Abortion and Euthanasia: America’s Choice?       Over the past few decades, abortion and euthanasia have raised many controversial questions.  While it is perfectly legal for a woman to have an abortion and for an incompetent man or woman to be euthanized, there are still two sides to these issues.  The freedom of choice has always been highly prized in our American culture.  Is choosing abortion the same as choosing euthanasia? Although abortion is legal and widespread, people are beginning to question it.  Issues like women’s rights, population effects, and abortion’s economic impact have been rethought.  Traditionally, abortion was created for the victims of rape and incest but now is available to any woman who feels the pressures of society’s whims.  Are there other options?       The women of America have fought tirelessly for their rights since before the turn of the century.  Today women have the same rights as men.  Although it was a hard struggle, women now have the right to be in the army, to have jobs previously held by men, and, the most controversial, to have abortions.  Some people argue that abortion is necessary because it decreases the number of poor and homeless.  Others state that abortion is the unwarranted killing of the innocent unborn.  Susan B. Anthony, an early founder of feminism called abortion, “child murder.” Additional famous women, such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Alice Paul, said that abortion is degrading to women.   In 1973 the Supreme Court legalized abortion.  The long fought battle of women’s rights gained ground in the struggle of equality.  But the rewards came with consequences.       With abortion now legal, population growth has become a prominent issue.  For years politicians have predicted that one day the world will become overpopulated and all our natural resources will be destroyed.  While it is true that there is a population crisis, it is certainly not true that the world will one day become overpopulated.  The rate of replacement to achieve a static population is 2.1 children per woman.  Countries such as Spain, Russia, and Italy are catastrophically below the replacement level.  Does abortion affect population decline?  In coming years countries like the United States will feel the effects of the lack of a young working class due to the devastation of abortion. Another issue to be considered when discussing abortion is it’s economic impact.  How does abortion influence the economy?  Logically, we can assume that when there are fewer people there are fewer workers and when there are fewer workers, fewer goods are produced.  There are approximately forty million less people spending money, filling jobs, or paying taxes since abortion became legal in the United States.  While abortion may only provide a few jobs for a minimal amount of abortionists, it destroys population, the basis of any economy.  Today there are not enough workers to continue to pay social security for the elderly.  There are fewer teaching and health care jobs because there are forty million fewer people to provide with medical services and teaching facilities.  What about the lost innovation and thinking that forty million minds could have contributed to our stock of knowledge? One of those forty million could have found a better cure for cancer.  Where would the world be if Thomas Edison had not been born?   Abortion has cost the economy growth and stability.       Those who support abortion are perhaps not taking into consideration  the effects on population, women’s rights, or abortion’s economic impact.  For several decades abortion has aided in the moral and economic decline of our country.  Organizations like National Right to Life (NRTLC) and Human Life International (HLI) are working tirelessly to end abortion and all its dire consequences.  Every human no matter how small, has the right, freedom, and liberty to live in safety, security, and peace.        Compared to abortion, euthanasia is ultimately similar in regards to rights and population issues, but it differs perhaps with the way social security is affected.   Terri Schiavo is just one example of the many people who have been the victims of euthanasia. Is euthanasia benefiting people who cannot speak for themselves? The rights of the elderly and incompetent are often disregarded.  People who are no longer able to take care of themselves, such as the elderly and terminally ill, are subject to inadequate treatment and abuse.  Because of persisting illness or medical needs their money runs short.  Often they cannot get the care they need.  Some have resorted to assisted suicide because they no longer have the desire to live.  If they are unable to speak for themselves, a guardian or loved one often will choose euthanasia with an excuse that they do not wish their relative to suffer in a ‘vegetative state’.       “The sick person in a ‘vegetative state’, awaiting recovery or a natural end, still has the right to basic health care (nutrition, hydration, cleanliness, warmth, etc.), and to the prevention of complications related to his confinement to bed.  He also has the right to appropriate rehabilitative care and to be monitored for clinical signs of eventual recovery.”  (Pope John Paul II, March 20, 2004)       In the recent death of Terri Schiavo it is evident that euthanasia by omission, the denial of food and water, has been going on for quite some time.  If a person who is incompetent has not made previous health care instructions, their relatives can make the decision to end their life, or so the courts have ruled.  In some states it is perfectly legal to let a person die from starvation but illegal to let a dog die from lack of food. Euthanasia is influenced by population in a similar way to abortion.  Abortion attacks the helpless and innocent, so does euthanasia.  Abortion takes away people who would pay social security; euthanasia takes away the people who receive social security.  Euthanasia takes jobs away from health care professionals and nurses who would be taking care of terminally ill patients.  Less people are buying medications because they have been euthanized. The economy is suffering as a result.       Although euthanasia is seldom discussed in today’s issues, it is nonetheless important.  The laws that are made now determine what will happen near the end of life.  This affects us all.  There is no such thing as the ‘right to die’, instead there a right to live.  If euthanasia affects population and economy, then it certainly will affect what happens to every human being, even those in a ‘vegetative state’.       Abortion and euthanasia seem to be about the same thing, but in reality, they are slightly different.  One leads to the other. Without abortion we would have no need of euthanasia.  Abortion is society’s solution to unwanted or untimely children.  Euthanasia is society’s solution to unwanted or terminally ill people who are aging and unable to respond.  Abortion is imposed on the unborn because they cannot cry out.  Euthanasia is imposed on people who, like Terri Schiavo, wanted so much to cry out but could not.   Is this America’s choice?