America has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the world. However, with teens not being well educated, do they really know all of their options when it comes to their baby? Almost 50 percent of teen moms are having abortions. Due to their age, most require a parent’s consent. In the article found at
http://pregnancy.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Stories_on_Teenage_Pregnancy
Pregnancy it tells many stories of those who have had abortions and how they feel about it after they have done the procedure. With 50 percent of babies being aborted, that could be a lot of babies that could go to homes that have been wanting a baby for a long time and not able to have one. Families could have adopted these babies. Coming from a religious background, I believe there are better options than abortion, but are teen moms aware they could choose adoption too if not wanting to parent? Also, are they choosing abortion because they don’t want to be labeled as a "teen mom" or others knowing they were pregnant? Learning about the fathers this week, how much do the men have a say in the mother’s decision?
-Shelby Monroe
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ReplyDeleteAbortion is a very sensitive subject and everyone has their own personal feelings towards it. Putting those feelings aside... When a teen chooses to have an abortion there are millions of reason why she makes the choice. Because she's too young, scared to tell her family or friends or be around face the public. It could also be for health reason or religious reasons. I feel like Teens going into the procedure don't exactly understand whats going to happen or what to expect. Teens act our of rash and quick judgement. I do not think many teen fathers have a say and if they do i feel like they usually tell the girls they will support her choice because they really have no say. Abortion is brutal. Its painful and invasive and extremely hard on anyone who chooses to go through with it.
ReplyDelete- Brittany White
From my perspective most of the teens who go through abortion process "know" their option of having a baby and putting it for adoption. However, in this society we always characterize giving up your baby to somebody as a painful process and even "having a baby is tough." If you watch 16 and pregnant or movies like Knocked up, it shows you how mother of a child has to put up with alot of stuff. I think in that state of mind they just think about what other people are going to say and how it will affect their future. Stereotypically speaking, teen dads are never in the picture. But I know there are some men who stand up and play an active role in the baby's future. Also, this leaves us with questions like what other factors could contribute to their decision of having abortion ? How does culture, media and religious believes effect on their decision and to what extent?
ReplyDelete- Disha Jetani
Teenage abortion is especially interesting to consider. Often it as seen as the only option, as the mother is too terrified to even allude to her parents that she is sexually active, let alone pregnant. This reluctance likely stems from sex's being an "off-limits" topic in most homes. However, it is often assumed that after a certain age men are sexually active. They are considered more masculine for doing so, and having as many partners as possible, while a young girl with many partners is seen as immoral at best. This is the double standard at work. I agree with you in that a would-be mother, especially a teenage one, often doesn't know of the options available to her. Inadequate sex education in schools often leaves her thinking that having and raising the child and abortion are the only options, all but forgetting about giving it up for adoption.
ReplyDeleteMost teenagers being hopelessly self-centered, it's easy to consider how having the baby will affect them personally, but the child itself is often not considered. However much Teen Mom and 16 and Pregant would like us to believe otherwise, abortion is usually the most common path taken by pregnant teenagers. As far as American culture is concerned, I can think of few examples of media's encouraging teens to get an abortion. Instead I think that since the teen is seen to be straying from the "life path" so much already, having the child would set them off completely. They could not go to school, get the scholarship, and etc., so choose abortion to try and "set themselves right."
-- Greg W.