By Girls, For Girls - Abortion

The Intro
The Types

The Debate

The Options
The Aftermath

The Resources

In today's day and age, teens must learn to deal with and tolerate more issues and situations than any other generation. We must use sound judgement and be able to tell what's right from what's wrong. As we learn more, we are expected to do more. There comes a time when we must begin to make decisions and to have opinions that can really affect our lives in the future. I believe that once we come to terms with our newly found role in society, we can achieve more than we ever thought we could. One of the issues that has affected our lives and currently still does is abortion.

What is abortion?
Before we can attempt to even address the subject of abortion, we have to know what it is. Based on the ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA (ONLINE), abortion is the expulsion of a fetus from the uterus before it has reached the stage of viability, which in humans is about the 20th and 24th week of gestation. An abortion may occur spontaneously, in which case it is called a miscarriage or it may be brought on purposefully, in which case it is called induced abortion. This means that an abortion is really the removal of a fetus before it has the chance to survive outside of the womb.
What is a fetus?
Based on the definition given in the ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA (ONLINE), a fetus is the unborn young of any vertebrate animal, particularly of a mammal, after it has attained the basic form and structure typical of its kind. Before 8 weeks the pregnancy is known as an embryo because the basic form and structure is not complete.
What is an embryo?
In humans, the term is applied to the unborn child until the end of the 7th week following conception; from the 8th week the unborn child is called a fetus. This explanation is based on the ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA (ONLINE).

GLOSSARY
Dilation: enlarging the cervical opening by stretching it with tapered instruments called dilators.
Suction: drawing out the contents of the uterus through a narrow tube attached to a vacuum source.
Curettage: scraping the inside of the uterus with a metal loop, called a curette, to loosen and remove tissue.
Forceps: grasping instruments used to remove tissue.
Saline: salt water
Prostaglandin: hormone like substance that causes uterine contractions.

The Following Are Statistics That Apply To Abortion.

49% of pregnancies among american women are unintended; 1/2 of these are terminated by abortion.

Each year, 2 out of every 100 women aged 15-44 have an abortion; 47% of them have had at least one previous abortion and 55% have had a previous birth.

52% of U.S. women obtaining abortions are younger than 25: Women aged 20-24 obtain 32% of all abortions, and teenagers obtain 20%.

The risk of death associated with abortion increases with the length of pregnancy, from 1 death for every 530,000 abortions at 8 or fewer weeks to 1 per 17,000 at 16-20 weeks and 1 per 6,000 at 21 or more weeks.

Teens are more likely than older women to delay having an abortion until after 16 weeks of pregnancy, when medical risks associated with abortion increase significantly.