Teenage Abortion

Teenage Women, Abortion and Law

Abortion has always been a very controversial issue. This can be due to the fact that people have different beliefs that are emphasized by their own religion and set of moral values. Many people believe that abortion is wrong, but they believe that is it only wrong under certain circumstances. This could be true, but is it more right to kill for a specific reason than to just do it because you made an irresponsible decision? Because of the wide spectrum of religion and various moral beliefs, there will never be a right or wrong answer to abortion.

Fact: Each year, one million American teenagers become pregnant, and 85% of these pregnancies are unintended.

Four in every five Americans begin having intercourse before age 20. Many of the youngest women in this group (60% of those age 15 or under) report having had sex forced on them. By the time they turn 20, about 40% of American women have been pregnant at least once. Many of these young women have little understanding of their bodies and have begun having sexual intercourse before knowing about ways to prevent pregnancy.

Because teens in other developed countries receive more education about sexuality and have more access to contraception and family planning services, they have much lower rates of pregnancy and abortion. For example, in the Netherlands, where teenage sexual activity is about the same as in the U.S., pregnancy rates are only one-ninth those of the United States.

Fact: Of teenage women who become pregnant, about 35% choose to have an abortion rather than bear a child.

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Teenagers with unplanned pregnancies face difficult choices. If a teen gives birth and keeps the baby, she will be much more likely than other young women to:

„X drop out of school;

„X receive inadequate prenatal care;

„X rely on public assistance to raise her child;

„X develop health problems;

„X have her marriage end in divorce.

Children born to teenage mothers are more likely than children of older mothers to suffer significant disadvantages: medical, psychological, economic, and educational.

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Many states have enacted, or are considering, laws that restrict teenagers' access to abortion by requiring parental involvement in the abortion decision. Such laws include:

„X Parental notification laws that require medical personnel to notify a minor's parent(s) of her i...

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...el forced to have a baby against her wishes; her parents may turn their backs on her or force her out of their home; or she might run away from home to face her pregnancy alone. Some teens may resort to a secret, unsafe, illegal or self-induced abortion if her way to a confidential, legal abortion is blocked.

Any additional state laws restricting abortion (such as mandatory waiting periods between abortion counseling and abortion procedures) are doubly burdensome for teenage women who have fewer resources, less privacy, and less ability to meet all the requirements. All such restrictions to a woman's access to safe and legal abortion rob her of her ability to take control of her life.

Fact: Laws restricting teen access to abortion.

Laws in 46 states and the District of Columbia allow mothers who are under 18 to place their children for adoption without involving their parents, but many of those same states require parental notification or consent before these young women can obtain abortions. This sets up a standard that clearly favors one resolution over another, restricts the reproductive choices of young women, and forces some to bear children that they do not want to bear.