Community Problem Report
Breianna C. Russell March, 2010
El Paso is facing a serious issue, it is that of
Abortion and the choices that women must choose to make. I must say that the argument of abortion has gone on too long.
Few can disagree with that fact. However, religious and
non-religious sides continue to disagree about the laws and moral issues
contained in the abortion choice. For example, while many feel
contraception such as "The Morning-After Pill" are simply preventative measures
against pregnancy, the Catholic Church feels differently. "In many cases the use of this pill is not referred to as
abortion, it is hidden as an act as such."
(Vatican City, October 31, 2000.) But in either case, the women in our community need to be less
criminalized and more supported since there are only two options after
conception. A woman can either choose to give birth or she may choose to abort.
The main causes of this problem are lack of planning on the female or male's
part, not using contraception or other precautionary protection, and a shortage
of family and psychological support, according to
http://Reproductive Services.com.
"Abortion can be seen in many deferent lights as there are cases in which it is
medically necessary to abort a pregnancy and in other cases women feel the need
psychologically to terminate their pregnancy." (
1999) In communities across the country the size of this problem has
grown to a rate expressed as: for
every 1,000 young women 135 or more will become pregnant and face the choices of
abortion, adoption, or this world as a single parent. The amount of lives
changed is enormous. One aspect of which seems glum is that only about 74 of the 135 or more women that become pregnant
actually do give birth, this leaves 54% of pregnancies left ending in abortion
or miscarriage.
The dignitary
effects on the women are harmful as well, for example, "Thirty four states now
require that a minor who wants an abortion without first involving her parents
must petition a judge and participate in a hearing at which the judge decides if
she is mature and informed enough to make an abortion decision herself." (Carol
Sanger 2009)
The humiliation of facing complete and total strangers must be harmful in a way you may
not imagine. It is impossible to assume that every individual that walks into a
court room to ask a judge to allow them an abortion is 100% together emotionally and happy
about the fact. This brings me to explain that we are not unaffected in this
community. Though there are pregnancy help lines such as the Pregnancy Help
Center of El Paso, who councel young woman against abortion and in dealing with
the emotional effects, there are still other organizations that encourage young
woman to make their own decisions. Clinics such as House of Hope here in El Paso
provide educated information on abortion as well as adoption and parenting. The women that go through these stresses are women you may know: a
daughter, sister friend, or another relative. They are women that you see every
day and have no idea that behind their seemingly put-together lives they are
debating whether to keep or "get rid off" a child, all the while an
entirely new life hangs
in the balance of said decision.
Our community's economy is effected as well. Since more and more births become imminent it will only mean more mouths to feed, more money to be spend and more time consumed. This would be unavoidable once the child is born. And in this case abortion and medical bills are not inexpensive either. It means that these children that do become young adults will have to find jobs and procure educations in order to keep those jobs. It would only be a matter of time before people began panicking because there were not enough hours to work or enough companies paying in order to keep their children or families safe and healthy. If you think the economy is bad now, imagine being unable to find a job at all. Overpopulation may definitely become a concern in the near future. But unfortunately abortion has to come down to money just like any other communal problem. Abortion being outlawed would not only effect in a negative way but also the opposite. You may be able to picture China and their reproductive regulations, such as the Family Planning Policy (One-child Policy). The government "encourages" urban couples to have one child unless the first is a girl or they have no siblings of their own. Only rural families are allotted the ability to have more than one but even in their case this only comes to a total of two children.
The women who either become pregnant or who plan to abort their pregnancy in our community are scrutinized, leaving them to feel ashamed in whichever choice they decide upon. You, as well as others in El Paso, need to take action in this problem because people you may know are going through this right now. And for every birth it will be one less job or one more person to feed and support. And those of you who are young women or their partners here should also heed this information. This also includes anyone who could be pregnant, has a loved one that is pregnant, may have gotten their loved one pregnant, or even someone who may be planning to become pregnant. This pertains to parents as well, it is possible that this information may help in how we raise our children and educate them on safe sexual practices and better ways to protect themselves for the difficult consequences that arise from pregnancy. I as a woman find my self in a place to insist that we all take notice of the effect abortion and non-abortion has on El Paso. Though I am not a legislator or a city counsel member I plan to make it noticed that abortion should be brought out of the shadows of El Paso and shown in the light. While many have spoken before, those many where generalizing abortion and we as a community should focus on our families and friends who face this hardship, and not make light of the fact that so many young women may be suffering.