UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE COLOMBIA

ENGLISH COURSE LEVEL 4

WORKSHOP No. 6
Students name: __________________

Date: _________

TOPIC: Abortion Legalization

Learning strategy: Relate information to personal experience.

BEFORE READING
Discuss in pairs
a) What do you know about the legalization concerning abortion in Colombia?
b) Is abortion allowed in other countries? Where?
c) Would you justify the abortion in certain situations or would you definitely
reject it?
WHILE READING
Read the following text and do the exercises below.

Major abortion ruling soon by Colombia court suit

urges legalization in extreme cases
Bogota, Colombia -- Sonia Rojas Espinosa cuddles her 5month-old son, Hamilton, in the children's cardiological
hospital. Doctors say the child, whose heart is missing its
left chamber, has about a 30 percent chance of surviving the
three operations he needs and no chance at all of living a
normal life. [We wish he could live, doctor said.]
[If they had made Sonia] a prenatal screen, [they] would
have discovered that the fetus had heart defects. But because abortions are
illegal in Colombia, doctors did not perform the tests that could have given
Developed by Olga Lucia Ruiz Convers

Espinosa the option of deciding whether or not to end her pregnancy. As a

result, Espinosa, a 37-year-old housekeeper, and her husband, a street
vendor, struggle to pay for the medicines and oxygen Hamilton needs.
But Espinosa believes other women should have that choice. "If there's no
hope" for the baby, "then seeing him live for a few years and then die will be
more painful for the family," she said.
Pregnant women in Colombia may have that alternative if the nation's
Constitutional Court rules in favor of a lawsuit demanding that abortion be
legalized under certain circumstances -- when the pregnancy is the result of
rape, when having a baby endangers the mother's life, or when the fetus is
severely deformed. A ruling is expected in the next several days.
Colombia is one of only three Latin American nations, along with Chile and El
Salvador, that prohibit abortions. Nevertheless, the procedure is widely
available in Colombia in clandestine clinics and even from home practitioners.
It often ends badly. Abortion-rights advocates say that abortions are a
leading cause of maternal mortality -- affecting primarily poor women,
because the wealthy can go to expensive clinics or fly to Miami.
"The problem with illegal abortions is not that women go to jail," said Monica
Roa, a 29-year-old lawyer "The problem is that they die, [dont they].
Under current Colombian law, a woman who gets an abortion, and the
abortionist who performs it, can get up to 4 1/2 years in prison, although in
practice most women receive house arrest, according to rights activists.
Diego Palacio Betancourt, the minister of social protection, supports Roa's
suit, saying the outlawing of abortion in the circumstances outlined are
"contrary to the fundamental rights of women, particularly their rights to life,
health and free development of their personalities and physical integrity and
the right not to be submitted to cruel treatment."
Betancourt estimates there are more than 400,000 abortions annually in
Colombia and that 23 percent of women of reproductive age have aborted at
least once. "That's an immense figure," he said. However, many Colombians
support the current ban. "It's not right," said Oliva Bustos, 65, a tailor in
Bogota. "Those who (have abortions) go to hell. They should respect the
child." Rape, she added, "is not the child's fault." Pedro Estupian, 47, a
Bogota shop owner, supported the lawsuit, but warily. "Instead of allowing
abortion, they should intensify the efforts to prevent pregnancies," he said.
Meanwhile, the Colombian Catholic Church has held anti-abortion rallies and
delivered a petition with 2 million signatures to the Constitutional Court
opposing any reforms.
Developed by Olga Lucia Ruiz Convers

Many pharmacies sell pills and shots that are supposed to end pregnancies;
newspaper classifieds advertise injections to cure "delayed menstruation,"
promising painless treatments in five minutes. In poor neighborhoods,
untrained practitioners perform abortions using massages, body wrappings,
herbs and other home remedies.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and other top leaders have been silent on
the controversial issue, though Roa has won support from Lina Maria Moreno
de Uribe, the nation's first lady, as well as much of the media. [In addition],
Pro-familia, the nation's largest family planning and sexual health
organization, is prohibited from participating in the debate because it
receives 3 percent of its funds from USAID, the United States' international
development organization.
[However], despite the Gallup poll and the petition drive by the Catholic
Church, Roa is confident of victory. She cited a 2003 poll that found 73
percent of Catholic Colombians support abortion when the woman's life is in
danger, 61 percent when the fetus is severely deformed and 52 percent
when the pregnancy is the result of rape.
Win or lose, though, she said, her lawsuit has succeeded in shifting the
abortion debate from religion to health and human rights. "There's a double
morality," she said. "Everybody knows women who have had abortions. Deep
inside, they agree with us."
Taken and adapted from: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/12/01/MNGC5G0QQ01.DTL

Learning strategy: Memorize words by grouping them as

synonymous.

