TEENAGE PREGNANCY

                        Teenage pregnancy is never looked up upon.  From the age of 13 to 19 is the age of most teenagers being pregnant.  People in society always think that it is a horrible outcome of something that teens should have never gone and done.  Many parents think that a teenager being pregnant is their own fault and they should not be responsible for it.  Studies said that teen pregnancy occur because parents don’t talk to their children about the topic of sex.  Parents are scared and are uncomfortable about the fact of talking to their kids about have sex.

            Pregnancy is something which some teens say is a night mare.  Teenagers don’t know what to do when they are pregnant and are scared because their parents never talked to them about sex.  When teenagers found out that they were pregnant, they point fingers to their sexual partner because they think that they did something wrong, for example, they didn’t wear protection of they didn’t take the birth control pill.  IN some cases teens don’t wear protection because they think that it cant happen to them  

            Teenager pregnancy is actually looked up upon on some cultures.  IN some cultures teens are getting married as young as 14 or 15 and getting pregnant.  Parents in these cultures actually think that when they get pregnant is a good think, so that the ext generation can go on and they have someone to carry their family name down the line.  IN other cases, some teens do want to get pregnant.  Nine percent of unmarried teenagers wanted to get pregnant for their own reason.

There are also many risk factors that young teenagers should watch out for.  One factor that teenagers didn’t keep in mind is the fact that they are having sexual intercourse and they aren’t using protect.  But the point is that teenagers should not have intercourse because all the contraception for examples condoms, birth control pills isn’t a hundred percent effective.

            The question in people’s mind is “Why teenagers have sex, add do so without effective methods of contraception?  Some reasons are that teenagers become sexually mature before they reach the stage of emotional maturity.  Teenagers are growing up with single parents, listen to music and want TV and motion pictures often transmit and overt messages that unmarried sexual relationships are accepted and is common to everyone.  Another reason why teenagers have sexual intercourse is because school, home and in other community places don’t offer education about responsible sexual intercourses.

            Some other risk factors for teenage girls are early dating behavior.  Early alcohol and drug use such as tobacco products can influence teenage girls to have sexual intercourse.  Another factor is dropping out of school, lack of support groups or new friends can cause teenagers to turn bad.  Lack of involvement in school, family or activities give very little hope for young girls to be successful.  Another factor is that girls grow up in an area where teenage pregnancy is a normal thing plants the idea that if they have sexual intercourse and do get pregnant would be a normal thing.  Many other factors such as growing up under poverty or being a victim of sexual abuse or assault or even having mothers who gave birth to babies when they are under 19 can give an image to an adolescent that pregnancy is a normal thing.

             There are programs now that help reduce teenage pregnancy.  Programs tend to focus on an approach to the issue of teen pregnancy, or these programs use a combination of approaches.  There are knowledge based programs that focus on teaching adolescents about their bodies and the body’s normal functions.  This program also give adolescents detailed information about protection.

            There are many symptoms for pregnancy and there are also signs and tests.  Pregnancy symptoms are missed period, fatigue, breast enlargement and breast tenderness, abdominal distention, nausea or vomiting and light headedness or actual fainting.  Having a missed period doesn’t always mean that you are pregnant.  Missed period can mean that your hormones are not right and it just a once or twice thing.  These signs don’t always mean that you are pregnant.  To be sure that you are you should take tests in a clinic or a hospital.

            Teenagers may not say that they have had sexual intercourse.  One sign is that your weight change, it is normally a weight gain but because of all nausea and vomiting a young teenager can get a loss in weight.  A pregnancy test of urine and serum HCG are usually the test that you can take to be sure if you are pregnant or not.  Another test to confirm the dates for pregnancy is the pregnancy ultrasound.

            Sign are usually obvious to a person that she is pregnant.  The sign or morning sickness and missed period should be enough to let the adolescent know that she is pregnant.  But the most positive way to make sure that you are pregnant is to go to the doctor and get tested and to get information if you are and to see what are the factor that you need to watch out for.

            If the adolescent doesn’t want to baby she could have an abortion or just giving up the infant for adoption is another option.  Abortion can only be done if the adolescent is unmarried and it is legally obtained.  This means that having an abortion can be done without parental consent.  In a case of married teens consent from the husband maybe needed to get he abortion.

            Giving up the infant is another option.  Majority of pregnant teens choose to continue their pregnancies and keep their infants until their due dates and they send their infants for adoption.

            To ensure healthy babies the teens should get adequate prenatal care.  Smoking, alcohol use, and drug abuse is strongly discouraged.  Nutrition, exercise and sleep are important to both the baby and the mother.  Contraceptive information and services are also important.  Information about delivery is also important to the teenagers.

            High rates of illness and death for both the mother and infant is complications for adolescent pregnancy.  Another complication is that teenage girls are emotionally and physically not ready to have a healthy baby.  Compare to grown women their changes of having a healthy baby are slim.

            Teenager’s infants are 2 to 6 times more likely to have low birth weight than mothers whose age is 20 and up.  Another complication factor is that prematurely and intrauterine growth retardation has a great role in the infants that are born from teenagers.  Another great risk for inadequate growth, infection, or chemical dependence, is from the smoking, alcohol use, or drug abuse from the mother.  Inconsistent nutrition or multiple sexual partners may also have an impact of the new born.

            There are many articles about teens and the baby they didn’t want.  There was an article about Amy Grossberg and Brain Peterson and their baby.  In 1996 Amy gave birth to a healthy baby in a motel room.  Both Amy and Brain didn’t want the baby so Brain wrapped the infant in a garbage bag and threw him in the dumpster.  As months pasted by, they have been in denial about having a baby and the fact that Amy was pregnant.  In this case teenage pregnancy is not looked upon and many teenagers do find that the only way to hide the fact that they were pregnant or that they had a baby is to kill the infant.

            Teenage pregnancy in different people points of view maybe a good and a bad thing.  But if a teenager do get pregnant they have many factors to look out for and have to do.  There are signs and test for teens who want to know if they are pregnant.  There are also complication and treatment that the teens can get.  The most important thing when you’re pregnant is to ask yourself if you want the child or not.  If you do, you have to be sure that you don’t smoke, drink or do any other substances that may harm your child.  Teenage pregnancy isn’t looked up upon but in some cases because of the lack of sexual education, it may be too late for the teen to learn about it.

High School Diploma Required!

High school is four years of useful time.  High school prepares you for college and your future success.  Many teens use these four years to help them become better prepared for the future.  Others like Jay Mathews find it a waste of precious time when you can work and still make money. Mathews States, “Some can just survive in this environment”. For instance, look at Bill Gates and Abraham Lincoln they are successful and self educated. Yet, these examples are one in a billion, not everyone has this opportunity.  Being rich without a high school diploma is like winning the lottery. Students without a high school diploma might need more than a miracle.

