Making unexpected decisions about health issues is often difficult; making decisions around an unplanned pregnancy is no different. For many women, an unplanned pregnancy can be one of the first times that they have had to deal with a decision about their health and the course of their life. If you experience and unplanned pregnancy you have three options: Continuing the pregnancy and raising the child, continuing the pregnancy and placing the child up for adoption or terminating the pregnancy by abortion. The influence of social norms, family, and friends play a large role, in whether women decide on having an abortion. The qualitative perspectives on abortion decision making among teenage women in Sweden states that “Without the partner’s support and agreement on how to cope with the eventual parenthood, women viewed abortion as the only reasonable solution.” (Ekstrand, M.,Tyden, T., Darj, E., & Larsson, M. (2009)) . In North America, social norms regarding unplanned pregnancies allow for women to talk with friends, family, and doctors before making their decision. That being said many women feel alone, uncomfortable or scared in discussing their situation. With men and women continually having sex at younger ages, many women are making rash or irrational decisions about their unplanned pregnancy. The case study An illusion of Power: Qualitative Perspectives on Abortion Decision Making Among Teenage Women in Sweden demonstrates how social norms, family and partners play a role in the decision process. A total of 25 women aged 16-20 were interviewed 3-4 weeks postabortion. Almost all the women stated that they were in charge of contraceptive use and not their male partner. This is a startling fact because it places a great d... ... middle of paper ... ...ed with an unplanned pregnancy may feel these pressures are too hard to handle by having a child at such an early age. Making decisions that are not fully thought through can lead to depression, drug use, and suicide. Works Cited Ekstrand, M.,Tyden, T., Darj, E., & Larsson, M. (2009). An Illusion of Power: Qualitative Perspectives On Abortion Decision-Making Among Teenage Women In Sweden. Perspectives on on Sexual & Reproductive Health, 41(3), 173. Retrieved from MasterFILE Premier Database. Franz, W. (1990). Women Report Lack of Informed Consent. Retrieved March. 9th 2009, From lifeissues.net Website http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/air/air_vol3no1_1990.html “Abortions Deleterious Effects on Women: Mental Health, Quality of life, and mortality Rates.” National Right to Life News. January 26th 2006: 17. Academic One File. Web. Retrieved March 9th 2010.
Abortion, like any other medical procedure, carries some risks. When one considers, however, that “the risk of death associated with childbirth is about 10 times as high as that associated with abortion” (“Know the Facts”), the threat of abortion suddenly does not seem as perilous. Additionally, contrary to popular misconception, abortion does not contribute to future infertility or development of breast cancer. It is therefore safer and more prudent to have an abortion than an unwanted pregnancy.
Teenagers who become mothers have harsh prospects for the future. Teenagers obtaining abortions are 20% and girls under 15 accounts for 1.2%. They are much more likely to leave of school; receive insufficient prenatal care; rely on public assistance to raise a child; develop health problems; or en...
Abortion is not just a quick easy way of avoiding pregnancy. There are many key factors in following through with an abortion. There are serious long term effects that may occur after an abortion. For instance, sterility is a serious risk; this may result in scaring caused from infections during the abortion. Women who endure pregnancies have a 17.5% chance of having a miscarriage latter in their lives. Emotional distress is one of the greatest effects from abortions. Women may suffer from this for their entire lives. ...
Being a mother is a lifelong job that requires copious time, energy, and money. There are myriad different reasons in which a woman would consider getting an abortion. The decision is often tragic and painful for the mother. It is one of the biggest choices a woman will make. Many people have strong beliefs about abortion, and if a mother makes a decision that they do not agree with they sometimes turn against the mother, and enkindle egregious feelings about their decision for the rest of their life. Indeed a woman may not get an abortion for selfish reasons or out of convenience, but out of a desire to protect certain important values such as her own health or a decent standard of living for the other members of the family. Additional intentions for having abortion include rape, financial difficulties, obligation by family members, or danger to the baby’s health (Roleff
Abortion, defined as the intentional termination of a pregnancy, is one of the most highly debated liberties of all time. Approximately one to three million abortions are performed each year. Women receive abortions for reasons such as rape, teen pregnancy, and health concerns. Unfortunately, it is a liberty that some still wish to eradicate due to religious beliefs and misconceptions. Abortion should remain a legal option for women because illegal abortions result in far more fatalities, religion does not serve as grounds for a law, and most importantly, there is no conclusive evidence that a fetus is equal to a human being.
