My side: Pro- Choice

19% of teens that have sex each year become pregnant. This usually is not planned, and that is a problem that teens and women face. If an unexpected pregnancy comes up, a woman should have the right to choose weather or not they want the child. Some women cannot support a child, and most don’t even know how to care for one.

According to http://web.mit.edu/pro-choice/www/facts.html, over 3 million unwanted pregnancies occur each year in the United States. Also, 2 of every 100 pregnant women have an abortion. Accidents do happen to get teens pregnant, but having consensual sex with one another is not the only thing that causes many unwanted pregnancies. About 1400 women have abortions each year from being raped or being an incest victim.

Being raped is something no woman can plan for, and it is a crime. Being raped should definitely give the woman a decision of whether or not she wants to have an abortion. Incest is just as wrong and also could be considered a form of rape. Women in this predicament should be entitled to their “choice” to have an abortion. Every year, 1.2 billion dollars are spent on pregnancy-related health care according to MIT.

A problem that some people don’t think about often is how their child is growing inside of them. The child could die at birth or could die in the womb itself. The child could also be deformed and have a miserable life and be in pain. The parents might not want their child to suffer and get an abortion. That is a reasonable decision to make; you don’t want any child to suffer his or her whole life in pain, or being paralyzed.

By age 15, only 13% of teens have had sex. As of August 2006, 34 states require that when a teen wants an abortion, they have to involve their parents. When a woman is pregnant, she could be a smoker, a drug abuser, or an alcohol abuser. Most women under 30 drink while pregnant. These habits can cause birth defects. Most teens don’t smoke but are under pressure to smoke. Also they are under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

If teens give in to their peers, and don’t know that they are pregnant, this can dangerously affect the child. This is especially bad because the child is still an embryo and the younger a fetus is, the more dangerous the effect can be. An effect of drinking while pregnant is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. This is a preventable syndrome, but some people cannot stop drinking.

Having an abortion is not a crime, it is legal in the United States and there are over 500,000 abortions a year. However, it is not legal in Delaware. It is legal in AK, AZ, CA, CT, FL, IL, IN, MA, MN, MT, NJ, NM, OR, TN, VT, and WV. Every American has the freedom a choice, no matter what. This is a free country and if you don’t have what it takes to raise a child on this earth than you should be able to decide for yourself.

Bibliography

Pro-Choice. Web. 23 Sept. 2009. <absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Pro-choice>.

National Abortion Federation. Web. 23 Sept. 2009. <Prochoice.org>.

MIT Pro-Choice. Web. 23 Sept. 2009. <http://web.mit.edu/pro-choice/www/facts.html>.

Free Base- Pro Choice. Web. 23 Sept. 2009. <http://www.freebase.com/view/en/pro-choice>.

Naral Pro Choice America- Womens Stories. Web. 23 Sept. 2009. <http://www.naral.org/choice-action-center/womens-stories/>.\\