Parental Consent Abortion Essay Example for Free

Parental Consent Abortion Essay Abortion I. Introduction: A. Attention Grabber: rhetorical question, story, quote, shock, scare, stats, allusion, etc.: Did you know that teenage girls are more than 24 times more likely to die from childbirth than from first trimester legal abortion? B. Why audience should care: Every girl is at risk of getting pregnant, and if parental consent is the reason for childbirth the effects hurt mother and father. C. Background Info. According to the encyclopedia of American law fertility rate went down bc. of abortion and birth control- By the 1870s, a woman’s right to make decisions about REPRODUCTION was restricted by federal and state laws. -ABORTIONS , which increased markedly in the 1850s and 1860s, especially among middle-class white women, had been legal until the fetus â€Å"quickened,† or moved inside the uterus. The -AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (AMA) and religious groups led the successful move to have state legislatures impose criminal penalties on persons performing abortions. In some states, women who had abortions could also be held criminally liable.(Progressive) D. Thesis: Women under the age of 18 should be allowed to obtain an abortion #without parental consent because every person controls their own body and forcible restriction can lead to drastic consequences. II. Need Step A. What is the problem? Teenagers feel pressured to have the child because they have no right over their own body. If they dont get the proper help they need problems may arise. The American Academy of Pediatrics also opposes parental-involvement laws: Legislation mandating parental involvement does not achieve the intended benefit of promoting family communication but it does increase the risk of harm to the adolescent by delaying access to appropriate medical care. [M]inors should not be compelled or required to involve their parents in their decisions to obtain abortions, although they should be encouraged to discuss their pregnancies with their parents and other responsible adults.(Naral) B. What is/are the cause(s)? Laws making clinics have parental note/ judicial-bypass provisions fail to protect young women. C. How big a problem? It affects everybody, the parents, the child, and the family. -Approximately one-third of American women become pregnant before the age of 20. -Twenty-five percent of teen mothers live below the federal poverty line. Nearly 80 percent of teen mothers eventually go on welfare. Teens that give birth also spend a greater length of time receiving public assistance—an average of three years longer than older mothers through age 35. Teen mothers are also more likely to have lower family incomes later in life.(NARAL) D. What are the ill effects of this problem? Harmful to the teen, and teens future The American Medical Association concluded in a 1992 study that parental-consent and notice laws increase the gestational age at which the induced pregnancy termination occurs, thereby also increasing the risk associated with the procedure. Although a first or second trimester abortion is far safer than childbirth, the risk of complications significantly increases for each week that elapses after eight weeks. (Philip, Diana) â€Å"A Toledo, Ohio judge denied a bypass for a 17-year-old, an A student who planned to attend college and who testified she was not financially or emotionally prepared for college and motherhood at the same time, stating that the girl had not had enough hard knocks in her life. (Philip, Diana) III. Satisfaction Step A. Solution(s) or steps age-appropriate health and sex education with medically accurate information; access to confidential health services, including family planning; life-options programs that offer teens practical life skills and the motivation to delay sexual activity; and programs for pregnant and parenting teens that teach parenting skills and help ensure that teens finish school. B.Specific details on how this problem can be solved: an emphasis should be placed on reducing teen pregnancy. C.Best plan or most important first step: Access to health services, including family planning. A Pennsylvania study found that of the 60 judicial districts in the state, only eight were able to provide complete information about Pennsylvanias judicial-bypass procedure. Some county courts referred minors to anti-choice crisis pregnancy centers that typically provide false and misleading information about abortion and pressure women to carry their pregnancies to term. (Borgman, Caitlin). D. Reasons it is best or most important: Lays foundation and protection for the child and teen. IV. Visualization Step A. The world will have less teenage births, less unsafe abortions and less children homeless and in poverty. B.If we do not solve this problem there will be more teen moms, poverty and unsafe abortions. â€Å"With their parents guidance, more teenagers will choose childbirth over abortion† (Philip) C.In countries where abortion is restricted like poland â€Å"go abroad to the Netherlands, Germany and Austria for abortions.2 Women who are not lucky enough to live in environments such as the EU may be forced to go to foreign countries and undergo underground, unsafe abortions.† (â€Å"this house†) V. Conclusion A. Minors should be allowed to obtain an abortion without parental consent because every person controls their own body and has the right to choose and restricting abortion can lead to drastic consequences. B. Education about sex, family planning, and a bill that allows minors to recieve abortion without parental consent. C. Individuals can talk to their parents about their views on abortion and inform them that they have the right to choose. Individuals can also call your local congressman or write a letter informing them of the dangers of restricting abortion. D. In our everyday lives we can remember how living in the U.S. is a blessing and our freedoms can not be taken away from us. We must remember that every women has a right to their body and giving birth is not the only way to end the suffering of an unwanted pregnancy.