There are usually three options a pregnant teen considers: keeping and parenting the baby, adoption, or abortion. Even though they are teens, holding the baby will be the most comfortable option. One may have struggled with money or school, but in the end, it will be worth it mentally. If keeping the baby is not an option, adoption should be the next choice. The negative side of adoption is the uncertainty of the child's whereabouts and well-being. Once the baby is given up for adoption, the teen mother may feel guilt, identity issues, and other concerns. Kathryn Patricelli, a social worker, who has a Masters and Bachelors degree in counseling and Psychology, says that once a child finds out he or she is adopted, this may bring up some concerns …show more content…
Americans can take the simple steps that will lower the statistic rates. Over the last seven years, teen pregnancy has reduced, yet it is still the highest rate among other countries. Ten percent of girls from 15 to 19 years old are twice as eminent as in the United States than in the United Kingdom, four times higher than France and Germany, and ten times lofty than the Netherlands and Japan ("Politics and Teen Pregnancy"). These statistics show how much America struggles with the problem of teen pregnancy. “Teen pregnancy is less about young women and their sex lives than it is about restricted horizons and the boundaries of hope” (Luker 1). The Bible says setting boundaries helps the temptations. When teen pregnancy first became an issue, many did not know to set boundaries to help prevention. Teaching teens these days to only use condoms will not always help. “If we as a nation are to break the cycle of poverty, crime and the growing underclass of young people ill-equipped to be productive citizens, we need to not only implement effective programs to prevent teen pregnancy, but we must also help those who have already given birth so that they become effective, nurturing, bonding parents” (Fonda
Abortion has been one of the biggest controversies of all time. According to the Oxford dictionary, the term abortion can be defined as, the deliberate termination of human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy. There are two different types of abortion; a spontaneous abortion, which is also known as a miscarriage, and an induced abortion, where the embryo or fetus is purposely removed from the women’s body. The topic of induced abortion has been widely debated for hundreds of years. The issue of abortion was argued way back in the time of the ancient Hebrews. Today many people consider abortion to be murder, but shouldn’t the soon-to-be mother 's right to make such a personal and heartbreaking choice be
Based on these statistics, teen pregnancy is obviously a large issue in this county. A possible solution to the issue would be that sex education could to be taught in junior and senior high schools and be taught by parents more often. By the time of sex education, a vast majority of students have already had sex. This may have played a part in Tony, from The Other Wes Moore, being a father at such a young age. The ultimately best solution to help stop teen pregnancy in this county alone is to provide a “sex clinic” to these teenagers. A safe sex clinic is a way of providing teenagers the facts of the real world and even offering various forms of birth control. As other solutions, parents need to have a sex talk with their children, and schools need to provide the option for a sex education more frequently. However, there is no way to mandate what parents teach to students, and it takes far too long to change a state's curriculum. That’s why, through this solution, the rate of teen births would show to decrease for the better.
As a teen you are never ready to see that plus sign. Each teen has to decide whether they're ready or not to deal with everything that comes with having a baby. For many teens adoption can be a good option. Teens choose adoption due to no family support, not financially stable and not being ready to care for a child because they're so young.
The birth rate among teens in the United States has declined 9% from 2009 to 2010, a historic low among all racial and ethnic groups, with the least being born in 2010; and in 2011 the number of babies born to adolescents aged 15-19 years of age was 329,797 (“Birth Rates for U.S.”, 2012). Although the decline in unwanted and unplanned teen births is on the rise the United States continues to be among the highest of industrialized countries facing this problem. This is a prevailing social concern because of the health risks to these young mothers as well as their babies. Teens at higher risk of becoming pregnant are raised at or below the poverty level by single parents; live in environments that cause high levels of stress (i.e., divorce, sexual psychological and physical abuse); are influenced by peers or family members that are sexually active; and lack parental guidance that would direct them to be responsible and self-controlled.
The overall teen birth rate has declined by 16 percent from 1991 to 1997. “All states are recording a decline and it is the sixth year in a row that the teen birth rate has declined,” stated Donna Shalala, HHS secretary of U. S. Newswire. Although the birthrate among teens is decreasing and the percentage of teenagers who have had sexual intercourse is declining, it is a multi-fauceted problem affecting today’s youth. The government is taking in to consideration all possibilities and conditions with teen births to make an affective way to prevent it.
