Adolescent women and abortion

The aim of the master's thesis was to examine how adolescent girls experience unwanted pregnancy and abortion. The thesis inquired into how an artificial termination of pregnancy affects adolescent girls; whether the effects are greater in those who have terminated a pregnancy more than once; what their living conditions were; what kind of support and help they received, and what kind they feel they needed. The theoretical section discusses the position of women through time, the declarations of women's rights, the legalization of abortion, pregnancy termination methods, and the psychosocial effects of abortion. It also focuses on the period of adolescence, sexual maturity, and sex education in Slovenia. The empirical section consists of a qualitative study conducted by means of semi-structured interviews. The sample included six adolescent girls who had at least one experience with artificially terminating a healthy pregnancy. Through six interviews I examined the reasons behind the girls' decisions to artificially terminate the pregnancy, and the consequences of these decisions; I also analysed what form of help the girls would need from the professional staff that deals with adolescents and their diverse problems. The purpose of the master's thesis is to provide an in-depth insight into how adolescent girls experience unwanted pregnancies and how to work on prevention