Pregnancy and Society

For this assignment, I have chosen to evaluate the issue of teen pregnancy with regards to the greater social impact on our society. Now, I may not have the experience of being a young pregnant person in this or any other society, but I am well aware of the social pressures put on these young people who find themselves in unfortunate circumstances. There are many ethical issues to consider here, including whether or not to proceed with the pregnancy, the difficult possibility of adoption, and even whether or not to be married. I have to admit that I am grateful not to happen to be pregnant at such a young age and that I have never been in this situation personally; however, I can certainly relate a little since my sister was a pregnant teen.

I find it interesting that this assignment includes the position given by the sociologist, C. Wright Mills, who claims that people often believe that their private lives can only be explained in terms of their personal successes and failures. They fail to see the links between their own individual lives and the society around them. The process of interpreting your individual life in the context of your community or the society in which you live is called sociological imagination. I suppose it is therefore appropriate that I am asked to consider this sociological issue with an imaginative bent. I have no other choice, as I have never been in this particular situation.

Nevertheless, I can definitely imagine how it must feel to be a young person faced with the difficult decisions. There are many points that need to be evaluated, including the important idea of how a teenage pregnancy may impact society as a whole. For example, one must be aware of societies approach to minimizing and dealing with the increasing problem of unwanted teenage pregnancy. Moreover, the need to be aware of the pressure we put on our elected officials to combat this problem. It does not help but we are speaking about young people who are facing a potential decrease in the quality of life. In addition, it is only right that we consider the life of the unborn child as well. Many of our officials walked the thin line between saving much-needed healthcare dollars and protecting unborn children. There is no doubt that this is a difficult sociological issue for all involved.

If I were to use my imagination to discuss the connection between individual experiences and the social impact of the issue presented here, I would need to consider the cost to society of caring for an unplanned pregnancy. In many cases, these young women may not have the resources to provide for the new child. Furthermore, even termination will cost the female money that she may not have. Should society be made to pay in this circumstance? What can we do to improve the situation? Again, using my imagination, I would consider spending time and effort to decrease the amount of unwanted pregnancies. This is a cause that is important to all of us.