            However, one exception is Bill Gates. In his junior year, Gates left Harvard to devote his energies to Microsoft, a company he had started in 1975 with his childhood friend Paul Allen. Bill Gates at age thirteen found his interest in computers. As a young adult he devoted his time to computer programming and later became successful. Gates explains that, “when he was growing he didn’t have many problems because he got everything he wanted. His mother was a middle school teacher; his father an attorney. I grew up very wealthy but being wealthy isn’t everything” With this realization, he knew that hard work and discipline are the keys to success.

The two examples that Mathews identified were from two different decades. Abraham Lincoln is another one of the exceptions to this rule. Lincoln had to struggle for a living and for education, yet he still became the 16^th President. Lincoln made extraordinary efforts to attain knowledge while working on a farm, one of his responsibilities included splitting rails for fences. In addition, he was a captain in the Black Hawk War, spent eight years in the Illinois Legislature, and he rode the circuit courts for many years. His law partner said, "His ambition was a little engine that knew no rest”. Although Lincoln was self educated he was determined and through his efforts he became the President. Also, despite many obstacles he abolished slavery.

“Why do you want to Drop out of school?” ,this is a common question for teens that think about dropping out. Most high school dropouts are related to family, peers, disabilities and economical problems. High school students may drop because their family needs money to pay bills, in order for them to have a roof over their heads. The death of a family member or friend can lead students to be stressed out or depressed. Peers are another reason for student drop out. Being over weight, short or even being too tall may be a reason to be teased . As a result, students may have low self esteem . Students with disabilities either physical or mental are also picked on, or put down. Many other students choose to dropout to get away from working too hard. Stubborn students don’t understand that knowledge is power. Others realize that staying in school will help them to achieve their goals.

             High school is one of the greatest steps to becoming successful .High school may have obstacles, which every one can overcome if they desire. Life, as well, has obstacles which every one must overcome to live in this society. Without trying you are not going to get anything out of life. High school is very important, it prepares you for future challenges.

The consequences of living and growing up with out the proper education may lead to many disastrous events. According to USA Today, students who do not attend school are outside in the streets. On the street, young adults often become mobsters, hoodlums, gangsters or even drug dealers. Kids with no life may do graffiti, consume drugs, and get pressured to doing many other illegal activities. All of the people mentioned above make the society very corrupt. Young girls may become pregnant. Too many young mothers may abandon their babies. As a result, the abandoned children are faced with the same problems as their parents.  If there were more Community Centers, Military Cadet Corps, and after school recreation centers it would   help adolescents stay away from the streets. These activities could discipline them and give them places where they can go.  Than there might just be a lot less corruption. An example of this would be during the 1930’s during the Great Depression.  From 1930 -1935 President Theodore Roosevelt came up with a new deal which gave unemployed people jobs to keep them busy from protesting or making the Bonus Army. The Bonus Army was a veteran military personal who protested and wanted more money. The (CCC) Civilian conservation Corps provided young people with jobs such as fixing bridges painting walls cleaning up streets, this made society to be better and keep young people off the streets away from drugs and out of problems.

            Without a High School diploma the average amount of money the person can get through out their lifespan is about less than a million, according to the Daily News.   Studies have found that young adults with low education and skill levels are more likely to live in poverty and to receive government assistance. High school dropouts are likely to stay on public assistance longer than those with at least a high school degree. Further, high school dropouts are more likely to become involved in crime according to the child trends data bank society. Most teens don’t understand that a High School diploma is the Pass Port to success. There are very few jobs that can be found that pays well without a high school diploma. Yet, manual labor is required such as busting your chops for ten dollars an hour. Teens don’t realize that as time passes by more technology is being born. Even to be a Sanitation employer you must have at lest 2 years of college, although they make more than N.Y teachers they just study to make pick up garbage. The new technology that is being created today may start taking over many jobs, for example the industrial revolution. Many farmers lost their jobs to machinery. In fact, many teens believe that going to work now will make them rich later, by them saving up. Going to school will make them a pauper. Actually going to school will make them more educated and sophisticated.

Believe it or not a high school diploma is very important.  It may not seem as important to the students within the United States.  To foreigners it’s their dream degree.  Being that foreigners have little money and cannot afford to pay for their education, they dropout of high school and decide to work.  This situation is understandable, but what excuse can a student give when they are in the U.S. and their education is free.  Yet when foreigners still come to the U.S. some of them still drop out.  The statistics of Hispanics dropping out of high school is really high.

A new study by the Department of Education examines school dropout rates over the past 30 years. Overall the numbers are encouraging. Dropout rates are declining for African-Americans and whites, but one group, the group with the highest dropout rate of all, has remained largely unchanged.

Seventeen-year-old Marina has seen this phenomenon in her own family. “Almost everyone in my family went to school ‘til the sixth grade and just dropped out,” she says.

Over a quarter of Hispanic kids ages 16 to 24 have dropped out of school. That’s more than twice as many as any other group. Some kids say it’s a cultural difference. “People from our culture, like Mexicans, Hispanics, they take the easy route – just drop out instead of working hard,” says 18-year-old Omar.

         But many Hispanic kids are dropping out and working hard. Tammie Roach, the academic coordinator of an alternative school says, “A lot of our students feel they could serve themselves and their families better if they go out and get a full time job as opposed to coming to school.”

Sixteen-year-old Jose has seen it happen. “My friend just dropped out because his brother dropped out and started working, making money – not big money, but he liked it, and so he followed his brother,” he says.

There are choices out there for kids who need help, Hispanic or otherwise. Roach says, “Normally I see broken spirits – students who want badly to get a diploma, who want badly to be successful, because they have the same kind of dreams and hopes that other students have, but they don’t know how to set themselves up to be successful.”

Considering myself as someone that attempt to drop out I can say that things are very difficult.  There are a lot of things that one as a teen should think about before making a decision that we could regret.  All I know is that I’ve made the right choice, I am in school and I have one more year to go.  The fact that I am getting my high school diploma makes me feel like I have succeeded and I am happy to say that I will not be part of the percentage of Hispanic drop outs. I really don’t want my younger sisters see me as a quitter. What I want is for them to look up to me. If I dropout I believe that it would cause a chain reaction. Without me going to school every year I would not be able to cultivate my learning skills to help others like they have helped me.

Should FCC Be Able to Regulate Radio or TV Programs?

