Abstract

PELAEZ MENDOZA, Jorge. Abortion in adolescence: Bioethical considerations regarding the decision to have an abortion. Rev Cubana Obstet Ginecol [online]. 2008, vol.34, n.3. ISSN 0138-600X.

Induced abortion is not a problem easy to be evaluated. What is difficult about it is that a social behavior cannot be explained by the opinion of its actors. It depends on the system of social relations where it is immersed, the juridical and moral relations, the institutions influencing on it, and the economic and technological support of the country. It is really difficult to know the problematic of abortion in adolescents in our region, since in most of the Latin American and Caribbean countries this procedure is ilegal or it has serious restrictions. Only Cuba, Puerto Rico, Canada and the United States have reliable statistics, due to the fact that abortion is legal. In spite of the prohibitions, it is estimated that millions of ilegal abortions are performed every year. One of the main ethical dilemmas of abortion in adolescence is to face the principle of the adolescent's autonomy to demand abortion and the answer given by society. Some studies report the role played by the family in the decision making at the time of aborting. Some of the important reasons for their decision are that they want their daughters to continue studying and that they consider they are not prepared yet to be mothers. It is stressed the little attention payed to the peer groups in the decision making, which differs from the weight given to them in the genesis of other risk behaviors, such as the beginning of early sexual relations

Keywords : Abortion; adolescence; bioethical considerations.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )