Abortion

Who has Abortions?

Nearly half (48%) of all pregnancies that occur in the United States are not intended, and about the same proportion (47%) of unintended pregnancies is resolved by abortions. Most women (53%) who have abortions were using some form of birth control during the month they became pregnant, but misused or experienced failure of their contraceptive product or method. By the age of 45, about 43% of women in the United States have experienced at least one abortion. Among the women choosing to have abortions at a given time, most (61%) have already given birth to at least one child, and nearly half (48%) have had at least one previous abortion.

There is not one particular type of woman who is likely to have an abortion. About two thirds of the women having abortions have never been married. Most (56%) are in their 20s, and fewer than 20% are teenagers.

Women of all racial or ethnic, religious, and socio-economic groups obtain abortions. The largest number (41%) of abortions are performed on non-Hispanic white women, but black women are three times as likely and Latinas or Hispanic women are twice as likely as white women to have an abortion in a given year. Women who identify themselves as Catholic are only slightly less likely to have abortions than other women in the United States. Poor and low-income women are more likely to have abortions than those who are more affluent.

Abortions occur for many reasons, and women tend to have multiple explanations for their decisions to terminate pregnancies. The most common reason, given by three fourths of women having abortions, is that having a baby at that time in their lives would conflict with major commitments such as work, school, or existing family responsibilities. Two thirds of women having abortions give economic reasons for delaying or foregoing parenthood. Half of women choosing abortion do not have the supportive relationship that they would like for becoming a parent—either they do not want to start out as a single mother, or they are having problems in their relationship with a husband or partner. About 13,000 women a year choose abortions to terminate pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.

...