Currently a government agency called the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) has been trying to shut down some of the funniest radio programs on air using their “indecency” as an excuse. The FCC was established in 1934, and has been charged with regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable. Many of the services provided by the FCC are beneficial. The censorship aspect of their rigid power is not. The FCC has been abusing their power to control the radio and satellite waves. They are not only violating the freedom of speech of radio broadcasters but are also violating your rights to hear what these broadcasters have to say.

On April 8, 2004 the FCC charged $495,000 in fines at Clear Channel Communications for 18 different occurrences of indecency on the Howard Stern show. The fines represent the maximum allowable for each act and are a blatant attempt by the FCC to force Howard Stern off the air. Chillingly, the FCC was successful in forcing Stern off the air. The offense Stern is guilty of is discussing his new anti-Bush campaign and urging his viewers not to vote for President Bush on air, while playing gag noises. Clear Channel decided to permanently drop Howard Stern. They said, "Mr. Stern's show has created a great liability for us and other broadcasters who air it," said John Hogan, president and CEO of Clear Channel Radio, in a news release. "The Congress and the FCC are even beginning to look at revoking station licenses. That's a risk we're just not willing to take." So now the government has the power to force a hugely popular disc jockey off the air because they don't like what they hear.

A comedian named George Carlin (Dogma, Scary Movie 3) did a routine, which was restricted by the FCC because he read aloud a poem called “Howl” by Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997). “Howl” is a deeply dark poem about starving artist going crazy and voicing their opinions against government control and meeting the demands of a brutal world. An FCC chairman attacked Carlin for reading the poem, which was, quote “deemed obscene and spread unwanted propaganda.”[1] The only part of Ginsberg’s’ poem aloud to be read does not allow the listener to fully understand the meaning of the poem because it is judged to be obscene and rude.

But industry lawyers said the different outcomes showed the commission's arbitrariness. ''The agency's decisions now tend to be so ad hoc by their very nature,'' Mr. Sanford said. ''It's hard to find a common thread or say, “This is the line.'' It has become hard, even for the experts, to tell what is or isn’t indecent.

These are some of the decisions that have stirred debate:

·        On Oct. 12, the commission proposed to fine 169 stations for broadcasting the April 7 episode of Fox's ''Married by America,'' which it said involved party goers licking ''whipped cream from strippers' bodies in a sexually suggestive manner'' (Fox noted that none of this occurred on camera) and showed a man in his underwear being ''playfully spanked'' by two female strippers.

·        In August, the commission denied a complaint against NBC's ''Will & Grace'' for an episode that the agency said showed two women kissing and then rubbing against each other to simulate intercourse. The agency also denied a complaint against an episode of UPN's ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''[2]

One good thing about this whole ordeal is that adults all over are gathering and doing all they can to stop the FCC from regulating what we hear on the radio. There are protests and petitions being signed all over. One popular petition[3] being signed states the following:

·        Every adult American has the right to watch the TV shows they want without government interference;

·        Every parent has the right to decide what TV shows their children watch;

·        Every adult should have access to easy-to-use parental controls and information about program content;

·        Every parent needing help using those controls should receive it; and,

·        Americans' favorite programs and freedom to decide for themselves are threatened by government control.

Another organization formed to help protect your freedom of speech against the FCC is the Center of Democracy and Technology (CDT). CDT is urging bloggers and other Internet users to sign a set of principles calling on Congress and the Federal Elections Commission to keep troublesome federal campaign finance laws from hindering the online political speech of individuals. “The principles, developed in collaboration with the Institute for Politics, Democracy & the Internet (IPDI) of George Washington University, respond to a recent proposal by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) that considers extension of burdensome campaign finance laws to the Internet. CDT and IPDI have launched a web site to promote the principles and to allow bloggers and other users to educate the FEC on the diversity of independent political commentary online.” [4]

The FCC is worried that certain things people say or certain things people do will offend someone greatly. You cannot curse because it offends the children, you cannot make jokes because it offends the homosexuals or the Mexicans or the African Americans etc. But what the FCC does not seem to realize is that every person is different and someone is always going to be offended because that is what the human race has grown to be: one great group of offended individuals. And regulating what these individuals listens to or watch will not solve the problem, it will just make them more agitated than before.  

The really astounding thing about this censorship is that every computer, television and radio already comes with a device to protect its viewer from offensive material. It’s called the off button. Those who do not wish to hear or view offensive material are not obligated to, but (as Supreme Court Justice points out) the FCC violates the rights of those who do wish to hear or view the broadcast. The American citizen does not need the government to tell him or her what he or she should watch. It is an individual’s choice. Martin Luther King Jr. once said that censorship, like charity, should start in the home. Unlike charity, King added, it should stay.

An individual should have the freedom of expression on the airwaves, radio waves or Internet. The individual should be able to choose the words he or she feels would best express him or herself. The censorship of the FCC is in direct violation of our liberties mainly because decency is in the eye of the beholder. It is even stated in your very own constitution “Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or the press”. Radio stations are made for the public, so why not let the public form a foundation in which we can work together and vote on what programs we would like to hear and when. The government has an obligation to protect our children, but this is no longer about protecting them. The FCC is strengthening regulations on broadcasters not to protect the children, but to silence the adults. Today you allow them to make quiet the radio broadcasters, after that they will go after the Internet, pretty soon they will be controlling what you read. The Golden Age of Democracy is coming to an end. We must choose now whether we want a controlling government today or a destructive tyranny tomorrow.

Works Cited

Articles:

1.      Excerpt from the upcoming book CYBER RIGHTS, by Mike Godwin (Random House, forthcoming in 1996, Publisher: MIT Press)

2.      The New York Times, By Stephen Labaton, December 23, 2004

3.      TV Watch, Jack Balkin, First Amendment Professor, Yale Law School

4. TV Watch, Petition: http://www.televisionwatch.org/site/c.dqLSI7OCKlF/b.509825/k.122/Who_We_Are.htm
5. (CDT) Center for Democracy and Technology: http://www.cdt.org/
6. Howard Stern links: http://www.howardstern.com/archive.php

                                             http://www.house.gov/writerep/

[1] Excerpted from the upcoming book CYBER RIGHTS, by Mike Godwin (Random

[2] The New York Times, By Stephen Labaton, December 23, 2004

Works Cited

Gierach, Ryan.  “Sam-Sex Parenting Study Shows Gender Role Differnces.