Every day, an overwhelming amount of human beings’ lives are terminated. The culprit: unwanted pregnancies. Many woman are (not by choice), becoming pregnant as a result of unsafe sex, rape, and other things. So what is one to do when they discover that they’re pregnant? They have some alternatives: (1) have the child and raise it (2) have the child, then give it up for adoption (3) get an abortion. Sadly, many women choose alternative three, unaware of what they’re getting themselves into.
Women’s reproductive rights and health has become socially constructed because government policies and social conditions influence these issues. One area of women’s reproductive rights and health that has become influenced by government policies is abortion. Abortion is a very controversial topic in today’s world. There are a lot of misconceptions and hidden facts about what actually happens. Studies say that “restricting legal abortion does not reduce abortion incidence and legalizing abortion does not increase it; rates are lowest in countries where it is legal and contraceptives and reproductive health information are widely available” (Burn, 53). In developed countries 92% of abortions are safe and in developing countries 55% are unsafe
In the U.S. about 1.6 million pregnancies end in abortion. A majority of women in America with an income below 11,000 are 3 times more likely to abort their unborn child rather than those whose income is above 25,000. Also, women who are divorced or unmarried are 4 to 5 times more likely to abort than a stable married woman.(1)
With so many women choosing to have abortions, it would be expected that it would not be so greatly frowned up, yet society is still having problems with its acceptance. Every woman has the fundamental right to decide for herself, free from government interference, whether or not to have an abortion. Today, more than ever, American families do not want the government to trample on their right to privacy by mandating how they must decide on the most intimate, personal matters. That is why, even though Americans may differ on what circumstances for terminating a crisis pregnancy are consistent with their own personal moral views, on the fundamental question of who should make this personal decision, the majority of Americans agree that each woman must have the right to make this private choice for herself. Anti-choice proposals to ban abortions for “sex-selection” or “birth-control” are smokescreens designed to shift the focus of the debate away from this issue and trivialize the seriousness with which millions of women make this highly personal decision. Any government restriction on the reasons for which women may obtain legal abortions violates the core of this right and could force all women to publicly justify their reasons for seeking abortion.
Lawlor, Jessica. (2002). Long Term Physiological and Psychological Effects of Abortion on Women. Retrieved March 21, 2001 from http://www.cirtl.org/syndrome.htm
(2003). The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary'. Abortion Facts: Teenage Women, Abortion, and the Law. Retrieved from https://www.prochoice.org/about_abortion/facts/teenage_women.html Sherwin, S. (2014). Abortion Through a Feminist Ethics Lens.
...If a pregnancy is unwanted, and the woman has to continue and have the child anyways, it could cause serious physical and mental problems to her personal well-being, but getting an abortion does not get rid of any physical or mental problems destined to come, and if she did not want to get pregnant that bad, then she should have been chaste.
Griffen-Carson, and Mackin (1993) stated that among minors who elected to have abortions, many share their decision with their parents, whereas others do not often fearing parental disapproval or abuse (Lindsey, Sigillo, Miller, 2013). This socioeconomic factor of discourse about abortion between daughter and parents is prominent to the outcome of the abortion rate in our country today. “Laws that require parental notification or consent can be thought of as structural constraints put in place to influence social norms about abortion decisions (Adamczyk, 2009) (Lindsey, Sigillo, Miller,
In addition, one analysis, in relation to abortion problems, states, “from 1988 to 1997 found the risk of death increased by 38% for each additional week of gestation, during the pregnancy.” (Jones). “Such studies rely on information from many countries and include legally mandated registers hospital administrative data,” so current research affirms that an induced abortion increase the risk of different physical consequences, such as breast cancer, placenta previa, and maternal suicide. (Bachiochi). Late term abortion not only affects the mother’s condition physically, but also psychologically. Although not all women respond in the same way, some of them develop diverse mental disorders leading to suicide after they received an abortion. Studies in Canadian newspapers show “a suicide rate of 34.9 per 1000” from women who experimented an abortion, in contrast to “a suicide rate of 5.9 per 1000” from women who gave birth to their babies. The same newspapers report “a rate of 5.2 per thousand hospitalizations for psychiatric
Abortion is an extremely controversial issue and one that is continually on the forefront of debates. Those who oppose the idea (Pro-lifers), thinks it is an act of woman playing “God” who live from who dies. Yet, whether an unborn baby constitutes a normal person is questionable; a pregnant woman, on the other hand, has the undeniable right to choose whether she wants to have a child or not. Therefore, the decision to have an abortion is the personal choice and responsibility of the woman, because prohibiting abortion impedes freedom of choice and endangers the physical and mental health of women.