Abortions
Abortion is a medical procedure intended to terminate a pregnancy. Abortion has been practiced in every culture since the beginning of civilization. It was legal in the United States from the time the earliest settlers arrived. Before 1970, statistics on abortions in the United States were generally not kept or reported, and they can only be estimated. In the nineteenth century, it is believed that there was one abortion for every four live births, a rate only a bit lower than that in the latter part of the twentieth century. The future of Planned Parenthood specifically and of safe and legal abortions in general came into question on November 2016 when Republican Donald Trump was elected US president with former Indiana governor Mike Pence as vice president. On January 2017 and as one of his first acts as president, Trump signed an order that ended all US funding to any foreign nongovernment health organization that offered abortion counseling or that advocated for the right to seek an abortion
In an article entitled “Induced Abortion: Risks That May Impact Adolescents, Young Adults, and Their Children: American College of Pediatricians” written on August 2016, The author states the long and short term risks of abortions in adolescents and young adults. Also, he suggests pediatricians and obstetricians should explain in depth these risks to these women before doing the procedure. Lastly, he speaks on the increased mortality and suicide rates after women have abortions.
Abortions have many risks that are not compassionately discussed by obstetricians, such as mental health risks, risks of breast cancer, and long term risks of maternal mortality. In the article it states that There is an association between abortions and mental health problems including depression, anxiety, suicide, and alcohol and other substance abuse. Recent studies show a higher increased risk of breast cancer in women following abortion. The article shows a table that abortions do put women’s future pregnancies at a high risk.
The article entitled “A Road Map Through The Supreme Court's Back Alley.”, written by both Forsythe, Clarke D. and Kehr, Bradley N. discusses the role the U. S supreme court has on abortion clinics. They’ve included the impact of many court cases such as Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton as examples. They also state the notion of a woman's health exception in relation to the viability of the fetus.
Abortion clinics have overcome many obstacles when it comes to it’s many battles with the supreme court such as Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, two supreme court cases that swept away abortion laws in all 50 states in 1973. The Court expanded the abortion right beyond viability. It announced that regulations or prohibitions after viability were not permitted if the woman’s “health” was at issue after these court cases. The definition of a women’s health was reiterated in 1979 in Colautti v. Franklin, and the Third Circuit’s broad interpretation was affirmed by the Supreme Court in 1986 in Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists. In evaluating this text I’ve learned that there were many cases fought in the supreme court for women’s rights.
In the text entitled “Population Group Abortion Rates and Lifetime Incidence of Abortion: United States, 2008–2014.” The authors give us in depth details on Abortion rates throughout the years of 2008 and 2014. Furthermore the authors suggest that abortion rates have decreased by 25 percent over the years using data collected from fertility clinics.
In 2014, 926 190 abortions were performed in the United States; the abortion rate was 14.6 abortions per 1000 women aged 15 to 44 years, meaning that in that year 1.5% of women of reproductive age had abortion. They used three data sets to calculate that estimate, the Guttmacher Institute’s 2014 Abortion Patient SSurvey, theAmerican Community Survey, and the National Survey of Family Growth. Between 2008 and 2014 the national abortion rate declined 25%, from 19.4 to 14.6 abortions per 1000 women aged 15 to 44 years. Abortion rates decreased among all groups of women examined in the analysis. In evaluating this article I learn the abortion rates and how they’ve decreased over the years.
“Abortion care in Haiti: A secondary analysis of demographic and health data.” Is an article written by Kate Meffen, Gillian Burkhardt, and, Susan Bartels. It’s based on Women’s healthcare in Haiti and it’s demographics. The authors state that 97% of the estimated 25 million unsafe abortions performed each year occur in low- and middle-income countries. They also suggest that Haiti has the highest rate of maternal mortality in the western hemisphere and to further understand the circumstances of induced abortion in Haiti, they used data from the 2012 Demographic and Health Survey to describe the methods of abortion in Haiti between 2007–2012 and to identify factors associated with use of different abortion methods.
This article includes a background, methods, and results. In analyzing this text I’ve learned the descriptive statistics on participant demographics, methods of abortion, and location of assistant for the abortion. Abortion-related mortality accounts for an estimated 8% of all global maternal deaths. The following demographic variables were included in the Demographic and Health Survey: wealth, education level, age, marital status, residence type, and religion. Understanding women’s attitudes, knowledge and barriers around abortion is paramount to improving knowledge and access to evidence-based abortion care in an effort to decrease maternal mortality in Haiti.
“A 21st-Century Public Health Approach to Abortion.” Takes a look into groups advocating for and against abortion rights often deploy public health arguments to advance their positions. The authors apply the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 10 Essential Public Health Services framework to abortion to describe how health departments should engage with abortion. They argue that health departments should be facilitating women’s ability to obtain an abortion in the state and county where they reside, researching barriers to abortion care in their states and counties, and promoting the use of a scientific evidence base in abortion-related laws, policies, regulations, and implementation of essential services.
They’ve proposed a 21st-century public health approach to abortion based in an accepted public health framework. Specifically, they apply the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 10 Essential Public Health Services framework to abortion to describe how health departments should engage with abortion. They authors believe This conversation needs to occur throughout the United States: in schools of public health and in health departments; at the federal, state, and local level; and across our professional discipline.
In the text entitled “Socioeconomic Outcomes of Women Who Receive and Women Who Are Denied Wanted Abortions in the United States.” The authors determine the socioeconomic consequences of receipt versus denial of abortion. They also Used mixed effects models, They evaluated socioeconomic outcomes for 813 women by receipt or denial of abortion care. Women denied an abortion were more likely than were women who received an abortion to experience economic hardship and insecurity lasting years. Laws that restrict access to abortion may result in worsened economic outcomes for women.
In conclusion after evaluating and summarizing these texts I’ve learned the history of abortions, Abortion rates, Risks of having an Abortion, and ultimately how it effects those in their countries.. Although, many people believe it’s wrong it should stay legal because a woman should be able to do what she’d like with their bodies.