Abortion is a procedure many teenagers turn to due to the fact it’s the most efficient and safest way to get rid of a pregnancy for the mother, yet many are turned away. According to George C. Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, “...Each year, an estimated 22 million women and girls have an unsafe abortion, almost all in the developing world. As a result, 47,000 lose their lives and millions more suffer serious injury” (Benjamin). Many doctors refuse to perform this procedure to women under the age of 18 even though a female is eligible to become pregnant any time after they begin menstruation at around 12 years of age. The problem with unsafe abortions is not simply the unsanitary conditions or the under qualified physicians performing the procedure, but the additional, dismissed long-term health effects from this procedure if done incorrectly. Lisa B Haddad, expert in Gynecology and Reproductive Biology confirms, “Of the women who survive unsafe abortion, 5 million will suffer long-term health complications...Unsafe abortion is thus a pressing issue” (Haddad). Life-altering consequences following illegal abortions is a worldwide obstacle due to the fact numbers show there is more damage done to females under the age of 18 who follow through with illegal alternatives compared to those teenagers who are granted the right to safe, qualified physician controlled abortions. Overall, the act of obtaining an unauthorized abortion should not be something women have to risk their lives for when there are safer alternatives dangling in front of their faces, just out of
Abortion is a procedure many teenagers turn to due to the fact it’s the most efficient and safest way to get rid of a pregnancy for the mother, yet many are turned away. According to George C. Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, “...Each year, an estimated 22 million women and girls have an unsafe abortion, almost all in the developing world. As a result, 47,000 lose their lives and millions more suffer serious injury” (Benjamin). Many doctors refuse to perform this procedure to women under the age of 18 even though a female is eligible to become pregnant any time after they begin menstruation at around 12 years of age. The problem with unsafe abortions is not simply the unsanitary conditions or the under qualified physicians performing the procedure, but the additional, dismissed long-term health effects from this procedure if done incorrectly. Lisa B Haddad, expert in Gynecology and Reproductive Biology confirms, “Of the women who survive unsafe abortion, 5 million will suffer long-term health complications...Unsafe abortion is thus a pressing issue” (Haddad). Life-altering consequences following illegal abortions is a worldwide obstacle due to the fact numbers show there is more damage done to females under the age of 18 who follow through with illegal alternatives compared to those teenagers who are granted the right to safe, qualified physician controlled abortions. Overall, the act of obtaining an unauthorized abortion should not be something women have to risk their lives for when there are safer alternatives dangling in front of their faces, just out of