Teen Abortion, a Social Right?

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Teenage abortion is an important social right. Minors should be given the right to terminate a pregnancy without the consent of a parent, just as an adult can choose to have an abortion rather than to raise an unwanted child. Abortion is an extremely controversial topic and has been an argumentative subject for many decades, and with teenage girls seeking termination of unwanted pregnancies, the issue widens in society’s eyes. This is mostly d ue to the question of when life begins, at conception or at birth. However, the question should not be whether or not an abortion is murder, but instead what is best for both the teenage mother and the unborn child, and in many cases for young teenage girls the answer to both questions may be to abort the pregnancy. Not all situations are the same; therefore they should not be treated as such. Whereas one girl may be able to openly debate the choice of abortion with her parents and the biological father, for another it could potentially do much more harm than good. All teenage girls should be given the option to do what they feel is right for themselves and the unborn baby, not be forced into doing what her parents believe is the morally correct thing to do because of laws placing the ultimate decision in their hands. Others should not be forced to turn to judicial bypass because of their family’s opinion on the topic. Adult women have the right to terminate a pregnancy, and teenage females should as well. In the Untied States more than 1 million teenage girls become pregnant annually and have been steadily since 1973. Out of these pregnancies 78 percent are unintended, and approximately 35% are terminated (www.prochoice.org). Teenage women who become pregnant are forced to make difficult and ultimately life altering decisions, starting with deciding if they should, or even want to keep the baby or not. For many
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