Lesbian News. Jun2001, Vol. 26 Issue 11, p22, 1/2p. May2005 http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&an=4726170

Logue, Patricia M.  “The Rights of Lesbian and Gay Parents an Their Children”

            www.aaml.org/Articles/2002-2/ Rights%20of%20Lesbian%20-%20Logue.htm -                                            296k

Arlene Istar Lev CSW-R, CASAC “Lesbian and Gay Parenting”

            May2005 members.aol.com/tjfronczak/lesgayparenting.htm         
 

Cybernetic Death

            The Internet is a powerful teaching tool for millions of people.  The vast knowledge attainable from the Internet is astounding, yet most people don’t think twice about the destructive nature the Internet possesses.  While most people who use the Internet do so for information sharing and other harmless activities, some are more engaged in the cybernetic world than many people realize.  The Internet can become their home, a place where they can shed the normality of everyday life to become someone extraordinary.  These people learn to express themselves to people why will never know, to trust in their opinions, and to follow their actions.

            You can literally do anything on the Internet, from researching car loans to searching for the perfect love.  Yes, such freedom to do whatever you want can be exhilarating but could it also is dangerous?  For some people it can, the Internet can be the source of the wrong kind of support.  While some people may wonder what kind of support could be negative others already know the answers all too well from the tragic loss of loved ones.

            During the past years increasing number of people has been using the Internet for destructive purposes.  The new trend of suicide is now through Internet sites that explain in details how to and offers chat groups for people to plan, meet up and commit suicide together.  As studies indicate suicide leads to and estimated 30,622 deaths annually in the United States alone.  (Caruso)  Although the Internet is not the major cause of suicides, it is just a matter of time before it becomes a major tool used to aid in suicides.

            A common question many people may ask is “Why would people go online to commit suicide?”  The answer to that is simple.  It isn’t easy to commit suicide and those who attempt it can fail and end up with major injuries.  Rather than risk the pain, and often having their family and friends beg them not to do it, these people seek accomplices to support them and encourage them.  The Internet is the best place as it offers anonymous web chats and to find partners.  Through websites that support suicide people can make dates, details and even plan “suicide parties” where everyone commits suicide together in someone’s home, or on the web via web cam.

            Suicidal people often have a tendency to hurt not only themselves but anyone around them they could.  They feel it is their duty to bring to an end the pain of as many people as they can.  The see it as euthanasia, or a mercy killing, not as the murder which is a more violent act bent on hurting someone for personal pleasure or extreme hate.  The effects of the Internet on suicides is not well know, however, over the course of the next few years chances are that there will be an alarming increase of suicide pacts.

            Depression is a leading cause of suicides, but in the new era, suicide cults and peer pressure are growing as causes.  Both of which can be found through the Internet.  51.1% of all suicides results from a firearm of some sort, 20.2% of suicides results from handing or suffocation, and 17.0% of suicides results from poisoning.  (Caruso)  Suicide cults are groups of people who believe in suicide for religious or other reasons; they usually commit suicide at the same time.  Suicides by peer pressure are when friends encourage behavior that leads to the suicide of the person.

            How do people react to suicidal people on the Internet?  Sadly this question does not entail a happy answer, many people feel that people who mention suicide are joking, bluffing, or trying to get attention.  Sometimes they are, sometimes they aren’t, but regardless of whether or not they are, the fact remains.  If someone tells you they want to commit suicide, get them help immediately.  Unfortunately this rarely happens, for some obscure reason, people seem to think that people on the Internet are trained actors, perhaps it’s the amount of time we spend watching television that has blurred our perception of reality and fantasy?

            January or 2003 is a month Nancy Russell would never forget.  At 1 p.m. when she went to awaken her son, Brandon Vedas, she discovered he was dead.  It wasn’t after a few weeks after his alleged suicide that they discovered the truth the Internet played in the final moments of his life.  Brandon was a computer technician who spent most of his free time surfing the Internet, however, on the night of January 11, he entered a chat room he frequently visited, this would be the last time anyone saw him alive.

            He had invited all his friends to watch him take drugs, which had been prescribed, to him by various doctors, which was most likely attained by falsifying symptoms so he could legally get drugs to become high.  Through the web cam he had, they watched him, offering supportive statements such as “eat more that’s not much” and “I wanna see if you survive or if you just black out” as he popped more and more pills which were supposed to help for depression.   Some people did try to him our, begging him to stop or asking other people to get help, with statements of “i really love you man its sad to see you die like this” as he lapsed further into a coma which would eventually take his life.  What happened when Brandon lost consciousness?  The spectators logged off as if that was a normal day of watching a television drama.  Through the words of ‘Smoke2k’, who turns out to be a teenager, the sickening statements of “it’s been fun watching this stunt” and “might not want to do that you could really get him arrested” when other online spectators tried to get help; but the most sickening statement has to be the “good night” at the end as he logs off further ignoring the fact that he had assisted in the death of another person.

            In Japan online Suicide pacts, is responsible for 18 deaths since February 2003 to June 2003 including the 4 deaths on June 10^th of 2003.  While Japan is “plagued by an astronomical suicide rate,” the estimate of just over 30,000 suicides shocks experts. (Huus)  These recent suicides have been linked to the Internet where information on how to kill oneself by carbon monoxide poisoning emitting from a coal burning stone.  The websites advocates the philosophy, “If you are going to do it, don’t hurt yourself – do it right” (Huus)

            In February of 2005, a mass suicide attempt, which was to take place on February 14, was dubbed the “Valentine Day Suicide”.  It was organized on a web site chat group, and the leaders of the ‘party’, 26 year old Gerald Krien, was trying to coordinate around 32 people to commit suicide in his home in Oregon, if they couldn’t make it online via web cams.  Authorities got wind of this pact when a woman who was planning to kill herself and her two children.  Although it is not known if the whole party is a hoax, authorities did not take any chances, arresting Gerald and seizing his computer where he had allegedly coaxed women committing suicide together.

            Whether or not the people who were planning to go through with the ‘party’ are still thinking about going through with it is uncertain, authorities are making every possible effort to locate and try to protect these people.  People will always wonder what would have happened if the woman did not alert authorities.  Chances are they would have gone through with the planned suicide, and as sad as it may be, innocent people would have been hurt in the process.  As Klamath County Sheriff Timothy Evinger said,

            “The scary part is with just a name and intent on the Web, you can draw in people worldwide,” Evinger said. “It doesn’t surprise me that we could be just scratching the surface  ... the tip of the iceberg here.”  (CNN)

            Although Evinger would not disclose how the suicides were to be carried out, we can reasonably assume they would probably take the most common methods, whether it be firearms, hanging, or poisoning, the outcome would be the same.  Family members and friends grieving for their loved ones, forever wondering what they could have done to prevent the disaster from occurring.  According to Caruso, “each suicide intimately affects at least 6 other people. (estimate)”  Does this give people the right to prevent a person from taking their own life?  While no one can honestly say, it does give us a reason to try and stop people who think suicide is the way out; we need to show them how much they really do mean to people, and their death will do nothing but deepen the misery of their loved ones who already struggle knowing they cannot help enough or don’t know how to help.

