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I know abortion can be an incredibly controversial topic but it really is what made me want to become a lawyer. I was 18, had unprotected sex and had to face the incredible decision of having the child or not. When I was at the clinic the woman next to me and I began to speak and she told me that she was being forced into having an abortion by her partner, that he said if she did not he would leave her, never pay for the child and she would be left entirely alone. In that moment I was so angry and decided woman such as her deserved someone to go to bat for them. is this too much of a touchy subject though?

This is an objectively terrible idea.

DO NOT EVER WRITE YOUR PS ON ABORTION, no matter how compelling your reasons are

I disagree. I think you absolutely should write about why you want to go to law school, even if it means discussing a sensitive issue (obviously you'll have to be careful not to offend anyone). I think adcomms want to know that you are passionate about going to law school and why. Be honest with them and it will make for a great PS. Do it.

This is an idea that you should abort.

While I agree with the the claim that this is a terrible idea--it is only because your story is not particularly compelling...or interesting.

I disagree with the perpetual claim that issues like abortion are to remain taboo in this type of setting. I think the logic is the opposite. 1/2 of the population hates abortion--the other 1/2 half is incredible sympathetic to those smart enough to get an abortion... Strictly speaking--- if you apply to two schools with a 50/50 shot of yes and your admission is dependent on one person--you have a solid shot of wooing one...

i don't see why the other posters are so negative on this.
This is not related to the morality nor legality of abortions. It looks like it's about helping poor women get good legal advice. It could have just as easily been about getting a haircut. Or being forced to donate a kidney. Or forced into prostitution.

lawloser22 wrote:I disagree. I think you absolutely should write about why you want to go to law school, even if it means discussing a sensitive issue (obviously you'll have to be careful not to offend anyone). I think adcomms want to know that you are passionate about going to law school and why. Be honest with them and it will make for a great PS. Do it.

I agree with lawloser. I think this sounds like it could be a very powerful PS. Let me put it this way, if a law school decides they don't want you based on the reason you want to go to law school, you probably didn't want to go to that school anyway.

Also, they read plenty of bland personal statements that are just people saying what they think the adcomms want to hear. Something different helps you stick out.

lawloser22 wrote:I disagree. I think you absolutely should write about why you want to go to law school, even if it means discussing a sensitive issue (obviously you'll have to be careful not to offend anyone). I think adcomms want to know that you are passionate about going to law school and why. Be honest with them and it will make for a great PS. Do it.

I know that after-school specials and cheesy romcom endings have a happy message about how being your honest self always works out, but you're applying to law school in the real world. And in the real world, talking about getting an abortion will put off 10x as many people as it might draw in.

i could be wrong but i feel like it is an unexplored topic when it comes to ps statements and if you craft it in a way that does not debate the morality of it, but rather how it shaped you and the overall experience of taking this experience to help others it could be strong.

Bildungsroman wrote:

lawloser22 wrote:I disagree. I think you absolutely should write about why you want to go to law school, even if it means discussing a sensitive issue (obviously you'll have to be careful not to offend anyone). I think adcomms want to know that you are passionate about going to law school and why. Be honest with them and it will make for a great PS. Do it.

I know that after-school specials and cheesy romcom endings have a happy message about how being your honest self always works out, but you're applying to law school in the real world. And in the real world, talking about getting an abortion will put off 10x as many people as it might draw in.

yeah, if you get a conservative adcom reading your essay, it could consciously or subconsciously auto-ding you

Bildungsroman wrote:

lawloser22 wrote:I disagree. I think you absolutely should write about why you want to go to law school, even if it means discussing a sensitive issue (obviously you'll have to be careful not to offend anyone). I think adcomms want to know that you are passionate about going to law school and why. Be honest with them and it will make for a great PS. Do it.

I know that after-school specials and cheesy romcom endings have a happy message about how being your honest self always works out, but you're applying to law school in the real world. And in the real world, talking about getting an abortion will put off 10x as many people as it might draw in.

