Dick Grayson walked into his sixth hour English class and saw Bethanie and Crystal talking by their desks. He smiled as he walked up to them. "Hey, you guys ready for our debate?"

"Is anyone ever ready to make a speech?" Bethanie asked clearly not looking forward to the debate.

"Yeah, not even Bruce likes giving speeches," Dick replied.

"You know, it's not really a speech," Crystal said.

"Yeah it is. It's basically a persuasive speech because we're trying to convince you to take one of our sides. We're just doing one side of the argument each," Dick replied.

"Oh, ok. So do you have your side figured out, Dick? Bethanie said she's found excellent points," Crystal asked.

Bethanie smiled. "Yeah, so you better have a good argument to back you up."

Dick smiled. "Don't worry. I found some good points, too." He then looked to Crystal. "Do you have points on both sides so you can back one of us up?"

"Well, Mrs. Branson told me that I would mostly be going off what both of you say, so I didn't really have to research that much," Crystal replied.

"Well, then I guess we better have good arguments," Bethanie told Dick.

"All right, class, let's find our seats," Mrs. Branson said. As all the kids made their way to their seats, Mrs. Branson opened her notebook and looked at the names of the kids who were supposed to speak. "All right, Dick, Bethanie, and Crystal, you guys are up first."

Dick and Bethanie gathered up the notes they found and followed Crystal up to the front of the room.

"Ok, so who's starting?" Bethanie asked Dick.

"I'm starting," Mrs. Branson said.

All three of them looked at the teacher. "Right, sorry," Bethanie apologized.

"You said something about giving us a scenario?" Crystal asked.

"Yes," Mrs. Branson said. "Crystal, you will be the girl in the scenario that Dick and Bethanie have to try and persuade."

"Ok," they all replied at once.

Mrs. Branson pulled a chair over and placed it in between two of the front desks. "Here's your seat," she told Crystal then turned to Dick and Bethanie. "You are trying to convince Crystal to take one of your sides. Here's your scenario. Crystal was raped by an unknown man and became pregnant. She's only sixteen and doesn't have a job. She's not entirely sure whether or not to keep the baby or abort it." She then turned back to Crystal, who was now sitting in the chair between the desks. "Your only job is to listen to both sides and then choose a side. You must then explain why you chose that side. Does everyone understand?"

All three of them nodded and Mrs. Branson took her seat at her desk. "So, who's going first?" Bethanie asked Dick.

"Lady's first," he replied with a sly smile then leaned up against Mrs. Branson's desk.

"Thanks," Bethanie replied sarcastically then turned to Crystal. "I feel really bad about what happened to you, and I think you should consider aborting the child." She looked down at the paper in her hand then back at Crystal. "I believe that women have the right to choose because it is their body. You didn't ask for this to happen to you, and I don't see why you would want to keep a child that you didn't ask for. Babies are expensive with all the dipers, food, clothes, and many other things they need. I mean, you're only sixteen and you don't even have a job, so that would mean your parents would have to pay for everything. I'm pretty sure that they don't want to have another person to take care of. You're not ready for a child yet 'cause you're still a child yourself, and I'm sure you're scared of the idea that you would be totally responsible for someone so small, am I right?" Crystal nodded. "So, why would you want a child of the person that violated you? I say the best thing for you to do is abort the baby and go on with your life." She then turned around and walked back toward Mrs. Branson's desk as Dick walked toward Crystal. "Beat that," she said quietly as they past each other.

Dick stopped right in front of Crystal, looked at his paper, and then looked back up. "I'm sorry too about what happened to you, but I think you should approach this in a different way. Yeah you probably don't want anything to do with the baby, but that doesn't mean you have to kill an innocent life." He looked down at his paper. "Unborn babies are innocent human beings from the moment of conception." He looked back up to Crystal. "Most people believe that unborn babies are just a bunch of cells, but I've heard that a baby's heartbeat can be heard at three weeks. That doesn't sound like a bunch of cells to me. Instead of just killing the child, why not give it up for adoption? There are some people in this world that can't have children of their own and would love to take in a child to love as their own, and some people just want to expand their family. Just because someone comes and violates you doesn't mean you have to kill, they baby didn't do anything. Don't hate the child, if you don't want it; let another family take it in."

"Sure, there may be people like that, but why should she have to endure all the pain and discomfort for a life that isn't even born yet? She doesn't even want the child," Bethanie said then turned to Crystal. "There are two ways to have an abortion, in-clinic abortion and the morning after pill. Both of these ways are safe and effective. There are three steps to taking the morning after pill, the abortion pill, misoprostol, and a follow up. Most people are more comfortable with the morning after pill because it's basically like miscarrying, so it's more natural. Take a few medications then do a follow up within two weeks to make sure it worked and that's it. It's so easy, but on the slight chance it doesn't work, you got the in-clinic abortion. There are two different in-clinic abortions, aspiration abortion, which is the most common, and D&E or dilation and evacuation. During aspiration abortion, they use a hand-held suction device or a suction machine to gently empty the uterus, and during D&E, they medical instruments and a suction machine. Both of these procedures can take anywhere from ten to twenty minutes, possibly more, but they also give you a sedative or an IV to help with the pain and make it not so bad."

"Ok, that is just disgusting," Dick said a bit horrified. "Are you saying that they just suck the babies out of you and you're wide awake during it all?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much all it is," Bethanie said smiling.