            The alarming growth of Internet Websites that promote suicide as the answer to everyday problems is astounding.  As the use of the Internet continues to grow, people will find more and more ways to harm themselves under the watchful eyes of others.  The website administrators are assistants in murder; they prey on people that are having emotional problems and exploit them in the worst possible way.  Medical and law enforcement personals need access to personal information granted by suspected suicidal people in order to prevent the death and ultimately help them realize there is much more reasons to live than to die.  The last words Brandon Vedas spoke were, “I told u I was hardcore.”  Let us not make the same mistake he did; let us prevent suicide in every form possible.

Bibliography

http://www.msnbc.msn/id/3340456/ Huss, Kari.  “Japan’s chilling Internet suicide pacts” June 10 2003

Article on Japan’s recent suicides in the Fuji Mountains

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/02/10/valentine.suicide/  “Man held over alleged Internet suicide plot” February 11 2005.

Article on Valentine’s Day suicide pact.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2003%2F02%2F09%2Fwsuic09.xml&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=108966 Craig, Olga.  “Chatmates watched internet suicide” news.telegraph.  September 2 2003.

Article on Brandon Vedas online overdose.

            In the 1800’s there was slavery (shackles, whips, human cargo ships, and auctions of people), but now in the 20^th century there is Human Trafficking; A new form of slavery.  Child Trafficking is part of this “new slavery”; which is the transportation of children for illegal and inhumane purposes.  Some of there reasons are prostitution, forced labor, exploitation, and even for the child’s organs.  Many people know of these criminal acts but still fail to fix it.  Many news businesses and even police forces have only basic information.  Though, even they fail to stop it.  There are many organizations of traffickers that get away with this everyday crime around the world.  Like in South Asia, Indonesia and even in Europe.

            Many people find it hard to believe that some 27 million people, 10 million being children are enslaved all around the world. They are being beaten, tortured, mutilated and rapped; and losing all human rights in the process. (Spencer Crew 22)

            Children are trafficked to work in sweatshops as bonded labor in the “three D-jobs” dirty, difficult and dangerous.  CIA reports about fifty thousand women and children are brought to the United States every year under false pretense as forced to world as prostitutes, abused laborers or servants (Kavita Chowdhury news).

            A catholic Sister Clare Nolen has gone on missionaries and seen things that are shocking and disturbing.  Girls, boys and women are taken to other countries channeled into the sex industry.  Asia, many pimps buy girls for three hundred dollars and buy virgins that go from three thousands to five thousand dollars.  The girls are delivered to pimps in the United States for about Twenty Thousand dollars.  Sister Nolen has met girls and women who have had thoughts about suicide daily and live in permanent gynecological pain.  Many of them are prisoners kept in isolation.  These girls were duped, coerced, beaten, raped, drugged and threatened (this is there everyday or week routine).  Cistone, who runs a refugee center in Rome states “what breaks my heart is to be propositioned by children six and seven years old, …. If you go to Bosnia on Business, many places assume they should send you a sixteen year old girl or boy to your room….Has the trafficking of human really got this intense where people just send you a child prostitute?” In Eastern Europe, it is typical for criminals to videotape their gang rape of a young girl, show her the tape and threaten to send it to her parents unless she submits to Sex Slavery. (Long, Laren 17)

            In 1998, fifteen children from Benin were taken from their home country.  Boys and girls from the age of eleven to eighteen.  They were brought to Cote d’ Ivore where they worked on coffee and cocoa farms, as street vendors, domestic workers and helpers on construction sites.  They were promised four years of labor for one million FCFA, which is like sixteen hundred U.S. dollars.  These children were poor and need to make money for their family.  They spent four years in slavery without family and friends.  When in the long run in return for four years they were given fifty thousand FCFA, which is sixteen hundred U.S. dollars.  They were deceived and who profits in the end, these traffickers that are still hard to catch in action.  (Powel Savo 2)

            A women who remains unnamed lost her child at the age of two years old.  Hereby was kidnapped and she was looking for her child for about four years.  This worried parent did not give up but she worked so hard to find her.  All the cops could say to her that she could just wait till signs of her child come up. But this mother was not about to let go of her child that easy.  Then she got word that traffickers had taken her and are selling her.  The cops go on it and were able to her daughter back and she was lucky to be found.  For the fact that many are not so fortunate to survive and to be found while in that dirty business or prostitution.  (Marianne Kearney 28)

            Many things contribute to the cause of this “great evil”. Whether it is natural disasters, poverty, and just homeless (no family) are big factors.

            IN recent news, the Tsunami hit in Indonesia caused a terrible aftermath.  Children were one third of the casualties; and those survived are suffering the worst effects.  Many of these children after the wave hit, about thirty-five thousand children have lost one or both parents.  Thousands of children without protectors (parents) and are in danger from human traffickers.  They view this as a great opportunity to prey and get “new fresh meat”.  Sometimes these traffickers get these children by adoption and therefore adoption has been suspended in several countries.  There is also at the moment child protection officers making here faces visible in villages so to keep these criminals away. (New York Times 34) This is just recent but many natural disasters like the Tsunami hit make it a great target to get more children for trafficking.

            Poverty plays a big roll as well.  Most of the trafficking done is in these countries that are poor.  Sister Nolen serves the poor in 61 countries and agrees that poverty fuels prostitution (Long, Karen 17).  A country or person having no money makes it easier for the traffickers to take advantages and use them like animals.  Many of these traffickers see that since these people are not cared for or in desperate need to make money for survival.  They take advantages and do what they want with them, using them and making a profit off these poor children.  Poverty is perhaps the most crucial and major grounds for the start of trafficking.  In return for money children propose their bodies for sex or are forced to do so.

            Having no family or home is similar to poverty but is a big cause for trafficking just as much.  Since these kids have no one there to watch over them and protect them, traffickers use them to their advantage.  When they take these girls and boys, no one speaks up for them.  Kids who are alone are weak and are easy preys for traffickers’ business.

            During the 1800’s, Guardian Angels Campaign states that a young girl at the age of seven was sold into prostitution to benefit her father’s heroin habit.  After she was drugged, she was forced to have sexual acts for no money, and refusal would lead to abuse.  Later she was diagnosed with HIV.  All this was due to a messed up father and poverty.

