lities of having sex, they should be responsible enough to deal with the consequences it entails. The history of abortion consists of many social issues, which lead to the present day issues of teenagers, and the effects it poses on them.

Teenagers facing abortion will encounter psychological, social, and philosophical dilemmas that will affect them for the rest of their lives. (Reardon, p.6) Their heads will be filled with questions of “What if’s.” They will contemplate over and over what could have happened if they had gave birth to their child. Their life would be totally different if they had kept the baby but not necessarily in a negative way like most people predict. For many women, the abortion becomes a key point in their lives, which all other events revolve around. They can place everything that occurred either “before the abortion” or “after the abortion.” (Reardon, p.6) Suppression and denial are the most common ways of coping with an abortion. Women react this way because they are genetically programmed to be produce offspring and be nurturers. Emotionally, women feel a part of them selves is lost when they abort a baby because it was made inside of them and had a potential to have a life and have features just like them. Between sixty and seventy percent of women, who eventually confronted their negative feelings about their abortions, admit there was a period of time during which they would have denied it to others. On average, this period of denial lasts about five years. Researchers have reported over one hundred psychological disorders connected to abortion stress. (Reardon, p.7) A few of these include, sexual dysfunction, depression, flashbacks, sleep disorders, anxiety attacks, and eating disorders. Suppressed feelings about an abortion can create their own internal pressures, sap emotional energy, and cause turmoil in one’s life until they burst forth in a way, which can no longer be ignored. (Reardon, p.7) A study of 260 women who aborted found that thirty-seven percent of them described themselves as being self-destructive with twenty-eight percent admitting having made one or more suicide attempts. (SIECUS, p.3) As one can well see, abortion is not just a quick fix to an accidental pregnancy. For teenagers, abortion is used as a coping mechanism for adolescents who are not ready for parenthood. However, abortion for some teens can be the very thing that causes stress. Over twenty percent of teens that have an abortion have posttraumatic responses, including depression. (Knapp, p.15) This is because a teen that is pregnant will form a strong attachment to the fetus. Teenagers, who were traumatized by their abortion experience, often say they felt forced to have an abortion. A teenager might feel pressured to have an abortion because their parents and friends are disappointed and ashamed of them. In their minds, having an abortion will let them escape this feeling of failure but in reality, the feeling of losing a baby will stay with them forever. (Kelly, p.1) The posttraumatic response to an abortion is similar to any other traumatic event like a car accident or the witness to a death. The teenager will have flashbacks of feelings of attachment to the child and often return to the place of the abortion, and even deny that the abortion even took place. (Reardon, p.7) In many cases, adolescents will resort to drugs and alcohol to escape the flashbacks and be able to sleep. Some girls also fear punishment from God and the negative reaction of abortions. (Planned Parenthood, p.1)

Males have mainly supported the idea of abortion because it was an easy way to end an unwanted pregnancy. For the males, they might have to pay for the surgery but after that, they are off the hook. It is then the women who have to deal with all the emotional aftermath. To the surprise of many, abortion has been practiced since the beginnin

Some topics in this essay:
Judicial Bypass, Obstetrician Reardon, Supreme Court, Aristotle Plate, Planned Parenthood, BC Greece, Norma McCorvey, Code Women, Court Dallas, Diseases STD’s, survey p1, child life, reardon p7, reardon p6, mother’s life, save mother’s life, save mother’s, deal consequences, abortion fetus person, abortion teenager, major issues, roe vs wade, parental notification, abortion save mother’s, minor parental consent,