Teenage pregnancies and motherhood
For a long time, scholars and policymakers have been coming up with alternative narratives that focus on inequalities faced in motherhood, particularly for young mothers. Everybody understands that it is bad for teenagers to have babies as they not only become an unnecessary burden to the society but also lack the strength and will power to take care of themselves as well as the babies effectively. The programs set to help prevent teen pregnancies, thus operate with the preconception that teen parents abuse welfare programs in place and drain the society. For sure, a majority of people in modern society are keen to approach teen mothers publicly and castigate them for having children without even caring for their backstories behind the pregnancies. Many young mothers visiting health centers are often met with the unwelcome opinion that you are too young to have a baby’ notes Barcelos and Gubrium (2014).
Stigma and social practices play a vital role in constructing the meaning of teenage pregnancies and motherhood. Policymakers have since drafted various sexual health policies to encourage adolescents to take responsibility and control their sexual behaviors to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Nonetheless, a contradiction between the individualistic notion of reproductive choice and social need to prevent teenage pregnancy exists (Barcelos & Gubrium, 2014).
Presently, various ethical issues exist with the efforts intended to persuade teenage mothers to involve their parents. One such issue is confidential medical care, with adults always assuming a protective responsibility of the adolescent. Moreover, the offering of care to teenage mothers presents health care professionals with various challenges, including legal and consent issues. Ethical and legal issues are clear for pregnant mothers aged 18 and above. Nevertheless, healthcare professionals’ legal responsibilities to adolescent mothers and their respective families vary from one state to the next. Each U.S. state has laws that stipulate circumstances under which adolescent mothers could consent to their healthcare and instances when the care provided should be confidential. Other states allow healthcare professionals to notify the parents of adolescent mothers about care to be offered but do not necessitate a caregiver to do so, thus creating an ethical dilemma.
All in all, the law emphasizes adolescents’ right to private care. State health care consent laws offer the strongest support for adolescent mothers offering them the right o not only consent and receive confidential medical care. Presently, all states, as well as the District of Columbia (D.C.) permit teenage parents to consent to diagnosis and treatment; furthermore, 26 states, as well as D.C., allow adolescents to consent to receive contraceptive services. Additionally, prenatal care is allowed in 32 states and D.C. too.
Nonetheless, confidentiality for adolescents is never absolute. Similar to how parents are ethically obligated to care and support adolescents, so do they have the ethical obligation to protect and act in the best interest of their teenage children, who possess limited life experiences t make sound judgments concerning actions that they will leave with for the rest of their lifetime.