Causes and Effects of teenage abortion in the USA Research Paper

Causes and Effects of teenage abortion in the USA - Research Paper Example This research will begin with the statement that each year in the United States, approximately 750,000 teenagers between the ages of fourteen and nineteen become pregnant. Of this number, an average 200,000 teenagers a year seek an abortion. As more teenagers find themselves becoming pregnant, more are finding ways to avoid the responsibility of parenthood at such a young age. Unfortunately, not only do the excuses for obtaining abortions continue to rise, but so does the number of young pregnant females obtaining an abortion. As with any physical damage to one’s body, though, abortion comes with its consequences. Pregnant teenage females often seek abortions when their pregnancies are a result of rape or date rape. Rape is the forcing of sexual intercourse by one person on another. More often than not, rape is administered by a complete stranger, though there have been many cases of friends, extended relatives, teachers, and even church officials raping and impregnating young women. Date rape, on the other hand, is rape that is administered usually after the female has been drugged or otherwise made unconscious. This form of rape is often done by someone that the female knows well, like a friend or even a boyfriend. However, there are some men that drug women they do not know while at a party or a gathering and then invite them out to a place where the rape occurs. Date rape generally takes place while the female is spending time with the potential rapist, like on a date, hence its name.... Similar to rape, incest often comes without the consent of the other person. Sexual abuse can also be brought on by a male family member, but the teenager can also face sexual abuse from her boyfriend or a close male friend. The primary factor in both incest and sexual abuse is that the teenager had no say in the engaging of sexual intercourse. Unfortunately, physical violence can also be administered during the process of the abuse, rendering the teenager helpless to get away. There are many reasons that a teenager gets an abortion as a result of incest or sexual abuse. The first reason is simply because the pregnancy was due to incest and the teenager does not want to keep the baby who was fathered by someone that she is related to. The teenager might also abort to avoid revealing that a family member had gotten her pregnant. They want to avoid the shame that comes with such a confession, even though they had no part in what took place; they might also have been threatened to keep it a secret, and might not have a choice of whether or not to abort. Likewise, if the teenager was sexually abused by her boyfriend, she does not want to keep a baby that was created by force with someone that she loved and trusted. Another reason is because many children that are conceived out of incest often have physical deformities or mental illnesses. Teenagers abort for this reason as they do not want the responsibility of raising a baby that might be sick and need special attention and care. Promiscuity Promiscuity is when a person has many sexual relationships, which makes up a large percentage of pregnant teenagers at any given time in the United States. Many of

Should you always be moral Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Should you always be moral - Essay Example Although morality is coalesced with notions like duty, obligation and codes of conduct, Kant has considered morality to include self-imposed law which is free of one's personal gains (Axinn: 1994, p. 39). The concept of morality holds ambiguity in the light of contemporary debates that often debilitates its importance by considering it as an instrument of detachment from one's self. According to Louden, it would be unjust to confine morality into a single 'other-regarding' aspect since a profound analysis of this concept proves a considerable coalescence with the 'self-regarding' aspect. Contrary to the contemporary beliefs that reckon self-importance as a merely anti-moral characteristic, the early Greek philosophers like Socrates gave primary importance to self-perfection thereby placing the welfare of others to a secondary level of morality. Similarly, Kant in the Doctrine of Virtue states that 'if there were no duties to one, then there would be no duties whatsoever'. (Louden, 14 and 15). Such an understanding of morality provides a moderate approach for both the 'self' and 'others' thereby leaving no space for its abeyance. When encountered with the notion of adhering to the moral principles, what comes into question is the reason behind practicing morality - a question first made to Socrates by Thrasymachus (Parsons: 2