Abortion: Making The Ultimate Choice!

2509 Words11 Pages
Running head: Abortion without parental consent for adolescents Abortion: Making the ultimate choice! Minnisha S. Johnson D’Youville College Professor Krista Hoare Introduction to Professional Nursing/NUR 100INT August 3, 2010 Abstract Individuals make choices every day. They choose what to put on, what to consume, what movie to look at and who to interact with. These decisions are normal and often voluntary. When faced with an unexpected pregnancy, how does one make a decision to terminate the baby or not? In our society, many teenage girls are having abortions without their parents’ consent. Why? Well there are several reasons teenagers choose not to tell their parents about their pregnancy. Not only are teen mothers not ready for parenthood; some of them may have parents encouraging them to get the abortion. In other cases, parents may not know their daughters are pregnant, largely due to fear their daughters have of telling them. In such cases, parents are less likely to know about their daughters abortions. This research paper investigates the issue of abortion, and the effect it has on the nursing profession and healthcare system. The paper concludes with professional interventions to implement a change for abortion. Background Information on Abortion and its Controversies Abortion is a notorious issue that can cause uproar for many families. Abortion is defined as "The induced termination of a pregnancy before it is capable of survival as an individual" (Frohock 186). When a young girl is thinking about having an abortion, she is making the choice on whether or not to go through with a pregnancy. One of the biggest controversies right now about abortion is parental consent. If a girl is under the age of eighteen, she must have parental consent before an abortion can be performed. At this time, thirty-nine of the fifty states
Open Document