My revised paper with half the word count

Religion, Parental Influence, and Reason

Abortion is a highly controversial issue. Valid arguments are made on both sides. However, the arguments for it, with certain exceptions, outweigh the arguments against it. I came to this conclusion through parental influence and religious education class. This process of decision making deserves a careful explanation.
As a child, the Church was my sole influence on abortion. It was made very clear to me that the Church believes in life at conception. In the eyes of the Church, abortion is murder. The Church strongly opposes abortion, as it holds all life to be sacred. Since I was young and indifferent to the issue, I adopted these beliefs. However, I preferred not to talk about it because it spurred so much controversy. I never participated in any abortion protests, but if someone asked me if I was pro-choice or pro-life I would have responded pro-life. In retrospect, the only basis I had on considering myself pro-life was because it was the stance of my religion. Thus, at a young age my opinion on abortion was formed solely by my religion, I didn’t delve into the issue any further than what I was taught in my religious education class.
My parents had a great deal of influence in shaping my beliefs, including my beliefs on abortion. I remember coming home from school one day in eighth grade and telling my mom that someone had put bright orange “pro-choice” stickers on all the lockers during lunch. This was the first time I ever had a conversation about abortion with my mom. Both my parents are from large Catholic families and attended Catholic schools from preschool through college. Surprisingly, my mom was slightly pro-choice. She told me her main concern was for the safety of young women who feel the need to resort to desperate measures. She was the first to tell me about coat hanger abortions. I was appalled and thought that no one should have to be subjected to such torture. On the other hand, my mom told me stories of women she knew who had had an abortion and greatly regretted it years later. This created a dilemma in my mind, because I still thought abortion was wrong, but I also thought it was wrong to leave young desperate women to such horrific circumstances. It was clear she believed abortion was terrible and had many repercussions. However, it should be an option for desperate women, so they do not resort to self-mutilation. Essentially she was trying to convey that outlawing abortion would not stop it from happening, it would only create dangerous situations. This had a profound impact on me because I never considered this side of the argument before. After this conversation, I did not consider myself pro-life or pro-choice. I remained neutral on the issue.
Another significant influence on forming my opinion was my dad. He was the one that tipped me in favor of being pro-choice, which is surprising because in almost every respect my dad is conservative. His stance was that victims of rape or incest should have the option of abortion. He believed that society did not have the right to force a woman to have a child if she was raped. I completely agreed with my dad. I still thought abortion was a terrible thing, but I thought it should be legal for some extenuating circumstances.
As argued above, a complex decision takes careful thought and reflection. Reporting on this process requires analysis and the precise use of words, a useful exercise for any decision. Through this technique I came to have an opinion on abortion.