"It's the hardest choice you'll make, but I know I made the right one when I placed my child in adoptive care" (Orr). There are a few options for pregnant teenagers regarding parenting. These include adoption and abortion. The majority of teens have not attained basic knowledge of adoption and the benefits it encompasses for the child and the mother. There is an abundance of useful information teens should be aware of before deciding parenting, abortion, and adoption. More teenagers who are expecting a child should choose adoption because it provides a more suitable lifestyle for the child, it's a positive alternative for couples unable to give birth to their own child, and it's beneficial for the mother and her future.
abortion’, whether or not she is articulate about it, let alone whether she has a great
Today, abortion has become one of the greatest controversies throughout the world. The debate on whether or not abortion should become a legal option continues to dismember not only Americans, but citizens of other countries. There are people who believe abortion is a women’s civil right, and those who consider it as an immoral act. There are those who believe personhood begins at birth, and those who believe personhood begins from the moment of conception. Many contradictory statements lead to the separation of two groups: pro-choice and pro-life. While a pro-choice supports a women’s “right to privacy”, pro-life supporters are against such an action considering it murder, but why force a female to go through such a dramatic change because of a pregnancy?
In this state, country, and all over the world, there are a number of controversial topics, and there are always going to be. These topics range from debating on whether to legalize certain drugs, gun control, the death penalty, and the list goes on. One very popular topic that involves potential life and death, and constantly gets debated about is abortion. The topic of whether or not abortion should be legal has been around for years, and it isn’t going away any time soon.
Abortion has been a controversial topic in the U.S ever since it became legal in 1973 after the Roe v. Wade case. Abortion is defined as the, “the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy.” Pro-life supporters believe that abortion is unethical and argue that it is the mother’s responsibility to own up to her actions. They also argue that there is always the option of adoption, and that abortion could be very dangerous. I am pro-life and believe that the government doesn’t have the right to decide what a woman can or can’t do with her body.
In America, one million teenagers get pregnant every year (National Abortion Federation, 2003). Of these pregnancies, 78% are unplanned because these teenagers start having sex at a very young age and are unaware of ways to prevent pregnancies. Thirty-five percent of the pregnant teenagers chose to abort, as they fear that the consequences of the pregnancy might have significant effects on their lives. The problems that come with teenage pregnancies include dropping out of school, receiving inadequate prenatal care, developing health problems, relying on public assistance to raise a child, and probably divorcing their partners. In most states, the law allows pregnant teenagers to take their babies for adoption without consulting their parents.
Women should have the right to decide whether or not they would like to have an abortion. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines abortion as; “the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus.” The idea of a woman’s right to have an abortion being taken away is merely incomprehensible.
Another leading cause of teen pregnancy is uneducated youths. The debate over abstinence versus contraceptives has been battled over for the past few years. This debate is making teens become uneducated on the prevention of teen pregnancy. The sex-education policy has changed due to new presidents being in office. According to Clemmitt, “in 2009, the Obama administration ended the Bush administration policy to federally fund only sex-education programs with abstinence as the primary focus” (1). The main goal of this program is to prevent teen pregnancy with the use of abstinence. Clemmitt states, “Abstinence education began receiving federal funding as far back as 1982, in the Adolescent Family Life Act, signed into law by President Ronald Reagan, which promoted abstinence and disciplined decision-making among pregnant teen and teen parents” (11). The
Babies are born more likely to be born premature and/or suffer low birth weight. There are a lot of problems involved with children having children. There is a higher risk of low birth rate, premature labor, and stillbirth. The problem is teenage girls are not done growing and fully maturing, there for, when they become pregnant it induces problems not only on the baby but the mother as well. *A general rule: The younger the mother, the greater risk of complications for both the mother and child. Often pregnant teenage mothers deny the fact that they are indeed pregnant, therefor ignoring the proper care that she needs for the growing baby inside of her. There are no easy answers; that’s one thing that everyone agrees on when it comes to the problem of teen pregnancy. The Center of Disease Control and prevention affirmed on June 26 what other agencies, such as the National Center for Health Statistics, have been saying over the course of this year: “The teen pregnancy rate is dropping. The number of teenage girls across the country who became pregnant fell 12 percent between 1991 and 1996. This drops affects girls, of different races and socioeconomic backgrounds, in all states. But the problem remains; The U.S. teen pregnancy rate is the highest of any industrialized countries. Babies born in the U.S. to teenager mothers are at risk for long-term problems in many major areas of life, including school failure, poverty, and physical or mental illness. The teenage mothers themselves are also at risk for these problems.
Thesis Statement: Within America, there is a teen pregnancy epidemic across all socioeconomic backgrounds, presenting commonalities as to the causes and ramifications of adolescents emerging as a growing parental population.