Teenage pregnancy in Mississippi and healthcare principles

Teenage pregnancy in Mississippi and healthcare principles

Teenage pregnancy in Mississippi and healthcare principles

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As the teen pregnancy cases have been declining in the industrialized nations, it’s absurd to assert that in the region of Mississippi teenage pregnancy numbers has been increasing. As per 2012, Mississippi happened to be the third state with the high number of adolescent pregnancies in the whole nation. According to Sedgh et al. (2012), “roughly one in four teens will become pregnant at least once by their 20th birthday. One in five births to girl’s ages 15 through 19 is not the teen’s first” (p.223-230). However, teenage pregnancy can harm the teenager as a different aspect of their life is affected. The law in most American states allows specific healthcare principle to respect the sexual health life of the teenagers. There are several healthcare principles such as justice, autonomy, confidentiality, beneficence, and non-maleficence that affects the adolescents directly in the course of making the decision. Some healthcare principles such as autonomy and privacy may prevent handling teenage pregnancies in the Mississippi area where less power is given to the adolescents. Conservative beliefs limit the use of contraceptives among many other factors. Adolescent teens are not only allowed to make decisions, but their cases should be kept private or confidential. Therefore, the paper will focus on the effect of theoretical healthcare principles on teenage pregnancy. Comment by Dr Susan MacCready: Nice background

General problem Comment by Dr Susan MacCready: This needs left aligned and not centered…adhere to template!

The general problem is the increased teenage pregnancy in the United States; and increases also increases the ethical dilemma to deal with confidentiality and autonomy in factors such as contraceptives and abortion. The federal law of confidentiality states that the physician should not share the information or data related to the patient. However, this can only be done as a result of the legal cause as well as the written authorization from the patient (McDavitt et al. 2016). The penalty faced by professional who pass around information related to the patient faces different penalties. In cases of sexual abuse, the patients may be adamant about reporting the issue to the authorities or the patient; as such, this becomes an ethical issue. Once the teen realizes that the doctor cannot keep the secret, they will never report to them again. Comment by Dr Susan MacCready: This first sentence must be cited

The issue of autonomy and confidential care for teens in the area of reproduction has raised many discussions in the country. In the United States, there are various ethical issues that conflict with handling teenage pregnancy. Mississippi as a state is equally affected as it also works under federal law. Autonomy is one of the pillars of healthcare principle that focuses on patient decisions. Autonomy states that patients should have the power to decide concerning their health. However, in some states; the adolescent may not have the cognitive ability to make a certain decision. The care provider has the power to protect the adolescent from harm, and as they make individual decisions, it may be against the law that protects teens. Robinson, Kunnuji, Shawar, & Shiffman (2018) asserts that “due to the respect for the autonomy of the patient, the doctor can be put in difficult situations, requiring discernment to decide on issues related to health, self-care and its impact on the individual who is under his care. Many professionals claim that adolescent patients, given their young age, are not able to take responsibility for their health and should, therefore pass the scrutiny of their legal representatives. In practice, however, the professional cannot guarantee that these tutors seek the benefit of minors under their guardianship; thus, this proposition can be questioned” (p. 1807-1819) Comment by Dr Susan MacCready: Entirely too long here……this must be paraphrased Mitchelle. You need to paraphrase majority of your content to maintain credibility as the content expert on your topic.

Specific Problem Comment by Dr Susan MacCready: Again template not adhered to here

The specific problem understudy is the high prevalence of teen pregnancies issues in Mississippi and the effect of healthcare principles in combatting the issue. In 2003, the governor of Mississippi the, asserted that DNA of pregnant teens should be conducted. The DNA is then run in the state DNA database, to see if at all the man who is responsible for the teen pregnancy and is over the age of 21 has been previously arrested. The assertion went against the principle of privacy as well as autonomy concerning the pregnant victim. However, it was the right thing to do to reduce the rate of teenage pregnancy in the state. Campbell-Lewis, Bondurant & Bush (2016) states that” The governor is correct that Mississippi has a serious problem, though not necessarily the issue he claims. Mississippi has the country’s highest teen birth rate. Of Mississippi high school teens, 58 percent have had sex (the national average is 47 percent), and by the end of 12th grade, 70 percent are sexually active. Young people aged 15-24 make up only 15 percent of Mississippi’s population, but they account for 76 percent of chlamydia cases and 70 percent of gonorrhea cases. Not coincidentally, over one in three sexually active high school students do not use condoms” (p. 318-321). Comment by Dr Susan MacCready: This first sentence must be cited Comment by Dr Susan MacCready: Needs cited Comment by Dr Susan MacCready: Again not original here.. Paraphrase this.

Additionally, according to Fouquier, “the law has several negative consequences. It puts doctors, nurses, and midwives in the position of law enforcement. They will be required to collect evidence for potential crimes without the consent of the mother, raising serious constitutional questions that will be disputed at the expense of the state. The DNA will be stored permanently, also at a cost to the taxpayer, even though much of it will never be used. In a state committed to small-government principles, it is disconcerting that many of our leaders believe it is in the public’s interest to preserve the DNA of citizens who haven’t even been charged with a crime” (Fouquier, 2017). Therefore, a solution is supposed to found with little or less ethical issues related to it. Comment by Dr Susan MacCready: I expect better at the master level here. Needs originality. Penalty applied for lack of originality in content within paper.

