Ive been spending some time lately reading through articles and looking at different polls to get a feel of both sides of the abortion argument. I came across an article in Time magazine that really interested me.
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1956645,00.html
The article mentions how the rate of abortion for caucasion and hispanic women are on the decline in recent years. However, the rate of abortions for african american women hasnt changed much at all over the past 15 years.
Theres a few statistics from the article that really grim but also a reality check.
Two-thirds of single moms are poor. Fewer than half of them finish high school. And only a tiny fraction (2%) of girls who are mothers before their 18th birthday will finish college before their 30th.
With all the odds stacked against them, so many young girls are still having unprotected sex and getting pregnant. The numbers alone are enough to scare someone celibate. But the one thing that all teenage girls seem to think is "oh it wont happen to me."
The reality is that it can happen with anyone. How they choose to handle it is their choice and its something they will live with for the rest of their life.
I'm surprised to see that caucasian women are on the decline for having abortions, just given the glorifying nature of shows like Teen Mom and the pregnancy pact scandal. I mean look at the celebrities that we have to look up to- Jamie Lynn Spears, Bristol Palin. It's no wonder that so many young girls are almost excited about getting pregnant. But I fully agree that the choice they make will ultimately affect the rest of their life whether they choose to keep their baby or not.
ReplyDeleteCould it be that Hispanic and Caucasian women are receiving more education or counseling on the option of keeping the baby rather than abortion? I think Colleen is right about the TV shows...Teen Mom has high TV ratings, as well as the previous Jon and Kate Plus 8. Other shows include 19 Kids and Counting, A Baby's Story, "I'm Pregnant and..." documentaries.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Colleen in being suprised caucasion girls abortion rates are going down. It seems our media is promoting sexual behavior among young, white teenage girls. These shows are suppose to scare teens away from unprotected and it seems all its doing is glorifying it.
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