            Though this problem has been going on for quite a while, very little is being done to stop this criminal act.  Little by little things are progressing but not enough to stop it completely.  You know the Tsunami hit in Indonesia, Ricky Martin and others are going over there to show people the crime that’s going on over there. This trip is meant to open peoples’ eyes and find ways to stop trafficking from happening.  (The New York Times 24).  There are many other organizations that try to help these children like Child Trafficking.com; their mission is to unite with many other anti-trafficking organizations and put there information together to help these kids who are in greater risk everyday.

            Many police forces such as Tijuana, San Diego; an office provide services to people who have been exploited by child pornography, prostitution and forced labor tings.( Anna Cearly B-1)  In San Diego county, Sheriff Bill Kolender and other law enforcement officials are creating a regional task force to prosecute those who buy or sell people for sexual exploitation or forced labor (Mark Arner B-4:2)  Girls who survive are helping stop this form occurring anymore, a sixteen year old said “I want to prevent children from going thought the same trauma that I have undergone delivering drugs, alcohol and leading this worse life possible:

            Many organizations like these can try to make difference buy I believe that the only way we can nip this in the butt as a while is to stop contributing to this trafficking of young girls and boys.  People must come together as a whole to stop this because a small number of people can’t do much but a great number of people can help reduce the numbers of children that are trafficked.  A way to stop children before they even get to the point of a child prostituting is to fix or help broken homes.  Don’t forget about the children who are homeless and leave them on their own to survive but assist them, maybe event take them in by giving them a home.  If we were to help them, then maybe so many kids wouldn’t be taken and abused.
 

                                                                             Is History Made by a Few Individuals?

        There was a vivid scene during the 1960s: walking around the college campus and/or on the street, young adolescence carried a high-lighter, a pen, a notebook, and a voluminous novel obviously at their side.  You might wonder what book that was.  Inevitably the book would be either The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged.  Both novels were the outstanding masterpieces of critical philosophical thinker, Ayn Rand.   

Ayn Rand has been firmly believed in her strong conviction which advocates “self-interest, creation, and individuality as supreme virtues”.  In other words, altruism is an evil element while egotism (concerned with one’s own welfare and enjoyment without interfering with others’) is a good virtue.  In both popular novels, Rand demonstrates and justifies her belief with powerful punches. 

In The Fountainhead, Rand depicted an independent and creative guy, Howard Roark, as an indisputable hero.  Concerning only with his own design and erection of buildings, Roark had been encountering countless obstacles.  People, including critics from every field of society, severely decried his novel innovations, claming that he was “an anti-social, evil, and dangerous monster” (Rand).  However, Roark did not care so much about what others say; the only thing he cared in his life was to design and build—nothing else really mattered to him.  As a surprising consequence, more and more folks began to recognize his remarkable design of buildings.  He succeeded in the end because he had a great number of projects to plan and erect with his endless and colorful creativity.  With certain resemblance, Rand lucidly asserted the similar bliss of intense individualism in Atlas Shrugged.

Although there had been numerous people who criticized Rand’s ideology based on first- and second-handers, particular figures selected from many aspects consisting of science, religion, and politics of history could be utilized to justify the integral validity and celebration of “selfishness”.  Since some creators emphasized on their own ideas regardless what others  

might think of them, they tended to devote more valuable contribution to the world.  Furthermore, our far-flung human history had been actually created by a few significant individuals who had been contributed their own novel and meaningful concepts/actions.  It was those who had made crucial differences for the rest of human beings while encountering countless Gordian Knots.  Scientists like Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin, religious figures such as Martin Luther and political and social leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. were all marvelous examples to prove and justify Rand’s strong conviction--a few individuals had determined the course of human history. 

If we take into account of the outstanding scientist Albert Einstein, he had been independently contributed much time and energy to the physics field.  Although he was “a slow learner--learning to speak much later than in average” (Albert Einstein’s Biography) when little, he was tenacious to keep up his diligent study.  Preferring self-teaching, Einstein later dropped out of college.  However, he did not give up learning.  While working in a patent office in Berne, Switzerland, Einstein published a series of papers based on his novel thinking of physics.  His first paper on the “quantum theory of light” (Albert Einstein’s Biography) was awarded to the 1921 Nobel Prize.  An excellent justification for the existence of atoms, Einstein’s second paper was based “on a statistical paper on Brownian motion” (Albert Einstein’s Biography).  Because he denounced Hitler’s extreme racially political ideas prior to and during the WWII, Einstein abandoned his job at the University of Berlin and left Germany for the US.  Several years later, he wrote a letter to President Roosevelt about the potential development of an atomic bomb.  By 1946, he became “the chairman of the Emergency Committee for Atomic Scientists” (Albert Einstein’s Biography).  Though Einstein had encountered many obstacles along the way, he eventually succeeded in his innovations and achievements.  Let’s assume that Einstein had not dropped out of college and followed the same path everybody else had gone through, could the development of atomic bombs still be possible?  Most likely not.  If Einstein had not focused on what he loved and

did independent exploration, people nowadays might haven’t even heard of the word phrase “atomic bomb”.  Therefore, “selfishness” sometimes made people more concentrate on things they enjoy doing and eventually succeed. 

Similarly, Rand’s ideology of “self-centered” could be applied to religious figures.  As a prominent monk during the 15^th and 16^th century, Martin Luther was a valiant and independent reformer.  Like Howard Roark and Albert Einstein, Luther had also met particular Gordian Knots yet did not quit his explorations.  When he was caught in a terrible thunderstorm, he “screamed out a vow, ‘save me, St. Anna, and I shall become a monk.’” (Whitford). Amazingly he had survived.  Nevertheless, it was a difficult decision to make since his parents had been expecting him to become a remarkable lawyer.  Luther ultimately decided to become a monk because he thought that he should keep promises made to God.  In his lectures, Luther had sought self-assurance, further understanding “righteousness as a gift of God’s grace” (Whitford).  After he “had discovered the doctrine of justification by grace alone” (Whitford), he wrote Ninety-Five Theses in which he thoroughly criticized church’s sale of indulgence.  Luther was told, however, to resign his position by the Papal Legate, but he refused to do so because he wanted to know the reason for his resignation.  Hopelessly, “Luther’s refusal to recant set in motion his ultimate excommunication” (Whitford).  Burning the bull of repel information, Luther escaped the excommunication and continued giving lectures until his death.  Later, it was due to Luther’s bold and unprecedentedly critical suggestions to the Church, many diverse branches of Christianity, such as Puritanism and Evangelicalism had been emerged.  Again, all these different versions of Christianity would never have taken place if Luther had not kept his own promise to God; the Church might never reformed and improved itself if Luther was not “selfish” enough to bravely seek the self-assurance from God.  Luther’s unconformity justified that history was made up by courageous individuals who firmly kept their strong convictions.                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Martin Luther King, Jr., as a valiant and creative leader during the Civil Rights Movement, was also an excellent example to show Rand’s conception.  In 1957, Dr. King and other African American clergymen established the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which was a Civil Rights organization that advocated nonviolent protest (Cyaton et al 950).  There had been numerous black leaders, such as Marcus Garvey during the end of 19^th century, who promoted violence and returning back to Africa.  It was a difficult step taken to use a passive means as a fighting weapon for the gaining of equality.  However, Dr. King had done a fantastic job; he soon became an international symbol of nonviolent protest.  In August 1963, he organized a grand March on Washington, D.C. where he had given the most famous speech “I Have a Dream”.  More than 200,000 demonstrators and speculators meditated in the mind.  Continuing peaceful strikes for years, finally Dr. King’s painstaking and tenacious endeavor paid off--the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Twenty-fourth Amendment (Cyaton et al 950) were all passed by US Congress, granting the African American the political and social equality.   Perhaps today’s American society would still be segregated if Dr. King did not stand up for his belief.  As one can see, although Dr. King had been working hard for the Civil Rights of the African American, he was individualistic because he had introduced a new ideology despite of what the critics might think of him.  He continued with bravery and confidence.  No wonder he would ultimately succeed. 

