The Abortion Rate in the United States: Low but still High

The abortion rate in the United States has dropped significantly, 1.2 million in 2005. This has been the lowest rate since 1974. The United States is still has one the highest rate of abortions in the world. The current rate is 21 per 1,000 women. Whereas some countries, such as the Netherlands, has a rate of only 9 per 1,000 women.  This can be contributed to the lack of sex education in schools in the United States. The rate of medical abortions however is rising, as opposed to surgical. Most women who have abortions are between the ages of twenty and twenty-nine. Less than one percent are under fifteen.  Not to much surprise, abortion is one of the most popular surgical procedures in the United States. Almost 50% of unintended pregnancies in the United States end in abortion. The use of contraceptives and the Plan B day after pill becoming over the counter has helped the drop in abortions however.

Reference

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Abortion-Rate-in-the-United-States&id=2048679

Women in India

The status of women in India makes you feel very lucky to live in the United States. As an American woman, I often do not think about how lucky I am to have been born in this country. Many women die in childbirth because of intentional lack of adequate medical care. Most are malnourished because women always have to eat last, which often leads to their children becoming malnourished as well. There seems to be a lack of education given to women as opposed to men. Women also are usually overworked and unrecognized for their work. Even though women are overworked, they usually are unskilled as well. Abuse against women in on the rise in India. Female infanticide has also been a major issue in recent years. The main issue facing women in India is the complete lack of power. Women have little to no rights and have arranged marriages set up for them at a very young age. Many programs have been set up for woman's economic rights, but little has been done regarding discrimination to women in India. Women need to have a voice too and more "free" women need to do what they can to help these women and educate people about what is going on in India.

Reference
http://www.thp.org/where_we_work/south_asia/india/research_reports/chronic_hunger_and_status_of_women

Controlling the Population Growth Rate

Recently I have been doing a lot of research on population control, particularly in China. China has had a "one-child" policy set in place since the 1970's to prevent rapid population growth that the country felt they could not handle. Fines are put on families with more than one child, and this has led to numerous abortions, particularly female fetuses. This has also led to forced sterilization in some areas. The policy has done its job though, curbing the population growth rate to almost nothing. This made me wonder, "what if something like this happened in the U.S.? Would we ever get to that point?"

If the United States got to the point where if the population rate continued to increase to the point where we would possibly run out of resources to sustain everyone, what would we do? Since having a "one-child" policy pretty much goes against everything this country stands for. Should we take a firmer stance on birth control for adolescents? Or offer tax incentives to people with smaller families? There are many ways we could try to curb our population growth. I do not think that many people (especially people with children) would go for it. But if you knew that our country was heading for its downfall, would you want to do something about it for future generations?

Why Some Women Choose to Start a Family Early

Having children later and starting a career earlier is typically considered the norm for most women in today's day and age. Women want to become successful, then focus on a family later. But there are some women today who would rather do the opposite, have a family now and work on their career in the process. If you think about it, it does have some advantages. Women who meet their husbands at a younger age usually have fewer sexual partners and less likely to contract sexually transmitted diseases. Having a partner to support you in college is also very helpful. Depending on your financial situation, having children early could also mean more time spent with your children while they are young. I go to school full time and raise my newborn son and I get to spend more time with him now then I would if I was working full time. By the time he starts school I will be starting my career. It may not be for everybody but it does have its perks.

Teenage Pregnancy in the U.S.

Teenage pregnancy has obviously been higher in the United States than other countries over the past decade, but until recently the teenage pregnancy rate has been pretty low. In the 1970's and 1980's, teenage pregnancy was starting to increase.  However, once people became aware of AIDS the trend started to decrease. The teenage pregnancy rate was actually at an all time low until about 2005. From 2005 to 2006, there was a 3% increase in the rate of teen pregnancies, 71.5 out of 1,000 women aged 15 to 19. The abortion rate also increased 1%. Some fear that this could mean that the programs put in place to prevent teen pregnancy have failed. Others think that it could be because of the push for abstinence based sex education programs as opposed to birth control. Other reasons could include poverty, lack of knowledge of birth control methods, or it could also mean that women are getting less abortions.


Reference
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/25/AR2010012503957.html

Women & HIV/AIDS

When the HIV/AIDS epidemic started in the United States, it was most abundant in young homosexual males and intravenous drug users. But now women account for a fourth of all the cases reported in the United States. And black women seem to have the most cases of HIV. HIV/AIDS was the leading cause of death among black women ages 25-34 in 2004. Also, in 2004, HIV/AIDS was the sixth leading cause of death among all women aged 25-34. In the majority of these cases, high risk heterosexual sex was the main cause. Only a small portion was due to intravenous drug use.

Younger age is a risk factor for HIV. The largest number of HIV cases in the past ten years have been women aged 15-39. Being unaware of your partner's risk factors is another. Many women are unaware of their partner's sexual history, especially if their partner is bisexual. This can raise your chances of contracting HIV from your partner. Of course not using protection is an obvious risk factor. Younger women, especially in their teens, are less likely to use protection if their partner is older. Also, women are just more likely to contract a sexually transmitted disease because of the way our body is built. Substance abuse is also another risk factor. This does not only apply to intravenous drug use, this applies to all types of drug use. Women are more likely to engage in high risk sexual activity when they are under the influence. With all the risk factors that women can have when it comes to contracting HIV, using protection is the best way to prevent infection.

Reference
http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/women/resources/factsheets/women.htm