Abortion and Race
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This paper is an examination of the relationship between abortion and race, specifically focusing on the differences between whites and blacks. Since the passage of Roe v. Wade in 1972 made abortion legal in the United States, women have had the option of ending an unwanted pregnancy. While few have chosen this option lightly, some have been more likely to consider abortion because of religious, social, cultural, and ethnic reasons than have others. In recent years, the national abortion rate has begun to decline slightly. Although the typical abortion patient remains a young, unmarried, white woman, the number of blacks and other minorities (especially Hispanics) is rising. A greater percentage of black women than white women chooses abortion, and a variety of social and cultural pressures make this proportion likely to continue to grow. The legalization of abortion made possible a medically acceptable means for terminating unwanted pregnancies. However, abortion continues to be a highly charged subject, with vocal and sometimes violent opponents to a procedure which some see as legalized murder. Abortion supporters argue that the practice gives women an essential choice not to bear a child they may be unwilling or unable to care for. The Alan Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit organization which studies and reports on reproductive issues, estimates that as many as half of all American women of childbearing age will choose to have an abortion at some point in the
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rcumstances gave them no other choice.
One of the most prolific writers studying the issue of abortion and race is sociologist John Lynxwiler. He studied the isolating factors likely to induce a black woman to choose an abortion, isolating three as particularly important: community size (larger communities favor abortions), premarital sex attitudes (a willingness to have intercourse outside marriage usually indicates a greater willingness to consider abortion), and family-size ideals (those who favor smaller families tend to seek methods to restrict pregnancy). Other significant factors included education, southern U.S. residence, the patient's employment situation, and liberal divorce law support within the community. Lynxwiler (1996, November) attributes abortion increases to social changes, including reduced female dependency on males for support, changing religious influences, and increased urbanization among the black population in general.
Velma McBride Murray (1995, March) surveyed 8,450 black and Hispanic women ages 15 to 21 who were considering having an abortion to end an unplanned pregnancy. She found that their decisions were influenced by individual factors, including the patient's age, her contraceptive beha
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1866
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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