Teenage Abortion Research Paper

For some people getting pregnant can be the happiest time of their life, a wanted baby, the family you always wanted, but for some people finding out you're pregnant can be unwanted and down right scary. As adults, for most of us, after the shock wears off, we start planning and come to terms that we are going to have a baby. Teenagers on the other hand are very different. They have different priorities and they don't have the emotional stability to make educated life decisions and this has become a problem since teenagers are engaging in sexual activity younger and younger.

According to choicepregnancy.org, 7 out of 10 teenages have had sex by the age of 19 years. Approximately 1 million teenagers in America become pregnant each year.
Of those, 78% are unintended and 35% choose to have an abortion rather than to have a baby. So why are so many of these teenagers deciding to have abortions rather than to have the baby? Teenagers get abortions for so many reasons. They care about how the baby will affect their lives and feel that they don't want the responsibility. Lack of money, family support, or a partner also plays a role. Some feel ashamed and don't want their friends and family to find out. It turns out that whether or not a teenager opts for an abortion oftens depends on a parent’s knowledge or participation in the decision-making process. If you go back to when you were a teenager and think of what you would do if you got pregnant in high school, what would you do? For most teenagers having a baby impacts their live in a negative way not a positive. Past generations regarded teen pregnancy as something to be very ashamed of. Prior to legalizing abortion, teens who were too afraid to tell their parents they were pregnant started to grow desperate towards the end of the pregnancies when they could no longer hide the fact that they were pregnant. They attempted “self-induced abortions”. They used anything from herbs or toxic substances to sharp or blunt objects. Some girls even opted for the “back alley” abortionists and many girls died as a result as a result of these unsafe abortion methods. I spoke with a young lady at Planned Parenthood that had worked there for 10 years and she told me that she had seen everything. She said the one she remember the most was a 15 year old girl that came into the clinic. She looked to be around 7 months pregnant and was severely beaten. She said she immediately called 911 and had her transferred to the local hospital where she was in and out of consciousness. She had to go in for immediate surgery to save her baby. When she awoke the police asked, “ who did this?” The girl wouldn't respond, the nurse then told the teen that they were able to save her baby. She said that the girl burst into tears and then preceded to tell the nurse that she asked her friends to beat her up to try and induce a miscarriage. The girl at Planned parent said that this is just one of many stories that she has seen and that is why she is trying to raise funding to go schools and educate teens before they become sexually active. If they received the adequate funding she believes they could have a huge impact on the lives of teenagers that become sexually active and those that become pregnant. I think that these institutions do play a huge part in education for teenagers and since the year 2000 abortions have declined but we need to do more and need to be more aggressive. So of all the teenagers that are deciding to have abortions who is more at risk?
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), african american women account for 35% of all teenage abortions and white women account for 37%. So what do they have in common? The CDC believes that poverty, lack of education, and religion plays a huge role in teen abortion. Recent studies have shown that teenage girls that come from a strict religious background feel shame and guilt if they have sex or get pregnant out of wedlock and they don't want to be a disappointment to their families, whereas teenagers that come from poverty who get pregnant have abortions because of the financial burden it puts on them and their families. One of the biggest factors is education. Most teenagers don't have the education to know their options or to understand the consequences of their decisions. That is why places like Planned Parenthood and ProLifeArossAmerica.org try to give pregnant teens other options beside abortions. It is estimated that 1 to 2 million couples are trying to adopt. So why aren't these teens choosing adoption over abortion? These websites and institutions are trying to educate teenagers on safe sex and to help them realize that abortion is not the only
option. Yale Law came out with an Scolar article entitled, “The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Teen Childbearing”. It claims that since legalizing abortion in some states, most teens that become pregnant don't even way the options of having the baby or giving it up for adoption. Since abortion has become legal and easy is seems to be a good choice with no social or physical ramifications. They state, “Education is key! We need to educate these teenagers about their options and let them know their consequences of abortion, it's not an easy choice like they believe.” I believe that we have very little resources when it comes to education and sex. I think it is amazing what planned parenthood is doing but in my opinion it is not enough. We need to educate teens before they have unprotected sex and get pregnant. And if they happen to get pregnant we need to make sure that they have places that they feel comfortable enough to go and get help. Whether it is just to have someone to talk, giving them resources and education on raising a child, or to have a place to go to have the baby before putting it up for adoption. There are many things that can be done to help teenagers get through the hardest time of their lives and if they decide that abortion is their best option make sure that they understand what that entails before rushing into just because they think it's an easier option.