“Among American adolescent girls who have ever had intercourse, approximately one in six becomes pregnant” (Ventura et al., 2008). Teen pregnancy is an ongoing dilemma that concerns the baby, parents, and other family members. Anyone under the age of eighteen years old is considered to be a child and every year approximately 750,000 women aged fifteen to eighteen become pregnant (Guttmacher Institute, 2006). Also, teen pregnancy represents eleven percent of all births in the United States (Guttmacher Institute, 2006). The underlying cause of teen pregnancy is mainly the lack of education on sexual and reproductive health and not enough being taught about how to use contraceptives. To help educate this knowledge it is dependent on not only the government but also the parents; they set the example starting first at home, teachers, and other leaders. In this essay I will be focusing on the causes and consequences of teen pregnancy, and how to help prevent it.
Back in the day teenage pregnancy was always seen as unacceptable. When a teen became pregnant they were often rejected or looked down upon by their parents, friends, and others in the community. Some pregnant teens were even sent to schools specifically for expecting mothers. It seems severe to send off a child that is expecting a child but the media today is taking it to even more of an extreme. Currently, some teens are being treated like celebrities by the media when they become pregnant, for example the MTV shows called “Teen Mom” and “16 and pregnant”, possibly portraying that it is okay to do, or maybe that they’ll get famous on television for it. These pregnant teens are shown to face many hardships in their everyday lives, but on the other hand it is reality televis...
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...uld also teach them how to practice safe sex and educate them in contraceptives and how to use them. Also, schools should always have a health ed or sex ed class to teach teens as well how to prevent not only teen pregnancy but sexually transmitted diseases as well. Contraceptives should be readily available for every young woman and man as well so that there are no excuses. There are beginning to be countless organizations as well to help in the prevention of teen pregnancy. For example, in the Bay Area, the Hewlett Foundation is a new organization reaching out to teens in unprivileged areas that are more susceptible to becoming pregnant. The three main strategies they use are, “expand or improve teen pregnancy prevention services, focus on teen pregnancy hot spots and key populations, and provide grants that enable grantees to become more financially sustainable.
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.
How would you feel if someone took away your ability to live? How would you feel if you were never given the chance to come into the world and contribute to the human race? These are some of the questions an individual needs to ask when considering having abortion. Abortion, in my opinion, is immoral and unjust simply because it is murder. A brutal murder of a being who has not even seen the world and a huge injustice to a helpless fetus who might have been the next Einstein, President, or the person who would find a cure to cancer. Morality says that every person has the right not to be unjustly killed. Hence, this right also apply to any unborn child. The thought of an individual killing his/her own unborn child is always lurking in the back of my mind because it’s hard to assert the harm being caused by the unborn child to the mother or to the society in general. If we say abortion is morally right, then we are against procreation and procreation is one of the major contributions of a human being to his or her society and the world at large. The act of procreation is one of the most beautiful things in the world. To make a human being, being able to watch that kid grow into an adult and actually be responsible to the society, should be a very fulfilling experience for any mother. I hereby oppose the principle of paternalism because I don’t believe it is moral to take away or destroy the life of an unborn child to save the life of the mother because there is no harm caused by the unborn child but I support the harm principle because abortion in general, causes harm to the unborn child, his future, the mother and the society. Therefore, I subscribe to Don Marquis view on Abortion in his article “Why abortion is immoral”.
How would you feel if someone took away your ability to live, or not being able to have a say in whether or not you want to have a life? As a small innocent baby, in the mother’s womb, you have no choice. Thousands of babies have their life and future demolished due to abortion. Generally, abortion is such a sensitive topic, most people try not to think or even speak about it. However, abortion has been a common practice around the world at every point of history, and every society regardless of its legality. Even today, abortion is a huge controversial issue concerning woman and whether or not it should be legal. Many feel that aborting an unwanted child or more so killing an unwanted child is unlawful. Controversially, others believe a mother should have the choice to “protect” her body.
