Sample Final Proposal

[My annotations are in blue]

Your Name

English 100 (Online) – the course name

Ticket #8142

Date

Final Proposal

Punishing the Girls

Notice how the writer reverts to the original opening in this Definition of the Problem

    A few years ago, I watched a terrifying story on ABC's 20/20.  It was a story about a teenage girl who had gotten pregnant.  She successfully managed to keep her pregnancy from everyone, even her immediate family.  She secretly gave birth to a baby girl--all by herself-- at the basement of her house.  Out of fear, she covered the baby with a blanket and the baby died.  There was an investigation and trial on the teenage girl, whether she should be convicted of murder or not. 

    As I was watching the story, I thought 'How could that be possible?'  I was disgusted by the immorality of the teenage girl and I am sure many people agree with me.  What is more disgusting is that other teenagers seemed to join her in this evil game of 'let's give birth to a baby and kill it.'  A nineteen-year-old girl is found guilty after giving birth and killing her infant at her own prom.  She will serve fifteen to life in Jew Jersey state prison.  A teenage couple gets two years for "tossing the body in the trash bin," after giving birth to a baby boy in a motel.  An infant girl is found dead, in a trashcan, wrapped in newspaper.  The horror goes on and on (Associated Press National Desk A-12).  There should be no excuse, only justice, for these teens and the crimes they have committed.  Giving birth to an infant and murdering it should not be the only way out of teen pregnancy. Thus, I conducted more research, and found that we could do to prevent our teens from committing such horrible crimes.

    Every year, more than one million teenagers become pregnant.  84% of them are unintended pregnancies. About half of those seek abortion (Clark 444).  Many teenagers who seek abortion come from dysfunctional, abusive, or single parent family (Gordon 41).  In 38states of America, a minor must have a parental consent or judicial bypass in order to go through abortion (Clark 444).  This is a problem because the law pushes these young women to choose more dangerous options: running away, attempting suicide, or having an unsafe abortion.  In other cases, such as the case seen in 20/20, some teens even end up killing their newborn or "trashing" their babies in garbage cans. The law "only punishes those girls who come form dysfunctional families," whose parents are not so supportive (Gordon 41).

Here is the Causal Analysis

    The obvious and immediate cause of this problem is the high rates of teenage pregnancies.  A teenager's sexual misconduct not only ruins her life, but it also affects her baby, her family, and the whole society by creating a "cycle of poverty" (Weidman 303). 

    The irresponsibility and the misconduct can be traced back to the individual, her partner, but as family and society, we do have some responsibilities.  In this sense, the individual and her partner should have used some sort of contraceptive, such as a condom, birth control pills, or combination of both.  The unawareness of possibility, or perhaps the ignorance of being unaware, can be blamed on the teenager and her partner. 

    Critics also argue that the parents of these teens are not doing their job as parents.  The parents are relieved at the fact that the schools provide sex education, and often avoid conversation about sex with their teenagers.  When I was six years old, I asked my parents "where babies come from."  I remember my Mother saying that "babies come from tummies."  This is a typical sex talk between parents and their children.  By misjudging that they will someday learn on their own and make a the right decisions, the parents underestimate their power to set a direction for their children and this creates lack of guidance for many children.

    The media contributes a great deal in a teenager's sexual misconduct.  TV stations, advertisement companies, and even internet sites attract young people with sexual graphics because, according to them, "sex sells."  Almost all of TV shows, ads, and
movies glorify sex as a cool, hip "activity," without mentioning the possible outcomes, such as sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, and abortion.  (I cannot remember the last time a watched a sitcom that encouraged abstinence, probably because there isn't one.)  With images and encouraging ideas of sex on TV's sex talks on radio, and explicitly sexual lyrics in virtually all of the songs teens listens to,  we can understand how teens are constantly bombarded with the idea of sex.

