This unit is designed to give students an overview of the procedures, history, and issues connected with the controversial topic of abortion. The purpose of the unit is to present to teenagers factual information about all aspects of abortion in an attempt to help them to understand all of the possible ramifications of a decision to have intercourse. Intercourse can lead to pregnancy which in turn leads to either abortion, adoption, or keeping the baby. All three of these end results of pregnancy have not only grave physiological, psychological and financial implications, but they have a life-long impact as well for both teenage females and teenage males. The issue of guilt associated with abortion is not to be discounted easily by even those who are strong advocates of abortion. Students are living in the midst of a struggle by our society over the reproductive rights of women versus the rights of the unborn. It is hoped that the unit will encourage students to seek out, if they do not already possess, a sound knowledge of the stages of pregnancy and fetal development along with the stages of the birth process. Lessons are designed to get students to view the impact on their future lives of decisions about intercourse. Two cassettes are included as a teaching tool of two real teenager’s experiences with abortion. Mary A., a fictitious name, is a teenager who would have had an abortion but whose pregnancy was too far along when she had it diagnosed. Mary B. had a very difficult saline abortion and a few years later had an aspiration abortion.
(Recommended for 9th—12th grade Human Sexuality.)
Key Words
Teenage Adolescence Abortion Sexuality