As an outstanding biologist, Charles Darwin can be another significant creator in this world.  Having discovered numerous natural theories, also known as Darwinism, based on his own curious observations of nature, Darwin had published a dozen of remarkable books.  In The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication (1868) (Charles Darwin’s Biography), he explained thoroughly about hereditary traits.  Darwin further stated his novel ideas about evolutions in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871)

(Charles Darwin’s Biography).  Not only he had created these famous early works, but also he had written particular excellent books later, consisting of The Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species (1877), The Effects of Cross and Self Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom (1876) (Charles Darwin’s Biography) and so on.  As a child, he was not given many opportunities and had been denounced to develop his keen interests since his elementary school emphasized on literatures only.   Soon he was recognized by an aristocratic young captain, Robert FitzRoy, in Cambridge University of London, and then had the chance to go on a voyage.  Though he had been seasick, he had overcome it by making observations to sea views and creature that soon would contribute to the scientific discovery.  As described in his biography, “He seemed to relish danger and was sustained in the considerable discomfort by a lively curiosity.” (Charles Darwin’s Biography) If Darwin had not been individualistic and “self-centered” enough to follow hobbies he was intrigued in, we, might still possess insufficient knowledge about our past and even about ourselves.  In other words, Darwin’s immeasurable devotions were praiseworthy because of his strong conviction in individualism which led to his immerse contribution to the people of the world. 

Obviously, all these valiant and creative first-handers discussed above had played quite significant roles in human history.  Although they all had experienced countless Gordian Knots along the way to success, they had never given up their firm beliefs.  Depending only on themselves, they stroke on in searching of answers to questions they had had in various types of adventures and explorations.  As an inevitable consequence, they all succeeded, just like Howard Roark, with their honorable and remarkable achievements.  In a sense, they were the true sacrificing contributors.  They needed nobody except themselves to survive.  They depended on themselves to do works they enjoyed.  And those words and knowledge eventually became quite valuable and beneficial to the society.  All these ideas were what Ms. Ayn Rand had been promoted.                                                                                                                             

Some folks, nevertheless, might ask that how come the world is still not perfect since there has been a great number of independent creators existed?  A good question.  The answer would be that compared to the dependent second-handers, first-handers are way fewer.  There are countless “looters” and “parasites” who still inhabit on the achievements of the creators in our society.  If everyone were to become an innovative creator, our society would progress extraordinarily.  Don’t you think so?  Then the entire world would be just like what Ayn Rand has imagined in her beautiful and romantic mind.  As you can clearly discover, independent first-handers who hold firmly “selfish” individualism are extremely needed at any time anywhere.  Why?  It is because they mark our far-flung history with their notable achievements and contributions!  

Works Cited

Ø        Anonymous.  “Albert Einstein's Biography”

<http://www.questacon.edu.au/html/biography.html>

Ø        Anonymous.  “Charles Darwin's Biography”

<http://www.crystalinks.com/darwin.html>

Ø        Cayton, Andrew   Perry, Elizabeth   Reed, Linda and Winkler, Allan M. 

“Civil Rights Movement” America Pathways to the Present

 New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc., 2003

Ø        Frank, Jeffrey A.  “The Virtues of Selfishness” Washington Post. 

   July 09, 1995: Final Edition

Ø        Rand, Ayn.  “The Fountainhead” New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1943

Ø        Whitford, David M.  “Martin Luther (1483-1546)”. 

<http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/l/luther.htm>

                                                                                              Anorexic Teenage Girls

           Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder that is common among many. Even though anyone can get this disease, teenage girls are at a higher risk due to the many negative influences that are directed mostly towards the female body. Although many psychological experts have spoken out on the devastating impact the disease has on mental and physical health, there are those few things that most ignore and are unaware of.

            This is a disorder in which the irrational fear of becoming obese results in severe weight loss from self-induced starvation. With this fear in mind symptoms such as cold hands and feet, dry brittle skin and a distorted body image result. These teenage girls begin to see something that is not there, they would then build up on that. Even though they already have this fear and how to deal with it mapped out in their minds – the question remains, what is it that helps keep them constantly focusing on this false ideology? The fact of the matter is that there are other things that contribute to them giving in to this fear, having an excuse to lose weight in the first place. These things make it easier for them to find something wrong with themselves and continue in their unhealthy ways. They don’t even have at least a little positive influence which would help them to understand and agree that they are perfect how they are and in their own way. The influences are mostly negative except for those who want to help them, if they know that there is a problem.

            Negative influences are everywhere and it is difficult to prevent them from existing because some are even top secret and if one bad influence is gone another still remains. The media for example includes television, magazines and newspapers, all these things portray a certain image of the female body and how it should be. This image usually being a tall thin like, long legged figure that teenage girls would like to resemble. I t would be difficult for these teenagers to get away from the negativity because as soon as they open a newspaper, magazine or turn on the television there this image would be, again and again. Being thin is not bad it’s the way in which it is conveyed that makes teenage girls believe that their body is all wrong, must be changed and should be as the media says. Also the fact that they show A-list actresses all the time, people that teenage girls look up to and admire such as Jessica Simpson, Lindsy Lohan or Nicole Richie they see that they are thin and they would want to be the same way.

            Another negative influence that provides peer pressure is websites that are for anorexia, meaning that it is encouraged. These websites are supposed to be top secret but some members that want help come out and talk about what they are all about. Among many there is one in specific called “Pro Ana”.

