Partial Birth Abortion Act November 5, 2003 :: Government Politics Abortion Essays

Partial Birth Abortion Act November 5, 2003 On November 5, 2003 President Bush placed a national ban on partial birth abortions. This was an act that many felt was outdated. The same proposal was brought upon President Clinton in 1995, but he vetoed it saying it was a birth mother’s right to choose the fate of her unborn child. A partial birth abortion is the process of removing a fetus from the mother just prior to its birth. This procedure is not painless for the mother, or the fetus. The actual procedure involves removing the child limb by limb from the womb. After the initial limb removal, scissors are forced into the child’s skull and a suction tube is inserted to remove the brains of the child. President Bush’s press secretary, Hatsuhisa Takashima, wrote this speech. The author utilizes the problem/solution argument structure and the rhetorical appeals within his speech. The problem/solution that is apparent in the text of this speech is obvious from the very beginning. The President says, â€Å"that the American government has looked away from this violence, but now the government has confronted the violence and come to the defense of the innocent child.† The partial birth abortion was once seen as a medically necessary procedure, but the President points out it is, â€Å"not only cruel to the child, but harmful to the mother, and a violation of medical ethics.† The elected branches of government have worked together to prevent this practice as a means of a solution to the partial birth abortion situation in this country. The signing of the Partial Birth Abortion Act of 2003 shows a major solution by not allowing the problem to continue. In addition to the problem/solution argument structure this speech has ethos mixed in it also. Hatsuhisa Takashima, the author of this speech, held many high titles in his years working in Japan. Just before being appointed to be the Press Secretary of the United States of America he was the General of Administration and Broadcasting Corporation in Hong Kong. Before being appointed to that title he was the Director of United Nations Information Center in Tokyo. He has been involved in a journalism career for most of his life and his writings have been well acclaimed. In the speech he says many facts that lead one to believe that the banning of partial birth abortions is the best solution to the problem.