Poor Women Receive 42% of Abortions

by Alex DiBranco · 2010-05-04 10:45:00 UTC
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Who receive abortions in the United States? That's the question asked by the Guttmacher Institute in a just-released survey.

While the demographics remain similar in most respects since the last study in 2000 — a majority of women (61%) who get abortions are already mothers; young, black, and Hispanic women are disproportionately represented — one change really stuck out. In 2000, 27% of abortion patients were poor women, whereas in 2008, that number had risen to 42%. Quite a jump.

What caused the leap? On a positive note, efforts within the reproductive health movement to provide abortion procedures on sliding scale fees and subsidized by donations increased accessibility. However, the big reasons seem to be the impact of the recession in deterring women from having children and a 25% increase in women in poverty from 2000-2008.

The study concludes: "Rather than restricting access to abortion, policy efforts could accomplish more by increasing access to a broad array of reproductive health services, including abortion. Groups overrepresented among abortion patients also have above-average rates of contraceptive failure and unintended birth." The equation seems like: more contraception = fewer unintended pregnancies = fewer abortions = no-brainer.

In addition, I'm again compelled to point out that pro-lifers could significantly reduce the incidence of abortion simply by focusing on poverty and the ability of women to survive as mothers. They wouldn't get any opposition in this from the pro-choice camp. With Mother's Day coming up, we should recall that being a mom is a tough job, made even tougher when you only make an average 73 cents on the dollar and cannot access decent child or health care.

Photo credit: Neil T

Alex DiBranco is a Change.org Editor who has worked for the Nation, Political Research Associates, and the Center for American Progress. She is now based in New York City.

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