Unplanned Pregnancy and Abortion Laws - Research Paper Example

 Unplanned Pregnancy and Abortion Laws Abortion was practiced in many parts of the world in the past, it was not seen as illegal and most of the women did it openly. Later on, in the late 1880s, the government placed laws that illegalized abortion. The main reason why the United States did not want abortion to be practiced was that they feared that the children of the people who were migrating to America would take over. This is because they would be more than the Native Americans. When the field of medicine developed, abortion was legalized again as it people saw that it was safer. In the United States, abortion occurs more in women who are below the poverty line. This is majorly because of lack of knowledge on the different methods of protection from pregnancy. Lack of finance also probes them to abort because they are afraid that they may not be able to give the child the basic needs. The contraceptives have become very costly for most of the American women who live under the poverty line. Normally, many women who abort are usually in the teen years. This is when peer influence is highest and many women try to fit in the society ending up getting pregnant and seeking abortion1. Abortion was legalized in America in 1973 by the Supreme Court. However, it became a very controversial issue. This is mainly because of the different ways that people look at abortion. Many are influenced by their religious beliefs, public health issues and ethics. Others believe that one should not suffer because of a pregnancy they had not even planned for in the first place. Before contraceptives became popular, may women in the United States had unplanned pregnancy. This was especially for young mothers who could not space out their children and thus had many maternal health problems. Later on, in the late twentieth century, the use of contraceptives reduces significantly, as the family planning methods became popular2. However, lately, due to politics interfering negatively with the use of contraceptives, unplanned pregnancies have drastically augmented. This is because the negative views of some politicians made some stakeholders to withdraw their financial support for family planning companies. In the recent past, the American lawmakers who belonged to the Republican Party were against abortions. Therefore, in the sittings that happened in 2011, they tried to make sure that the cost of having an abortion was very costly for women. They did this because they wanted to ensure that taxpayers do not pay for the abortions that women do under their insurances. In the last two years for example, most insurance companies covered abortions but this stopped when some states in America had policies that banned abortion coverage. Many social reformers, medical officers and people protecting the rights of women have fought to ensure that women have abortion coverage. This is because the people that suffer a lot from the coverage ban are the poor and the women who have experienced rape. This is because the rich are able to pay the abortion hospital bills and the only people that have to suffer are the poor. Therefore, by removing the abortion coverage, the lawmakers have not stopped abortion; they have only worsened the suffering of the poor. The judiciary ensures that the constitution is understood correctly. Therefore, it ensures the set laws and policies that govern the states of America provide equity to all Americans. The Supreme Court legalized abortion because it believed that the advancement in medicine enabled safe abortion that was not a danger to the health of women. Therefore, the judiciary can influence the policies set that prevent insurance companies from covering abortions. This is because the poor women are not treated equally as the rich American women. They are unable to have an abortion when it is legal because they cannot afford to pay the bill. Therefore, under the judiciary, the poor American women can be able to have an abortion through their insurance cover. The judiciary can look at the laws and policies made by the congress against abortion coverage. When they believe that the laws or policies are not helpful but discriminating, they can consider them void and thus abolish them. The congressional representatives have a great influence on the laws and policies that are against insurance companies covering abortion. They influence great masses by paying lobbyists who are very good at influencing the public on an issue3. Therefore, when the congress is against a certain policy or law, they can make the public to view the law in the same light as the congress. This will then make the law or the policy to be adopted or abolished. Therefore, the congress can create a law against abortion insurance coverage and lobby the law so that it has many supporters. Interest groups like the doctors who receive many aborting patients have a lot of influence on the policy laws against abortion coverage4. This is because when the women do not have medical insurance to take care of their abortions they prefer to keep the babies. This makes the doctors lose the money that they would make doing the abortions. The women who want the abortions done can influence the abolition of the laws as they can influence the decisions made by the federal government concerning the policies. The political parties can also influence the abolition or implementation of the policies and laws. This is because when the political party supports the implementation of a law or policy they can present it to the legislature who can pass it as a law. Therefore, the political party can greatly help the implementation of the laws that allow all women to have an abortion using their medical cover, they can do this by presenting the law to the legislature who will in turn make it a law and protect the rights of all women5. The media provides the easiest way to communicate with the public. Therefore, they can channel their resources to publicize the plight of poor women who cannot afford abortions and therefore keep the babies. They can influence the perspective of the pubic and make them fight for the right of all women to have an abortion using their medical cover. The government can work with the media and interested parties to implement the law that allows all women to have an abortion using their medical cover. This can be advantageous because the media reach out to many people and can thus influence them very easily .The interested parties can always concur with them to have the law implemented6. The danger is that the people in the media who share a different view can influence people against the implementation of the law because of their personal reasons. The government leaders can also work with the congress to influence the public to accept the law. This can be good because of the lobbyists that the congress representatives can appoint to influence the public. The danger with this is that the congressional representatives can deliberately influence the public against the law so that they can gain popularity with the public. I believe that the governmental leaders should work with the interested parties like the doctors and the poor women who need the medical cover for the abortions. This is because they can most certainly influence the public to accept the laws by the first hand information given by the doctors on the safety of the procedure7. The poor women can influence the public by showing them the sufferings they have to endure when feeding and taking care of a baby with their poor financial status. The leaders can work with the media and make them air the clips of the doctors and women who need the medical cover to influence the public to accept the law. Thank you for the support. References Brown, Jane. Sexual Teens, Sexual media: Investigating media’s influence on adolescent sexuality. New York: Taylor and Francis, 2002. Finke, Madelon. Public Health in the 21st Century, Volume 1. Santa Barbara: ABC.CLIO, 2011. Golden, Robert. The Truth about Sexual Behavior and Unplanned Pregnancy. New York: Infobase publishing, 2009. Macleod, Catriona. Adolescence, pregnancy and abortion: constructing a threat of degeneration. New York: Taylor and Francis, 2010. Alexander, Linda. New Dimensions in Women's Health. Burlington: Jones and Bartlett, 2009. Bardes, Barbara. American Government and Politics Today: The Essentials. New York: Cengage Learning, 2011. Shimabukuro, Jon. Almanac of Policy Issues. Abortion Law Development: A Brief Overview. January 28, 2001. Available at: http://www.policyalmanac.org/culture/archive/crs_abortion_overview.shtml Read More