Week 14 Journal 1: Is Your State’s Healthcare Policy Making You Sick?

A lot is going on in the country today, as the holidays fast approach, the nation is again worrying about Covid-19 spread, especially with the new variant Omicron. However, with this happening, I want to discuss abortion rights. Last week Mississippi state had a case which challenged abortions after 15 weeks. This case led to Massachusetts looking into their own laws regarding abortion. History talks about Roe V. Wade 1973 where women were allowed to have abortions without government restrictions (Smith, 2021). Massachusetts allows abortion up to 24 weeks (Smith, 2021).  What bothers me is some states forcing women to continue with unwanted pregnancies. I do not believe in abortion, and it is against my religious beliefs, however, I try to understand why some women would choose to have one done. I have spoken to a few people who have given me reasons ranging from they were raped so they do not want the baby to am not ready for a child right now. And what is sad about this is that these are girls, not women yet, ranging between 15-19 years of age, just finishing school.

As a healthcare provider, I believe sex education should be enforced in schools and communities. Forming and conducting girls’ youth groups where topics like sex, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), pregnancy, abortion can be discussed without fear or shame. Some of the girls are afraid to talk to their own parents and would benefit from someone else sharing this information or just listening to them.
If discussions about the dangers of abortion are openly talked about, then these girls will avoid premature sex and stay safe until they are older. However, if they have been through traumatic situations, they have that option if they really need to. As of 2016, Massachusetts’ teen births continue to decline (Wade, 2018). Having low or no teen births at all should be the target for our communities and the state at large, and this can be achieved through talking to girls directly. Someone once told me that when we talk, children hear us although we as parents feel like they do not. Same applies to the girl child, let’s keep talking to them, they listen

Smith, M. (2021, December 3). Abortion laws in Massachusetts: What you need to know. News. Retrieved December 6, 2021, from https://www.wgbh.org/news/local-news/2021/12/03/abortion-laws-in-massachusetts-what-you-need-to-know.

Wade, C. M. (2018, June 5). Teen births continue decline but disparities remain   . Eagle. Retrieved December 6, 2021, from https://www.eagletribune.com/news/haverhill/teen-births-continue-decline-but-disparities-remain/article_7bdb576c-44d6-5faa-b10e-ca256976f517.html.

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.

Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.

If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.

Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

• Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
• There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
• Include in-text citations in your response
• Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
• Follow APA-7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

• A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
• Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
• Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
• Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
• Follow APA 7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

• Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
• Here are some helpful links
• The is a great resource

Journal Rubric

Note: Scholarly resources are defined as evidence-based practice, peer-reviewed journals; textbook (do not rely solely on your textbook as a reference); and National Standard Guidelines. Review assignment instructions, as this will provide any additional requirements that are not specifically listed on the rubric.