"YOU GOT AN [INTEREST GROUP], BUDDY?"

Welcome back everyone! Today's blog will be about interest groups. Here is a quick little video by crash course to brief you on what an interest group is:

I'm also writing this after learning I have a B- in gov, so I apologize in advance for any grammar mistakes as my tears are clouding my vision. Anyways, let's get this bread.

Interest groups are organizations who share interests and work together to protect and promote said interest. They do this by influencing government decisions on their topics. Interest groups can vary in size, aims, and tactics, For example PETA who fights for animal rights and freedom, and the NRA who protects and advocates for the 2nd Amendment.

The interest groups I will be talking about today are:

Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States. They openly advocate for women's reproductive rights and free access to reproductive healthcare.

and Americans United for Life

 Americans United for Life is a group that advocates protection of human life at all stages of life, from conception to death. They are mostly known for their pro-life stance. 

By now I'm sure you've already guessed the issue we'll be focusing on, abortion.

There are many people who believe abortion is murder but they fail to understand that they are stripping away a woman's CHOICE of her OWN BODY.

Currently, abortion rights are heavily debated about by both pro-choicers and pro-lifers. There has been an extreme clash in viewpoints and the argument has not sizzled down. Donald Trump, America's current president, has openly talked about wanting to ban abortion except for special circumstances.

Here is an example of pro-choicers fighting to keep abortion rights and providers safe. 

Now for the interest groups...

(Liberal) - Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood's mission is to fight against anti-abortion policies and politicians who try to outlaw abortion. They want to provide access to affordable birth control and provide affordable reproductive healthcare services. They will fight to protect the basic human rights for everyone. 

The chosen artifact from Planned Parenthood's website that we will talk about today.

The overarching goal of planned parenthood is to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies. However, even though the number of unwanted pregnancies has dropped, Planned Parenthood still believes that all women should have access to safe and legal abortion services as a precaution. This is because having legal abortion allows people who are affected a way to change it.

This video shows the bias Planned Parenthood has for abortion rights. They openly oppose politicians who are against abortion rights. The overarching goal of planned parenthood is to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies. However, even though the number of unwanted pregnancies has dropped, Planned Parenthood still believes that all women should have access to safe and legal abortion. Services as a precaution. This is because having legal abortion allows people who are affected a way to change it. Planned Parenthood’s bias is obviously towards women’s rights and empowerment. They believe that women should be able to speak her mind and have access to her choices regarding her body. Although the downside Planned Parenthood has is that they push for Women’s rights but have not fought for male rights which shows their extreme bias. In this artifact Planned Parenthood uses logos to reach their audience. They include the percentage of Americans who oppose overturning Roe v. Wade, a case that proved women’s rights to abortions. 

(Conservative) - Americans United for Life

To introduce you to this... interesting group. Here is one of their advertisements...

 AUL's mission as said by their website is, “works through the law and legislative process to one end: Achieving comprehensive legal protection for human life from conception to natural death. The nonprofit, public-interest law and policy organization holds the unique distinction of being the first national pro-life organization in America— incorporated in 1971, before the infamous Roe v. Wade decision.”

For AUL's artifact we will also be talking about a photo from their website.

The principal mission of Americans United For Life (AUL) is to defend human life from conception to death. This means that they want to prevent abortion and any “passage and implementation of laws permitting or expanding abortion.” Their goal is to protect all human life, regardless of what stage of life they are in. This includes their time of conception. 

"Help Ensure a Pro-Life Supreme Court", a quote taken from the front page of their website, shows how biased they are for pro-life laws. They believe that all life should be saved from the moment it is conceived until death. Although the downside of AUL has is that they push for protection of all human life, but forcing a woman to give birth does not protect a human's basic rights. This shows holes in their argument, because they claim to defend human life but disregard one's basic rights and choices. In this artifact, AUF uses pathos to connect with their audience. This is shown by their usage of phrases such as “threaten lives” and “dignity of human life.” The phrase “dignity of human life” helps instill the reader with the feeling that they need to protect their life and the lives of others in order to live a dignified life. The connotation of the word “threaten” then helps emphasize the weight and meaning of the phrase “dignity of human life” which further adds to the pathos.

These groups have immense differences in every single way. They fight for the opposite of what the other believes. Planned Parenthood fights for a woman's choice to give birth, while AUL fights for woman to have to give birth when they fall pregnant. The artifacts serve the same purpose, to draw in their audience and convince people to agree with their beliefs. Yet it shows their biases in different ways. Planned Parenthood uses statistics while AUL attempts to draw in people who already agree with them to vote for politicians who believe in pro-life values.

I personally resonate with Planned Parenthood more. This may be based on the fact that I am very liberal, but I respect knowing that people should have their choices on what to do with their lives. It is not my personal business to tell a woman if she should give birth or not.