It's Her Choice

Abortion is a highly controversial topic. Recently, there was a pro-life commercial aired in the Super Bowl that provoked even more discussion on the topic. Pathos is the obvious appeal that is targeted in controversy. If I were to try to persuade an audience why I am pro-choice and why they should be pro-choice also, I would certainly employ various strategies of the pathos appeal.

In order to appeal to my audience's emotions, I would have to understand my audience's views and a bit of background on them. Women who would attend such a speech would most likely have some feelings about abortion. These women could be mothers, women who have lost a child, women who are unable to conceive, women who are very religious, or women who know someone who had an abortion.

These women are most likely to be audience members because they could all potentially have an emotional tie to the topic. For example, the mothers understand the love and connection that they have with their child. They understand how precious this relationship is. They know what it's like to give life; therefore, they want to protect this. Women who have lost a child understand that pain. They know what it's like to be expecting a child and then have it taken from them. They are probably against abortion because they don't want anyone to "waste" a life. Women who are unable to conceive may feel the same because they want a child, but are unable to have one and may be envious of women who can have children. Religious women will probably have a strong emotional interest in the issue because abortion is not acceptable in most religions. Women who know someone who had an abortion could feel strongly in either camp--pro-life or pro-choice. If the person they know had a positive experience with their abortion (e.g. their life was in jeopardy, and they chose abortion to save their life, or their child had a chance of being severely disabled; therefore, they chose to abort and were thankful for that option), they may feel strongly for pro-choice. However, if the person they know had a negative experience with an abortion (e.g. regret and guilt), then the person might feel strongly about pro-life.

I am pro-choice because I believe a woman should not be told what she can and can not do to her body. Having an abortion is a personal choice and the reasons vary greatly from person to person. I would never have an abortion; I would also never tell a woman that she can't have one. I would try to persuade my audience to feel the same by using the following pathetic proofs:

Enargeia: I would describe a situation in which a woman needed an abortion such as being a rape victim and becoming pregnant or having a pregnancy that was life threatening to herself. I would play up the dilemma of having an abortion or not as best I could to allow the audience to become interested and invested in the scenario.

Honorific language: I would use honorific language when discussing the ways in which being pro-choice can benefit women. I would talk about the values of freedom that Americans cherish so much with honorific language because being pro-choice is a matter of the freedom of the woman to choose abortion.

Sympathy: I would call on their sympathy to understand how this decision is too big to let the government make it for the woman. I would use the scenario from the enargeia to get the woman to care about the woman's right to choose.