OPPapers.com

Abortion

Luevano 1
Stephanie Luevano
Professor Arida
Sociology 2
5 July 2005
Abortion
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 behind 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
Luevano 2
answers to these questions are as follows.
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...

Please login to view the full essay...