WHILE-READING
1. Circle a synonymous for each word on the left.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)

Cuddle (v):
Lawsuit (n):
Advocates (n):
Ban (n):
Warily (adv):
Rallies (n):

touch
demand
oppressors
permission
cautiously
struggles

Developed by Olga Lucia Ruiz Convers

hug
request
opponents
prohibition
carelessly
associations

carry
right
defenders
license
casually
manifestations

Learning Strategy: Use the context to complete a text.

2. Complete the sentences below with words from the text. Then, use
those words to complete the crossword.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)

A ____________ is still a person even before he/she is born.

Abortion is widely practiced in clandestine ____________ in Bogota.

If a ____________ is severely deformed, abortion should be allowed.
I dont believe in ____________ laws: they are usually made by men.
The period from conception to birth.

Learning Strategy: Identify detail or specific information by

scanning.
3. Select the correct alternative to answer the questions.
a) What is false about Hamilton?
His parents did not know about her babys problem.
Hamilton has had three surgeries.
He may never have a normal life.
Developed by Olga Lucia Ruiz Convers

b) What is the Hamiltons mothers opinion about abortion?

Without exceptions abortion is a murder.
It should be severely punished.
It should be legalized under certain circumstances.
c) According to Monica Roa, what is the worst consequence of the illegal
abortion?
The maternal mortality is increasing.
The untrained practitioners are opening more and more clandestine
hospitals.
The women who commit this crime go to prison.
d) Why does Diego Palacio, the minister, agree with Monica Roa?
Because in his opinion she is a very good lawyer.
Because he thinks abortion is womens right.
Because Diego is against Catholic Church.
e) Which methods are commonly
abortions:

used by practitioners to perform

Massages and injections.

Home remedies and body wrapping.
Prenatal screen

Learning Strategy: Consciously apply learned or selfdeveloped rules.

4. Look at these underlined sentences from the text. Match them to the
functions below corresponding to these grammatical structures.
_____ a) We wish he could live.
_____ b) If they had made Sonia a prenatal screen, they would have
discovered that the fetus had heart defects.
_____ c) A ruling is expected in the next several days.
Developed by Olga Lucia Ruiz Convers

_____ d) Instead of allowing abortion, they should intensify the efforts to

prevent pregnancies.
_____ e) The problem is that they die, dont they?
1) In this statement the most important is the action itself, no who does the
action.
2) The speaker is asking someone for an agreement with his/her opinion.
3) This sentence expresses regrets of something that was not done.
4) After prepositions and modal auxiliaries, use gerund forms of the verb
and use infinitive form to express purpose.
5) The statement shows desire of changing an undesirable situation.
5. Look for other examples in the text that show the same functions or
write your own concerning abortion.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)

_________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

Learning Strategy: Discuss your opinions with others and become

aware of theirs.

AFTER READING
1. In groups of 3 discuss the following statements. Do you agree or
disagree? Why?
Abortion should be the womans right to choose. Ultimately, its her body

and so its her decision.

Taken from: Taboos and Issues by Richard MacAndrew & Ron Martinez, Language Teaching Publications,
2001.

The problem with illegal abortions is not that women go to jail. The
problem is that they die.
Taken and adapted from: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/12/01/MNGC5G0QQ01.DTL
Developed by Olga Lucia Ruiz Convers

NOW LETS DEBATE:

2. Discuss the following debatable statement in groups. Then, support
your arguments whether you agree or disagree.

All life is sacred, so abortion is a criminal act no

matter the circumstances.

YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT: Debates require the use of logic and
reason rather than merely a free expression of opinions and force
participants to be prepared so they know what they are talking about
(Kennedy, 2007, p. 185)

You may use these expressions to exchange your opinions in a debate:

State your opinion

Explain your reason

Ask for an opinion

Say you partly agree with

someone
Developed by Olga Lucia Ruiz Convers

I think / believe / feel that .

I consider
In my opinion
From my point of view
As far as I am concerned
The way I see it
What I mean is
I think so because
I mean
Whats your opinion about ?
What do you think / believe about ?
Whats you point view concerning ?
That may be a good idea but
You may be right but
Thats true but

Say you completely agree

with someone

Say you completely disagree

with someone

Interrupt someone politely

Present an alternative

Youve got a point there, however

Although I see your point
Im not sure about that.
Thats exactly what I think.
Thats how I feel too.
Im of the same view because
Yes, I think so too because
I dont think so because
I dont agree because
I dont think so, given that
I totally disagree because you
You havent thought about
Sorry to interrupt you but I must say that

Excuse me for the interruption, but

Why dont we ?
Shall we try this?
We could do this.
Wouldnt it better to do this?

Taken from: all the previous sources mentioned in the last 5 workshops.
All images taken from https://www.google.com.co/search?gs_rn=24&gs_ri=psyab&cp=12&gs_id=c2&xhr=t&q=newspaper+headlines&bav=on.

Developed by Olga Lucia Ruiz Convers