What Is Abortion:
An abortion is a procedure where a woman chooses to end her pregnancy. Unintended pregnancy is a significant concern that affects thousands of people each year. More than half of the 6 million pregnancies occurring each year in the United States are unplanned. According to a study published in Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, about 50% of the women faced with these unplanned pregnancies were actually using contraception during the month that they conceived. Abortion is one of the most common medical procedures performed in the United States as approximately 1.3 million abortions performed each year. Data indicates that more than 40% of all women will end a pregnancy by abortion at some time in their reproductive lives.Brief Background:
In 1973, the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade ruled that women have the right to an abortion during the first 6 months (2 trimesters) of pregnancy, thereby legalizing abortion. The court asserted that abortion is a fundamental right under the U.S. Constitution and prohibiting abortion would violate the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment (which protects against state actions to deny the right to privacy, including a woman's qualified right to terminate her pregnancy).The court determined that a non-viable fetus (one that cannot survive outside the womb) is not a person according to the terms set forth in section one of the Fourteenth Amendment, so due process rights do not apply to the unborn. Since this landmark court decision, numerous federal and state laws have been proposed or passed. Abortion is one of the most controversial and legally active areas in the field of medicine. In 2003, President George W. Bush signed the first federal ban on abortion, which prohibits the procedure of an Intact Dilation and Extraction (D&X) abortion. Although this ban is officially named the "Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003," it is important to point out that the procedure is more accurately acknowledged in the medical community as Intact D&X; "Partial birth abortion" is a political term, not a medical one.
Abortion Facts - When Women Seek Abortion:
Approximately 88% of abortions are preformed within in the first trimester (3 months) of a pregnancy. Roughly 59% take place within the first eight weeks of pregnancy, 19% in weeks 9 to 10, and 10% in weeks 11 to 12.About 10% of abortions occur during the second trimester (6% in weeks 13 to 15 and 4% by week 20). After 24 weeks or pregnancy, abortions are only provided due to serious health reasons (and account for less than 1% of total abortions). Earlier abortions are easier, safer, and tend to be less expensive than abortions taking place later in a pregnancy.
Some Abortion Demographics:
- U.S. women, age 24 and younger, account for about for 52% of those who obtain an abortion. This number is further broken down into: 19% of these abortions are obtained by teenagers, and women age 20 to 24 account for 33% of these abortions.
- Approximately 60% of abortions are obtained by women who have had at least one child.
- Two-thirds of all abortions occur in women who have never been married.
- Women of every social class and race elect to have an abortion: 78% of women who have had an abortion report having a religious affiliation, 88% of women who obtain abortions live in metropolitan areas, and 57% of women who seek abortion are economically disadvantaged (living below the federal poverty level).
- Of women obtaining abortions, 54% were using a birth control method during the time they became pregnant. Many of these pregnancies resulted from condoms breaking or being used incorrectly (49%) and due to women who missed taking their birth control pills (76%).
- Half of all women seeking a first abortion had not been using any type of contraception when they conceived (despite agreement with their sexual partners about not wanting to become pregnant).
Deciding to Obtain an Abortion:
It is important that a woman make a well-informed decision when she is considering to obtain an abortion. Discussing one’s options with trusted and supported friends or family as well as early pregnancy counseling can be helpful in reaching a decision that a woman feels the most right about. Women may have a choice between two or more types of abortion procedures depending on how many weeks pregnant they are. The safest time to have an abortion is 5 to 10 weeks after your last menstrual period. In the past, there was concern that an abortion may increase a woman's risk of breast cancer. More recent and carefully done studies, however, indicate that there is no link between having an abortion and getting breast cancer later in life.Reasons Why Women Have Abortions:
The decision to have an abortion is generally decided by both diverse and interrelated reasons. Most women who obtain an abortion usually cite numerous reasons as to why they have chosen this route. Research has shown that the following reasons are most frequently cited as to why a woman chose to have an abortion (and the percentage of women who provided the reason):- Having a baby would dramatically change my life (74%)
- I can’t afford a baby (73%)
- Didn’t want to be a single mother or was having relationship problems (48%)
- Having a child would interfere with my education (38%), work (38%) or ability to care for my other child(ren) (32%)
- Nearly four in 10 women said they had completed their childbearing
- Women also cited possible problems affecting the health of the fetus (13%) or concerns about their own health (12%)
- 32% of women say they were not ready to have a child (or another one)
- Fewer than 1% report their main decision to be based on either their parents' or partners' request
Next Page: Abortion procedures: medication abortions, surgical abortions -- manual vacuum aspiration, dilation and curettage, dilation and evacuation, induction abortion, intact dilation and extraction (partial birth abortions).