            “Pro Ana” is a website in which one becomes a member and must never let anyone know of its existence. The only way for people to know about it is to into deep research about it, in able to be involved in it. This website includes something called the “Thin Commandments”, you must abide by these commandments or according to the influence of the other members you must punish yourself. For example if you eat at a time you are not supposed to, eat a certain type of food that you should not eat or even eat at all if  it is full blown anorexia, one of the rules would be to hurt yourself by cutting or burning of the skin. This type of rule would be used to help teach anorexics a lesson- the lesson being to refrain from eating. The main purpose of this website is to help you and other members reach a goal weight. When that goal weight is accomplished the next goal is zero. In one certain case one anorexic female said that the goal was zero, to disappear because she has no worth. This is the attitude of anorexics, and what they come to be, what they are unfortunately lowered to after the guidance of these negative influences.

            Statistics show that after many examinations anorexics would weigh at about 5-10 and 10-15 pounds less then their healthy weight for their size as opposed to non-anorexics who weigh 2-5 pounds below or above their healthy weight. With this in mind at a 5’ frame the normal weight is 100 pounds and 5 pounds added for every inch after that. So at 5’1”, 105 pounds would be normal, and at 5’2”, 110 pounds and so on. Anorexics on the other hand would weigh at 5’10”, from 87-98 pounds.

            Being that with all the negativity that exists to the anorexics these are all positive because they use it to their advantage. Because of these things anorexics are able to come up with excuses not to eat, aside from the fact that they are against food and afraid of eating. Although the media doesn’t expect to be contributing to the “needs” of anorexic teenage girls they are, and do. This does not help the treatment of anorexics in fact it helps to provide for the continuation of this disease.

            Moreover, anorexia does inhibit the everyday lives of these teenagers. It is implicated in producing stress with family and in school, while making them depressed and making them feel inferior. Still anorexics go into a state of isolation and believe that they should deal with this issue on their own. This makes them push people out of their lives and even having a boy friend or finding love is of no option to them. They think that they want and need no one.

            Anorexia in teenage girls is much more strenuous since everywhere they turn they see something that instead of helping them overcome their fear of obesity, contributes to it. In turn this adds to their self-induced starvation. All these negative influences make it seem as though patents are being made for anorexia in able to supply it set out certain terms for it. Things would be different for anorexic teenage girls if they had positive influences that would push them from wanting or feeling the need to be anorexic in the first place. Anorexic’s behaviors don’t get any better but worse with bad influences. They need something that would help them understand that they are beautiful in their own way and that there is no need to have to be like anyone else because everyone is different. Difference makes people unique while uniqueness makes everyone special.

Abortion: Morally Incorrect

There have been many cases of which young girls or even older women have dealt with rape or unwanted pregnancies.  The society that we live in does not assure us of what can happen the moment we walk out that door in the morning, or who we might even be living with at home.  While some women claim abortion is an "easy option" for an unwanted pregnancy, teenage pregnancies put their lives at risks as well as their future, for example there can be many ways that a young women’s body may not be ready to have a child, and in this case which abortion is at times performed for this reason, and may sometimes cause emotional problems towards all women, such as growing up with the thought of killing a human being like themselves.  But abortion is not what the solution should be.

Having a child is often looked upon as a wonderful experience with infinite rewards, but not everyone thinks this way. More and more females are having a procedure done called an abortion. In this process the pregnancy is terminated. Many women are not ready for a baby and see this as a way out. Although one can be sympathetic when a woman becomes pregnant unexpectedly, having an abortion performed is not the right answer. This procedure was legalized in the 1973 Supreme Court cases of Roe vs. Wade, and Doe vs. Boston. An average or 4,000 babies are killed through abortions each day, which amounts to 1.4 million babies a year.

          Abortion also involves many health risks.  28/39 studies show that abortions increase risks of breast cancer.  It can cause bleeding, hemorrhage or inflammation. National statistics on abortion show that 10% of women who undergo this procedure suffer from immediate complications.  

Religion plays a major role in abortion being morally incorrect for many reasons. People who are opposed to abortion and the right to have an abortion are called "pro-life." People who are pro-life believe that abortion is the murder of an unborn child. They believe that life begins at conception, therefore the life of the unborn should also be considered. Many people also argue that abortion is an unsafe alternative, believing that certain laws are unjust may not be what the majority wants to believe, but people know what is really right and wrong.  People also seem to apply the different aspects of abortion according to the situation of the women having one.  [1]"Through sonograms and other technology, we can clearly see that unborn children are members of the human family as well.  At eleven months it clearly seen that a child has a life now has developed all its organs and begins to only mature and develop features. From then on the baby breaths, swallowed, digested, urinated and had bowel movements, slept dreamed, and awakened, tasted, felt pain from touch and was able to learn new things just like any other person. They reflect our image, and they are created in God's own image".   

Religion plays a major role in abortion being morally incorrect for many reasons. Some people believe that abortion is based on religious belief. [2]“Politicians and political parties should not discuss abortion and there should be no laws restricting abortion, because abortion is a religious issue, and for a politician to get involved in it would be mixing religion and politics.” Religion affects most of the intensity of the abortion debate. Modern government is separated from organized religion.

In the western world, the teachings of any one religion should not and do not dominate the laws of the nation.  However “the morals and beliefs of the people are what create the morals and beliefs of the government, and often, these individual morals are influenced by religion.” Religion shouldn't be eliminated in any political decision, because by affecting many individuals, religion also affects society.  Abortion-on-demand laws give one person (the mother) the legal right to kill another (the baby) in order to solve the first person’s social problem.  Who are we to determine someone else’s lives, abortion is like killing any other person because there is a point when we are all considered human and that is when we start developing in our mother’s womb.

                                                                                                     Works Cited

Abortion and religion -- <http://www.abortioninfo.net/facts/religion.shtml

Jay,Johansen Googlesearch.com Abortion and religion <http://www.religioustolerance.org/abortion.htm

Yahoosearch.com Abortion and parents <http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/adolabor.htm

Lexis-Nexis --      abortion and politics, teenagers and rape, abortion and teens; laws and abortion

Mary Cunningham Agee, Articles of Speeches “THE HEALTH RISKS OF ABORTION PANEL PRESENTATION FOR FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL” http://www.nurturingnetwork.org/HealthRisks.htm

Jeanne,Kaufmann. “Parental Consent for Abortion”   http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/adolabor.htm February 2004

Womenshealth.com, search abortion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe_v._Wade

Ken Wear .ABORTION: REASON Versus EMOTION Ken Wear, Posted Nov. 1999

DAVIS Joanna. “Abortion and Women” Lexis Nexis posted May 17, 2005