To decriminalize or not to decriminalize? That is the question people in the United States and other nations have been asking themselves for decades. Many countries, including Costa Rica, Italy, Norway, and Singapore, do legally sanction certain forms of prostitution, and some find it odd that a nation like the United States, which prides itself so heavily on the principle of individual liberty, would forbid any type of activity between two consenting adults. Nonetheless, countless Americans find the prospect of legal prostitution offensive to their ideals concerning traditional moralism, sex, or womanhood. While morality debates may rage on, it does seem rather strange that almost all state governments in the U.S. still prohibit what seems to be a harmless, victimless activity.
The truth is, though, that prostitution is not as harmless or victimless as it seems. In fact, all too often the women involved in the trade are not even working out of their own free will. Aside from the brutal realities of forced prostitution, other problems lurk beneath the surface, as well; but could the harm associated with prostitution be alleviated through decriminalization? It is impossible to know for certain exactly what would happen were legal prostitution a reality, but in order to effectively evaluate the consequences of such a change, the potential dangers and benefits must be considered.
First of all, with legality, prostitution would become safer for both the client and the prostitute. There could very easily be a government registration system through which prostitutes could get a license, the monthly or weekly renewal of which would require health check-ups. S…
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…oral sphere, the answers are largely subjective and based on personal feelings rather than on the objective reality of the world. The fact remains that there are people who are willing to buy and sell sexual pleasure, and a better question to ask is, what is the best way of managing these transactions that will result in the least possible harm and the most possible benefit? While there is no clear answer, it is clear that the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and the perpetuation forced or abusive labor could be diminished significantly with the decriminalization of prostitution. If the government, however, is not willing to fight the greatest evils associated with the business–the trafficking and forced labor of women and girls–these problems would likely grow worse with legalization, thus making it better for the United States to keep its current policy.
Abortion – Post-Abortive Drug and Alcohol Abuse Argumentative Persuasive Topics
Post-Abortive Drug and Alcohol Abuse The new website, www.hopeafterabortion.com, offers extensive research on the psychiatric and social consequences of abortion taken from journals of medicine, psychology and the social sciences. A new study, not mentioned on the site, was just published in the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse. It breaks through the barrier of political correctness which seems to be the editorial policy of many American psychology journals. Authors David Reardon, Ph.D., founder of the Elliot Institute, and Philip Ney, M.D. of the University of British Columbia, reported findings of a survey they conducted to measure the abuse of drugs and alcohol as a means of relieving stress among women following an abortion. They found that “women who aborted a first pregnancy were five times more likely to report subsequent substance abuse than women who carried to term and they were four times more likely to report substance abuse compared to those who suffered a natural loss of their first pregnancy (i.e., due to miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, or stillbirth)”. Their findings support prior cited studies showing such a link. The authors caution that the risk of drug and alcohol abuse actually may be much greater than revealed in survey responses for several reasons. Previous studies have shown that surveys seeking information about past abortions have a poor response rate and, even among those willing to participate, have a high “concealment” rate. Only 14.6% of the 1,526 pregnancies reported in the survey were reported as aborted, substantially below the estimated national rate of 25%. And “demographic comparisons of women who conceal past abortions or who refuse to participate in post-abortion research suggest that they are more likely to match the profile of participants who report greater post-abortion distress.” The final survey question asked respondents if they found answering the survey questions “emotionally difficult or disturbing.” Those who admitted having aborted their first pregnancy and those who reported substance abuse were far more likely to answer yes to this question. The authors estimate that one can expect at least 150,000 American women yearly at risk for substance abuse, as a means of coping with abortion-related stress. Disclosure of this risk should be part of informed consent for women considering abortion, and physicians and therapists treating patients with a history of either substance abuse or abortion should be prepared to address both problems with the patient.