It seems like AdComms are receptive to people being... people. Obviously don't talk about terrible subjects like how you think we're justified in killing brown people or how Arabs are justified in killing us, but you can spin that very easily into 'I want to be a lawyer because I've witnessed international injustice and I've made xyz steps towards correcting wrongs through interning/working for/etc.'

For the abortion one, the previous poster was absolutely right. The issue isn't abortion rights but women's rights and how that affected you as a young woman going through this process, seeing your peers doing the same without support personally or legally. And then go from there.

Not a good idea for many reasons that were stated by other posters. Also, did you end up getting an abortion? If you did, then your story sounds even worse. While in the process of getting an abortion, I was taken a back when I spoke to someone whom was being "forced" to get a an abortion. And thus, that has compelled me to be a lawyer....uh wut?

Even if you contend that there are ways in which you could appropriately mention the issue of abortion in a PS, which is certainly possible, the idea of incorporating your own voluntary abortion into the PS is so completely over that line into bad idea territory that I'm surprised people are even debating it.

Bildungsroman wrote:Even if you contend that there are ways in which you could appropriately mention the issue of abortion in a PS, which is certainly possible, the idea of incorporating your own voluntary abortion into the PS is so completely over that line into bad idea territory that I'm surprised people are even debating it.

Ok, you could just say you were sitting next to her on the bus one day and she was pregnant, and the next day she wasn't so you asked if it was a boy or girl, and she answered by showing you the jar full of formaldehyde she was storing the pieces in.
(that started off as a normal post. really, it did. i don't know what happened in the middle, but the point was that you can tell the story without mentioning your own abortion)

kahechsof wrote:

Bildungsroman wrote:Even if you contend that there are ways in which you could appropriately mention the issue of abortion in a PS, which is certainly possible, the idea of incorporating your own voluntary abortion into the PS is so completely over that line into bad idea territory that I'm surprised people are even debating it.

Ok, you could just say you were sitting next to her on the bus one day and she was pregnant, and the next day she wasn't so you asked if it was a boy or girl, and she answered by showing you the jar full of formaldehyde she was storing the pieces in.

What the fuck just happened.

I think talking about anything remotely controversial - even religion, which I had to remove from my own PS - is a terrible idea. Don't do it.

All it takes is one person on that admissions committee to think that strict abortion control policies are a good idea and you would be sunk. Way too risky.

flame

Bildungsroman wrote:

kahechsof wrote:

Bildungsroman wrote:Even if you contend that there are ways in which you could appropriately mention the issue of abortion in a PS, which is certainly possible, the idea of incorporating your own voluntary abortion into the PS is so completely over that line into bad idea territory that I'm surprised people are even debating it.

Ok, you could just say you were sitting next to her on the bus one day and she was pregnant, and the next day she wasn't so you asked if it was a boy or girl, and she answered by showing you the jar full of formaldehyde she was storing the pieces in.

What the f--- just happened.

why? nobody does that?
People keep their parents ashes in an urn after they burn the cadaver.

yngblkgifted wrote:flame

I hope so. If someone is stupid enough to want to stay with someone that would do something like "force" them to have an abortion, we should probably hope they don't reproduce for the sake of the gene pool.

paratactical wrote:

yngblkgifted wrote:flame

I hope so. If someone is stupid enough to want to stay with someone that would do something like "force" them to have an abortion, we should probably hope they don't reproduce for the sake of the gene pool.

I don't know about that.
But i do agree we don't want the father in this case reproducing.

paratactical wrote:

yngblkgifted wrote:flame

I hope so. If someone is stupid enough to want to stay with someone that would do something like "force" them to have an abortion, we should probably hope they don't reproduce for the sake of the gene pool.

He didn't force her (like with a coat hangers...never sure how that worked). He said he wouldn't support the baby if she didn't get an abortion. I guess she was emotionally/financially dependent.

Did you not notice the quotation marks? Or do you not "understand" what they "mean"?

yikes...