Abortions have been more then usual in our country for 30+ years now due to the Roe Vs Wade case in 1973. According to abortionno.org; 52% of woman obtaining abortion in the U.S are under 25. This statistics influenced me to Interview a Woman who acquired an abortion, specifically a woman who is 25 or younger. The Female being interviewed requested to remain anonymous but she didn't mind me posting the questions and answers from the interview. Here they are;
Question #1:
How old where you when you acquired an abortion?
Answer: 17 years old
Question #2: What was your first reaction and first feelings when you first found out you were pregnant?
Answer: I was afraid & nervous but also happy. I wanted to keep the baby but that did not last long. I could picture my father’s face and from there on i was upset because the only possiblity was to have an abortion.
Question 3: Did you have support from others or did you decide to take this situation on alone, if so, why?
Answer: My sister & the father of the baby were supportive but my parents did not know. The father wanted me to keep the baby but i had to make the mature and best decision.
Question 4: Was abortion the first alternative and/or the only alternative you thought about?
Answer: I thought about having it at first but that quickly turned into me getting an abortion. I couldn't imagine going through the pregnancy process then having to give my baby up for adoption. Also I was to young and immature to keep it.
Question #5: What was your opinion on abortion before you acquired one?
Answer: I was never against abortion, I feel that every woman should have a choice. This was weird because it goes against my religion of being Catholic.
Question #6: Why did you choose to get an abortion?
Answer: It was going to affect not only my life but the people around me, also the child. It would have been a disgrace if I had a child at 17.
Question #7 What were the after affects of the abortion, physically and emotionally?
Answer: The abortion was very painful, I felt like I had heavy cramps for a couple of days. I felt an emptiness because I felt a disconnect from my self. I began to question my self & I never forgave my self. I will never have another abortion again.
This interview went similar to how I predicted it was going to go. The female being interviewed followed the social norms that it was disgraceful to have a child at such a young age. Also that she had the abortion because she felt immature and unprepared to have a child. It was interesting to hear that she “never forgave herself”. It made me come to the conclusion that people believe they are doing the right thing until after that “thing” is done and nothing can be changed. She felt that she made a mistake and learned from the experience. Before this interview I believed that mother’s usually only worry about what was best for them. Such as the things this statistic shows; “Thirty-eight percent indicated that having a baby
would interfere with their education, and the same proportion
said it would interfere with their employment. In
a related vein, 34% said they could not afford a child because
they were students or were planning to study” ( guttmacher.org ) After this interview I discovered something I did not think much about before. Becoming a mother means they wont be able to live their lives putting themselves before everyone, now there was a smaller individual who was number one in their life. Being that this was the case; what ever was going to affect the mother/woman was also going to have a significant impact on the child. The females are looking out for their best interest but as a mother they are also looking out for their baby’s interest. The baby is completely dependent on the mother so what ever affects her also effects the child. It can affect the environment the child is raised in, the education the child receives, finical problems the child will have, etc.. The next time someone thinks about abortion just keep in mind that the woman isn't being selfish. The woman is being mature enough to understand that if she has this child every issue she has will therefore by her child's issue as well.
"Abortion Statistics - Pregnant Teen Help." Pregnant Teen Help - Teen Pregnancy Statistics, Prevention, and Facts. Web. 06 Apr. 2011. <http://www.pregnantteenhelp.org/options/abortion-statistics/>.
"Guttmacher Institute: Publications." Guttmacher Institute: Journals 3711005. Web. 06 Apr. 2011. <http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/>.
Javon great project I noticed that you investigated the statistics of abortions in America and in different countries. You also went into depth explaining how women feel about abortions, and also gave your explanation on what being a mother means to you and how that is such a responsible role to take on.
ReplyDeleteI particularly valued the research you did on abortions the statistics I really think that gave your project a lot of substance and made it more interesting to read because you had factual evidence.
The main reason why this project mattered to me was because while having a conversation with Javon he explained to me what he was doing for his project and from the jump I was interested because he was actually going to interview a women that had an abortion.
Constructive Criticism: I feel that you should go more into depth with the questions you asked the person in the interview.
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ReplyDeleteTo Javon:
ReplyDeleteJavon Lloyd Perry, i really enjoyed reading your choice of project. your interest in abortions and the role in plays in women's lives in the United State truly shows. since abortions wasnt a topic that was really touched upon during class. i valued your research because you looked at an experts point of view of abortion, and tuned in to the emotional toll it had on her. by initally doing research on the topic and interview someone who experienced it. your project engaged me because abortions is something that is pretty common to my ear, and it is a touchy and great debatable action. i think you couldve furthered your project by maybe interviewing another individual, maybe even a male figure. see how the two differ
Overall great job,
Tamiko
Javon,
ReplyDeleteI think you had a great post, the way you go about the interview of this woman who had an abortion at 17 and then addressed what it means to be ready to become a mother. I think that you had some great ideas, especially about how a mother needs to be ready to put her baby before herself. I feel that this is a topic that is important to everyone because it involves not only being able to have children, but the emotional maturity to put someone else before yourself on a daily basis. I do agree with chris that you could have gone more in depth with this paper. But other then that i think you had some great ideas.
Sam
Javon,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your wall post. It was very interesting and we didn't get much of a chance to talk about abortion in class. I like how you interviewed somebody who had one giving us a first hand look at what an abortion may be like. You asked all the questions that would have came to my mind so I liked having my questions answered. It's interesting how just the thought of a fathers facial expression could totally change somebody's mind in a huge choice like that.
Keep up the good work.