Policies In Abortion
Abortion is a morality issue that has been debated over and over in most schools, forums, shows and most any place that you can imagine. According to CDC in the year 2003, there is a total of: 848,163 legal induced abortions during 2003 as reported by 49 different areas; the abortion ratio (the number of abortions per 1,000 live births) was 241; the abortion rate was 16 per 1,000 women aged 15- 44 years. From all reported abortions, there were 15 women who died due to complications from known legal induced abortion while there was one death complications from known illegal abortion
Today there are In the U.S, the policy for teenagers who wants to have an abortion varies depending on the state. Here is the abstract of a paper written by Carol Sanger from Columbia Law school regarding the country’s policy in the topic abortion.
“Thirty-four US states currently require pregnant minors either to notify their parents or get their consent before having a legal abortion. The Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of theses statutes provided that minors are also given an alternative mechanism for abortion approval that does not involve parents. The mechanism used is the ‘judicial bypass hearing’ at which minors persuade judges that they are mature and informed enough to make the abortion decision themselves. While most minors receive judicial approval, the hearings intrude into the most personal aspects of a young woman’s life. The hearings, while formally civil in nature, can be punitive in tone. Parental involvement statutes are often couched in the language of family communications and protecting minors. They are politically popular because they offer politicians the chance to be pro-life, pro-choice, and pro-family all at once. This paper argues that parental involvement statutes are less concerned with developing nuanced policies to improve the quality of teenage health or decision making than with securing a set of political goals aimed at making abortion harder to get, restoring parental authority, and punishing girls for having sex.
That kind of policy may be humane but still debatable especially for those the conservatives and religious. On the other hand, there are women especially those who were victims of physical violation may have a different view on this. But the real issue is whether teens will be given the chance to get away from the fruits of an irresponsible act. Views may differ but the fact won’t change with or without sex education in school. As parents, there are no sure ways to help avoid teen pregnancy especially with how volatile teens are becoming, but abortion may be prevented if parents make it known to their children that they are there to support them at all times.