As everyone knows, teen pregnancy rate is increasing more and more each day and someone needs to do something to try and either stop it or decrease it dramatically. Teen pregnancy is causing dramatic population increase and that’s just common sense. Teens getting pregnant at such a young age is also causing poverty levels to go up more and more. Mississippi Spent over $100 million on teen pregnancy alone in the year 2010 (“Teen Pregnancy”). Just think of what it is now. More teens are dropping out of school and not finishing their education. According to the authors of this article, “approximately 30 percent of teen mothers have mothers who dropped out of high school, 40 percent have mothers who are mothers who dropped out of high school, 40 percent have mothers who are high school graduates, and 30 percent have mothers who attended college”(Kearny et al 143). Many people don’t realize that there are many effects of teen pregnancy including higher risk of birth defect, more likely to drop out, and also abortion rates increase.
America has one of the largest pregnancy rates in teens in the whole world (“Sexuality, Contraception, and the Media”). Pregnant teens have to make many hard choices. They must decided to keep the baby or not., and to continue on with school. or not. Teens moms can lose everything they’ve worked for after one bad decision. Sex is in teens lives because of media influence.
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
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.
Teen pregnancy continues to be an issue. Although teen pregnancy has been cut nearly in half in the last 25 years, it still continues to be a huge economic and public policy issue. “U.S. teen birth rates remain disproportionately high compared with other developed countries” (“Study Examines”), as many studies observed. But it’s clear that public awareness of the issue, its causes and its effects, along with outreach programs to instruct teens on the risks and dangers of teen pregnancy and unsafe sex can have dramatic effects on the issue and lead to massive reductions in the problem. Continuing on this path and increasing public knowledge on these issues is a surefire way to continue to decrease the number of girls who become pregnant before they become adults, and continue to secure greater economic access to women in the future.
Women for centuries have conformed themselves to the viewpoints and stereotypical outlooks society has on them. Their subservient nature to the male species has been detrimental to both their health as well as their independent rights. An ongoing issue women have been facing is the right to a safe and legal abortion. There is an underlining issue when a woman cannot choose what is best for herself as a human being when faced with such a difficult decision to undergo such a traumatic procedure. The pro-choice movement pushes for the legal rights of women to decide their fate, to prevent any further risks of undergoing illegal abortions, and their reproductive freedom.
Teen pregnancy has become an epidemic in the United States alone. Today, more than half of all teenagers report having had sexual intercourse at least once before leaving high school (Glazer, 1993). Each year, almost 750,000 U.S. women, aged 15–19 become pregnant (Guttmacher Institute, 2011).
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.
Sex before marriage has always been a major issue. Teen pregnancy seems to double yearly: with no sign of stopping. Some teens use contraceptives and birth control incorrectly. They think pregnancy just can’t happen to them. In a lot of cases their embarrassed to buy protection or just simply unsure of how to use them. Many unplanned pregnancies happen beca...
One wrong step and some 15 years girl get pregnant. One wrong step and the society will mark you as the anathema. Still the teenage pregnancy is prominent aspect of many different countries in this world Teenage pregnancy means that some female is under age of 20 years when her pregnancy period is just ending. It is a serious issue which cannot be ignored both in developed as well as undeveloped countries. It creates great difficulties for teenage women. More than 50% of women cannot imagine problems which would affect their own lives. The baby born to the teenage mother has risk of the low birth weight risk of the pre-maturity and the risk of anemia along with other health issues to mother and child, mother suffers because of her body is not developed for supporting another life. In most of cases baby develops weakness and laziness that prevails throughout their lives.
Teen pregnancy is the term used in reference to those young ladies who get pregnant before attainment of legal adulthood that is between 13-18 years age group. It is a circumstance under which a teenager becomes pregnant unintentionally affecting her life-span development. Teen pregnancy is a prevalent factor among many teenage women especially in their 16th to 19th birthday. Pregnant teenagers are today faced with many obstetrics problems similar to those of the women in their age gap of 20s and 30s. Additional medical concerns are experienced by pregnant teenagers in the developing countries especially women aged 14 or younger. A wide range of teenage pregnancy is unplanned and therefore more risk factors are experienced especially the socioeconomic risks. In the developing countries, teen pregnancies lead to social issues and life complications due to early motherhood. The associated social issues include lower educational levels, increasingly poverty level and other poor life outcomes. In the developed countries, teenage pregnancy occurs outside of marriage, thus leads to the development of social stigma in variety of cultures and communities (Carlson, 2009).
As time goes on, teen pregnancy is becoming more and more common throughout the world. So many people frown upon this whole idea. Such people act as if the teenage parents’ world is going to come to an end. Although these kids’ life is going to be making a big turn, there are many of them who are mature enough to take on the responsibilities of a baby.