The others in the class, including Crystal, all looked disgusted looks and some even looked like they could get sick. "Like I said, disgusting," Dick said then glanced at his paper again before turning back to Crystal. "Everything she said may not sound that bad, but what she failed to mention is the problems these procedures could cause. You could get an allergic reaction to the medication, an incomplete abortion, which could leave part of the pregnancy inside the uterus, a failure to end the pregnancy, which was your whole goal, infection, very heavy bleeding, and undetected ectopic pregnancy, which means," he looks down at his paper, "the abnormal development of a fertilized egg outside the cavity of the uterus, usually within a Fallopian tube." He put his paper down to his side. "That sounds like it would really be painful, and each of these also have one possible risk. For the abortion pill you could get blood clots in the uterus, and for the in-clinic ways you could get injury to the cervix or other organs. And on top of all that, you have the risk of sterility, cervical damage, and pregnancy loss like miscarriages as well as premature births, complications of labor, and abnormal development of the placenta. Now I don't see why any girl would want to go through that. With adoption, you don't have to worry about any risks, problems, or side effects and you get to help others be happy."

"Yeah, but with adoption is not all roses and sunshine either. There are so many sickoes in this world that would adopt a kid just to abuse them, use them, or that do it because they can get money out of it. You also have the problem of those kids feeling a sense of lose, abandonment, grief, and guilt. The birth parents gave them up, they didn't want them. How do you think that will make the kid feel when they become old enough to understand that kind of thing." Dick tried to reply but Bethanie didn't give him a chance. "And not all families are the kind hearted people that we all want to believe they are. Plus you also have to worry 'bout the kids feeling angry, numb, depressed, anxiety, or fear, which are normal feelings for a kid in this position. You should know that from personal experiences."

Dick balled up his fists, but managed to keep his anger at bay. "My parents were killed by a psycho and I was lucky to have Bruce to take me in, which is why adoption is a good thing. If Bruce didn't take me in, I may have ended up with someone who didn't care for me or I could've ended up staying there 'til I was old enough to take care of myself and felt like nobody cared about me. Orphanages don't just send the kids away anyway. They make sure that you're getting sent to a good home. Anyway, we're talking about a new born baby. The younger the kids are, the better chance they have at getting adopted, so her baby may get adopted as soon as it's born, a few days afterwards, or a few weeks. Adoption can make the kids feel like even though your birth parents didn't care for you, you are still loved by the people that did take you in."

"Ok, fine, but wouldn't you think it would pain her if she ever saw the child again. The child was a result of a very traumatic event in her life."

"That may be, but they don't have to meet. The adopted parents could move to another town, she could move to another town to get away from the town her assaulter lives in, or it could be years until she sees the child again. People change as they get older. She might not recognize the child."

"Yeah, and what are the chances that would really happen?" Bethanie said sarcastically as she crossed her arms. She then turned back to Crystal. "I still think abortions is your only option so that you won't have to worry about ever seeing the child again."

"All right, I think we've heard enough of the two sides," Mrs. Branson said before a fight could break out. She saw how frustrated Dick got when Bethanie started making adoption look like a bad thing. "Crystal, why don't you go ahead and choose the side that you think was most convincing."

Crystal stood up and walked over to Dick and Bethanie. "You guys both had really good points and it's actually a pretty hard decision. The abortion pill would probably be the way I would want to do it if I chose to, but adoption is also a really good option." She looked at both of them and then continued. "I would have to say that I am gonna side with Dick on this one. Life is precious. They always say a baby is a gift, but since the baby is a result of a rape, I just don't think I would be able to love it like I should, so I would give it up for adoption and let a real family love it the way I couldn't. I also thought about the religious side of things as well. Depending on your religion, abortion is a form of killing, and if you follow the Ten Commandments, then you know that killing is a sin. Killing a child, whether it be unborn or a two years old, is still killing, and I don't believe in killing anyone for any reason."

"That was very good. You may have a seat," Mrs. Branson said. As the three returned to their seats, she looked in her notebook and saw the next group to speak. "Ok, Tyler, Paul, and Bonnie, you're up."

YJYJYJYJYJYJYJYJ

Dick walked in the door of the mansion and saw Bruce sitting in one of the chairs in the living room reading the paper. He then walked over to the couch and plopped down. "Rough day?" Bruce asked after he put the paper down.

"Sort of," Dick replied with his eyes closed.

Bruce smiled. "So how did your debate go?"

"Ok I guess, but I'm never gonna do another argument with Bethanie again."

"Oh? And why's that?"

"Because," he began as he sat up and looked at Bruce, "she brings up points about your life that can be very hurtful."

"What did she say?" Bruce asked a little worried.

"Well you know that our debate was over the abortion choice, right?" Bruce nodded. "Well, when I brought up the adoption choice, she totally made it sound as bad as abortion."

Bruce sighed. "She was just trying to defend her side of the argument."

"Yeah, but she didn't have to say the negative emotions like the feeling of loss and abandonment and then say I should understand because of my past experiences."

Bruce felt sorry for him. "Dick, some people don't think about what they say. All you can do is just not think of it and go on."

"I know," Dick said with his head down.

They were quiet for another few minutes before Bruce spoke up. "So, which side did she chose?"

Dick looked back up at him and smiled. "Mine. Evidentially she's pro life."

"Well, at least you won the debate," Bruce said smiling.

"Yeah."

"Come on, I think Alfred made some cookies today. Why don't we forget our stressful with a few?"

Dick smiled wider and stood up and ran to the kitchen. Bruce just shook his head and followed him.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is actually a topic I have a very strong opinion on. I am pro-life, and if some of you aren't, then that is your choice.

I hope you enjoyed this story and it made you think. Leave a comment below on your thoughts about it.

Thanks for reading :D