Consequences

    These factors can be contributed to the high rates of teenage pregnancy.  However, the cycle of teenage pregnancy is unstoppable.  Therefore, we must explore other remote, hidden causes that contribute to the problem, in order to find more meaningful solution. One of the main causes of this problem that drive teens to choose a dangerous option, is the abusive family of these teens.  Not only does such a family fail to teach its teenager standards and values, but also such a family abuses a teen for telling the truth, and confessing that she is pregnant.  This family will surely push the teenager away by not being supportive, and often "disciplining" them with harsh,
physical abuse.  The young woman is forced to choose amore dangerous option, such as running away, attempt to suicide or unsafe abortion, which can claim the minor's life (Gordon 41).

    Another hidden cause, which allowed many states to adopt the parental involvement law, is the parental-right movement.  Most of the parental consent law activists are anti-abortionists.  The general public does not realize that the anti-abortion activists are secretly trying to outlaw abortion. Clark 444-445). 

Solution

    Therefore, I am proposing several solutions to this problem, but they must be practiced in combination. First, we must do everything to bring down the teen pregnancy rates.  In school or at home, we must teach our teens the effects of sexual behavior.  Parents play a big role in prevention of pregnancy.  They must talk to their teens freely about sex and try to set a value about the sexual misconduct.  We must spend more money to educate our teens and make contraceptive more available.  We must have more campaigns that stresses on abstinence.  Those campaigns must be targeted to high school and junior high students.  The media can play a big role in prevention of teenage pregnancy. It can be used to encourage parents-like how some TV commercial encourages parents to read to their children-to talk to their kids about sex. 

Refutation

    Unfortunately, no matter how much money we spend on the education and prevention of sex, "some teens are just going to do it" (Scheer B-7).  Because doing the above will only reduce the rates, not completely stop teenage abortion, we must protect the teens that come from abusive background: we must allow them to choose abortion without informing their parents.  By doing so, many teenage girls will be prevented from committing evil crimes, as "trashing" their newborn. They will also maintain a better life only because they have decided that they are not ready for the lifetime commitment of motherhood.  The pregnant teen who has a loving, supportive family is already protected by their family.  The law must protect the unfortunate ones who don not have such  supportive, loving family.

    I had a private interview with a close friend of mine who have had an abortion when she was eighteen years old.  She was able to get an abortion by herself because she had reached the legal age.  I asked her," What would you have done if you got pregnant at 17and the law required you to have a parental consent before the procedure?"  There was a long silence.  I asked her if she would have told her parents about her pregnancy and she replied with "Hell, no!"  She thought I was "crazy." 

    "You know my parents!  They will kill me.  The least they'll do is throw me out of the house."  She shook her head and continued, "No way!  What do you think my brother would have done?  He probably would stab me or beat me up until I die, or the baby dies." 

    My friend grew up in an abusive family.  Her parents were very strict.  They believed that physical discipline worked and did not hesitate to use it (Kelly)).  In addition to her very disciplinary parents, she had an abusive older brother.  (I witnessed the abuse a couple of times.  Her brother would pin her on the ground and punch her with his fist because she talked back at him.  This is a true story.)  It is a very sad story, but it is true of many families. Clearly, through the interview with my friend, I understood why she "would have done anything but to tell [her] parents" (Kelly).  It is evident, that for whatever reason, fear or embarrassment, a teenage girl does not have many options.  To many girls, telling their parents is, literally, the last thing they would do.

