the guilty are convicted but not all systems are perfect. The possibility that an innocent person gets convicted or a guilty person is found innocent is probable.

If a person is to be sentenced to death, I believe that the most humane way to execute somebody is by lethal injection. This way harms the person the least and automatically kills them. I think that many of the options listed are very inhumane such as hanging because this causes the person to struggle and feel a significant amount of pain before he or she dies. I also think that a firing squad is a very inhumane way of executing a person.

This website is a very useful tool in order to see how the death penalty is used throughout the country. Some trends that I noticed were that mostly men are being executed and very few women were executed. I also noticed that more white people were executed than black people. I found this very interesting because I thought that this was the opposite. I found it interesting that the states that do not have the death penalty are more grouped together.

This data confirmed my previous observations and the issue of race is very important when looking at the death penalty. More white people are executed than blacks and the victims in the cases are predominately white. The issue of discrimination is prevalent in cases and many people use this as an argument during clemency. I think that this article is more biased towards not having the death penalty because it provides numerous examples of how the death penalty is flawed or wrong. For example, it provides a poll of how many people believe the death penalty deters more murders and the majority of people believe it does not. If the author of the article were in favor of the death penalty than they would not include this information.