Purpose Statement Comment by Dr Susan MacCready: Does not adhere to template

The purpose of the study was to find out the ethical and legal issues surrounding the issue of teen pregnancy in Mississippi. Also, the purpose of this study and research paper is to identify the strategies such as policy formulation that can be used for the reduction and minimization of the increment in the prevalent cases of teenage pregnancy in the United States, and more specifically in the Mississippi. The rationale behind the carrying out of this research is the increase in the cases of teenage pregnancies in the Mississippi. Besides, Mississippi might be a conservative state with wrong beliefs related to the use of contraceptive. Such beliefs limit teen’s access to contraceptive education and services. Informed consent is one of the challenging issues whereby the teens make a less rational decision in the course of making sexual decisions. According to the Barlow, “While consent laws in most states apply to all minors age 12 and older, there are some states that allow certain groups of minors to consent –those who are married, pregnant or already parents. Several states 3 have no relevant policy on disclosure to parents or guardians, and the decision is left to the care provider” (Barlow, 2015). Comment by Dr Susan MacCready: First sentence must be cited Comment by Dr Susan MacCready: paraphrase

Some states allow the consent to the contraceptives in the country while others do not. Furthermore, most of the states in America do not allow teens to consent to the abortion. The argument supporting confidentiality care among teens asserts that giving the teens a chance to decide as it will enable then to be responsible. The adolescent is a stage of exploration and development among teens, and they have to grow emotionally and intellectually. According to the Austin “When physicians provide confidential care for adolescents, they are giving them the opportunity to learn how to interact with clinicians and to become responsible for their health care, and they are respecting and supporting the development of an emerging autonomous self” (Austin, 2017). Therefore, the only form of education that should be given to teens is on the type of contraceptives to use. It is like teens are not receiving relevant education as such they are not in a position to make informed decisions when it comes to sexual health education. Decision making has to do with how a person interprets the risk, benefits, and the consequences related to the act. The teens, as such, should only have consented when they possess the three aspects. Therefore, relevant education is the only means that can make the adolescents make an informed decision and give consent to the information in case they are sexually assaulted. Comment by Dr Susan MacCready: paraphrase and cite it properly

Research questions Comment by Dr Susan MacCready: template not adhered to and missing sentence required at start of research questions – The research addresses the following research questions. RQ1: Ask your research question here. RQ2: Ask your research question here.RQ3: Ask your research question here.

RQ1: what are the some of the healthcare principles that affect finding solution to teenage pregnancy in Mississippi? Comment by Dr Susan MacCready: indent

RQ2: Explain the effect of teenage pregnancy on the life of a teenage mother?

RQ3: What are some of the ethical and legal issues related to teenage pregnancy?

RQ4: What strategies and initiatives should be developed as a way of addressing the issue of teenage pregnancy in the Mississippi?

RQ5: Why is Mississippi State having higher cases of teenage pregnancy as compared to the other regions in the United States? Comment by Dr Susan MacCready: Great questions

References

Austin, C. (2017). University of Mississippi Students’ Opinions Regarding Sex Education in Mississippi (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Mississippi).

Barlow, L. (2015). My Place Where I Must Stand: The Function of Mobility in Jesmyn Ward’s Men We Reaped (Doctoral dissertation, Georgetown University).

Campbell-Lewis, N., Bondurant, S. W., & Bush, F. M. (2016). Teen Pregnancy in Mississippi: A History and Analysis of Recent Legislative and Governmental Attempts to Address Different Aspects of this Issue in Mississippi. Journal of the Mississippi State Medical Association, 58(10), 318-321.

Fouquier, K. (2017). Legal and Ethical Issues in the Provision of Adolescent Reproductive Health in the United States. Online Journal of Health Ethics, 13(1), 3.

Oyedele, O., Wright, S., & Maja, T. (2015). Community participation in teenage pregnancy

prevention programs: A systematic review. International journal of Nursing Comment by Dr Susan MacCready: Hanging indents?

Didactics, 5(05), 26-38.

McDavitt, L., Black, F., Grant, M., & Ko, J. Y. (2015). Addressing teen birth in southern urban communities in the United States. In NAAAS Conference Proceedings (p. 284). National Association of African American Studies.

Robinson, R. S., Kunnuji, M., Shawar, Y. R. & Shiffman, J. (2018). Prioritizing sexuality education in Mississippi and Nigeria: The importance of local actors, policy windows, and creative strategy. Global public health, 13(12), 1807-1819.

Sedgh, G., Finer, L. B., Bankole, A., Eilers, M. A., & Singh, S. (2012). Adolescent pregnancy, birth, and abortion rates across countries: levels and recent trends. Journal of Adolescent Health, 56(2), 223-230.

Rubin, S. E., Coy, L. N., Yu, Q., & Muncie Jr, H. L. (2016). Louisiana and Mississippi family Comment by Dr Susan MacCready: Not in alphabetical order and needs hanging indent

physicians’ contraception counseling for adolescents with a focus on intrauterine

contraception. Journal of pediatric and adolescent gynecology, 29(5), 458-463