    Some states seemed to be "adapting" to the needs of teens by coming up with a less strict, Parental Consent Law.  State of Maine requires a minor to have permission from any adult member of her choice, such as, aunt, sister, or grandparents.  As a last resort, she can choose her minister, teacher, counselor, nurse, or a physician (Gordon 41).  However, the State Judge must approve this process.  This accommodating law is better the Parental Consent Law, but it can create some problems.  The court decision takes time. The more time it takes to get an abortion, more difficult it is to have abortion and more likely for the teen to face complications from abortion.    In this highly controversial issue, there are many counter arguments, which oppose my solution.  One of the highly misled arguments is the medical issue. Those who support parental involvement say that adolescents who undergo abortion have a greater risk of complications in future pregnancies.  A result of study done in John Hopkins University states that girls under the age eighteen who have abortions are two and a half times more likely than women ages twenty to twenty-nine to have inflammation of the uterus (Clark 444).  It is obvious that abortion doesn't bring exciting health benefits to teens or any other group of women.  However, to teenage girls, abortion is actually safer than childbirth.  Girls ages fifteen to nineteen are twenty four times more likely to die from childbirth than from first-trimester legal abortions (Clark 444).  Although I cannot praise the some of the possible harmful effects, which follow the procedure of abortion, it is evident that a teenager has a choice, and that abortion is safer than childbirth for a teenager. Another aspect argued by my opponents is that the parents will lose their rights.  Parents all across the country are worried that the law will prohibit them from protecting their children (Gordon 444-445).What many of my opponents do not realize is that the parental consent law is a "secondary strategy to banning abortion".  Anti-abortion activists do most of" lobbying for parental involvement law" (Clark 445).The disguised parental right that was intentionally aimed to stop abortion and it must mislead us.  I cannot argue against the love and concern that parents have for their teens.  However, I can argue for those girls who desperately need the law to be legalized; they don't have those loving, concerned parents who will help them in such crisis. 

    Some people also argue that some teens are not mature enough.  The thought of a thirteen year old waling into an abortion clinic is horrifying to most adults. However, the public needs to realize that teenagers are entitled to make their own decision about their lives.  Experts like Joyce Kennard (Smith E-1) and SanFrancisco Superior Judge, Maxine M. Cheney both agree that great majority of minors are capable of making fully informative choices about abortion (Hager A-1).

    Opponents also argue that teenagers will lose responsibilities.  They believe that if minor is allowed to have an abortion, then teen pregnancy rate and teen abortion rate will go up.  They argue as if legalization of such law will enable every minor to engage in sexual intercourse, become pregnant, and get an abortion behind their parents' back.  This is not only misleading, but it argues against the fact.  The fact is, not every teenager is sexually active.  Forty-six percent female and twenty seven percent male teenagers are not sexually active (Scheer B-7).  Not all teenagers who are sexually active become pregnant. Not all teenagers who do become pregnant choose abortion.  58% of pregnant teens choose childbirth Clark 443).  Their argument oversimplifies and generalizes all teenagers.  We must acknowledge the responsible teenagers who are choosing abstinence. Responsible teenagers will not suddenly become promiscuous and go on a rapid, reproductive rage. The majority of people oppose my solution to the problem; seventy percent of the American approve of the Parental Consent Law.  The people who oppose my viewpoints and I have one thing in common: we are genuinely concerned about the teens of this nation. For whose who are so concerned about our teens, here is a situation.  If you can choose for the teens, who were mentioned in my introduction, between getting an abortion or ending up murdering their babies, what would you decide for them?  Better yet, what would you do if you were pregnant but could not tell your parents?  What if you were sure that your older brother would stab you or beat you up until you pass out?  Perhaps, it will be helpful to refresh the definition of the problem. The problem is that the parental involvement law often punish girls with abusive background--girls who will be getting physical abuse in return of telling their parents-and it will force a teen to attempt suicide, runaway, or commit irreversible crimes. The fundamental purpose in trying to legalize minor abortion is to protect the unfortunate teenagers from their abusive family and the dangerous options they might choose.

In all, about 2300 words.

Works Cited

Kelly, XXXXX.  Personal interview.  May 10, 2001.

Clark, Charles S.  "Teenagers and Abortion."  CQ Researcher  5 July 1991: 443-457.

Gordon, Sol.  "Sol's Page."  Humanist  Sep./Oct. 1990:  41-42.

Hager, Phillip.  "Judge Voids Parental Consent Abortion Law."  Los Angeles Times May 28, 1992: A1+.

Scheer, Robert.  "Abstinence Is Not The Only Option." Los Angeles Times  Mar. 4, 1997: B-7

Smith, Lynn.  "So, Whose Right Is It Anyway?"  Los Angeles Times   Nov. 4, 1996: E-1+

Weismen, Adam Paul.  "Birth Control In the Schools." The St. Martin's Guide to Writing. 

Updated:  23 September 2005