Abortion and Gender Inequalities

Introduction

Abortion is the act of terminating a pregnancy, and it may therefore be intended or unintended. Induced abortion or intended abortion, is an abortion carried out by an expectant woman due to her own reasons. On the other hand, unintended abortion is the loss of pregnancy through miscarriage. Medical practitioners can therefore help in conducting an abortion. For example, the NHS which are the only hospitals licensed to carry out abortion. There are only three major ways of carrying out abortion in which the first one is to visit a contraception center or a sexual health hospital (Lurie, 2004). The second option is to seek a referral from an authorized body for abortion services if the need arises. The third and last option is to get in touch with an abortion provider directly through phone calls or text messages so that you can be advised the way forward. On the other side gender equality is the ability to access Facilities and exploit the possible chances freely independent of whether you are a male or a female.

Relationship of Abortion to Gender (In)Equality

Approximately 45 million women terminate their pregnancy per year in the world. The rate of abortion steeply rose from 1994, but it later dropped since the 1980s. Since abortion began, it is always blamed on the women who terminates their pregnancy. In the US, most of the women feel like the state is adopting a restrictive abortion administration because of the recently proposed penalties against abortion (frost, & dodoo, 2009). Men in the United States are really in great support of pro-life movement as oppose to the few women who are part of the pro-life movement.

It is cumulatively estimated that almost 45 million women abort yearly in the world regardless of whether it is an authorized or unauthorized abortion. Studies show that the European countries are somehow strict that the United States because of the unbearable penalties enforced in the European nations (Altiok, 2013). The severity of the abortion penalties differs from country to country though they are aimed at torturing women, lowering their dignity, increasing the cost and hindering the women accessibility to abortion services.

Race and Class Inequalities in the United States

There are different races and classes in the United States facing various forms of inequalities regarding power, life opportunities, and wealth. The rate of abortion in the United States is somehow dependent on the race and class inequalities. Demographic studies in the United States show that the number of black women terminating their pregnancy per year is four times more than the white women aborting their babies (Mead, & Irish, 2016). The rate of abortion in the United States is inversely proportional to the class levels in the United States in that the low living class is the leading followed by the middle class and lastly the high-class women who are rare to get involved in abortion issues. The issue of poverty, which consequently affects African American women tends to limit them from being able to access birth control pills. Moreover, due to poverty, most African American girls tend to indulge in sexual activities in order to be able to cater for their needs, hence ending up pregnant.

The main issue facing African American women is the lack of birth control pills. This therefore makes it hard for them to be able to control their birth, hence opting to conduct an abortion. Moreover, the issue of poverty affects their studies, making most teenagers to drop out of schools, a move which consequently makes them to indulge in sexual practices hence leading to unwanted pregnancies. The abuse of drugs is also prevalent among the African Americans as compared to the whites, a move which consequently makes most teenagers to indulge in sexual activities which result in pregnancies.

 An organization such as the issue4life company is so much dedicated to fighting abortion in the United States (Morris, 2014). Their goal mainly is to save the life of the innocent black American babies aborted every year in the United States. The organization claims that planned parenthood federation of America plus other pro-choicers are the people responsible for the increasing number of abortion among the black women in the United States of America. A case study carried out in 2004 on women population in the United States revealed that white women are about 35%, Hispanic 21%blacks 10% and the remaining 34% represent the other women. However, the analysis for abortion showed that the black women who represent the minority are the leading. Programs such as the Obamacare in the United States assists in creating public awareness about the impacts of abortion, especially through social media.

Global Inequalities

Reproductive justice broadly analyses, interprets, and protects the rights accompanied by abortion. It is a body that positively handles the reproductive health factors and abortion-related issues concerning women’s health to create and maintain their wellbeing. The body tries to understand the relationship between abortion, racism, and class in details so that it can get the relevant information which can assist in defending the abortion rights as well as to maintain the wellbeing of women and the girl child (Altiok, 2013. The organization categorizes the human rights into eight groups though the one associated with abortion is the sexual rights. Sexual rights protect abortion in that it argues on the fact that it is an individual’s decision to give birth or not, to decide to marry or not to marry.

Family planning programs are mostly working with women compared to men who are always ignorant to learn more about family planning. International family planning programs have been merged with medical and health programs to as to develop a more efficient medication that can be used to terminate the pregnancy as per the specialist prescription. The government of various nations through the NHS hospitals have developed policies that govern abortion (Morris, 2014). NHS gives three ways of abortion but first, you must be above 18 years otherwise there should be a guardian or a parent. There is an option of directly communicating with authorized abortion providers such as the National unplanned pregnancy advisory service (NUPAS). Another option is to seek a referral to an abortion serves from a licensed authority. Lastly, one is advised to visit a genitourinary medicine center or a family planning center for further guidance and counseling before making critical decisions that can haunt or lead to death. In conclusion, expectant women should frequently visit hospitals or guide and counseling centers to seek for advice especially if there are expecting their first born. The pro-lifers should also understand that at times abortion is done to save the mother`s life in case the doctor detects a medical complication that may hinder the successful birth process.

 

 

References

Altiok, O. (2013). Reproducing the Nation. Contexts, 12(2), 46-51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1536504213487698

frost, a., & dodoo, f. (2009). men are missing from african family planning. Contexts, 8(1), 44-49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/ctx.2009.8.1.44

Lurie, P. (2004). Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organize for Reproductive Justice. Journal Of Public Health Policy, 25(3-4), 448-449. http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jphp.3190043

Mead, M., & Irish, L. (2016). Spousal Influence on CPAP Adherence: Applications of Health-related Social Control. Social And Personality Psychology Compass, 10(8), 443-454. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12260

Morris, T. (2014). C-Section Epidemic. Contexts, 13(1), 70-72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1536504214522013