Discussion of Abortion Essay -- Social Issues Abortion Teen Pregnancy

Discussion of Abortion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Abortion is the surgical termination of a pregnancy. How odd that people are able to define something, that is such a controversial issue, so easily. There are hundreds, thousands, and even millions of things to say about abortion. When it comes to abortion, I find myself thinking like a symbolic interactionist. Abortion is a personal social issue and it needs to be seen on a micro level first. Although abortion can also be seen on a macro level, seeing abortion on a micro level lets people see the different symbols of abortion. No social condition creates the same symbol. If abortion is seen on a macro level, all the myths and stereotypes of abortion seem more realistic. For example, some of those myths and stereotypes being, most abortions are from minorities and most people who have abortions are teen girls. If abortion were seen on a micro level it would be evident that these myths and stereotypes are simply not true. Every abortion that occurs has a story beh ind it or a reason behind it. Many of us automatically assume that the person who had the abortion is immoral without even knowing the reason for why the abortion took place in the fist place. And this brings up a series of questions. When is an abortion considered moral or immoral? What should the legal status of abortion be? Should the father have a say if one should have an abortion or not? The answer to these questions are within a persons own mind and how they view this social condition. My answers to these questions are as follows.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I believe that when an abortion is considered moral or immoral all depends on the symbol. For instance, one of my family members had an abortion and I found her decision to have an abortion moral. The symbol behind my family members abortion is as follows. For the purpose of privacy I will refer to my family member as Kate and her first love as Sam. When Kate was fourteen years old, she met her first love. They both went to the same high school but Sam was two years older than Kate. Sam and Kate went out for the next two months and got closer with each passing date. Sam was one of the popular guys in school and could have any girl he wanted so Kate didn’t understand why he was setting his eyes on her. Kate was extremely flattered that Sam even considered going out with her. So as one of the popular guys in school and being... ... in our society for a long long time, maybe even forever. One to two percent of women who have had an abortion will have another one. Twenty percent of abortions are still back ally abortions and thirty nine percent of women that have back ally abortions become infernal. It is really hard for me to believe that there are one point five million abortions every year and that’s only counting the legal abortions. The number one thing that divides moral from immoral when it comes to abortion is the symbol. The symbol basically decides all opinions on abortion. If the symbol is of a woman with a life threatening pregnancy then people would consider this woman’s abortion moral. On the other hand, if the symbol is of a woman that just doesn’t feel like having a baby and wants to get an abortion then people would consider this woman’s abortion as immoral. Like I said before it all depends on the symbol. This is why, when it comes to abortion, I find myself thin king like a symbolic interactionist. There are just too many different symbols of abortion to think of it in a macro level. Symbolic interactionists are completely right when talking about abortion, well at least that’s my opinion.