Who’s getting abortions? Not who you’d think
Half of the women are 25 or older; most already have a child
MSN-In American pop culture, the face of abortion is often a frightened teenager, nervously choosing to terminate an unexpected pregnancy. The numbers tell a far more complex story in which financial stress can play a pivotal role.
Half of the roughly 1.2 million U.S. women who have abortions each year are 25 or older. Only about 17 percent are teens. About 60 percent have given birth to least one child prior to getting an abortion.
A disproportionately high number are black or Hispanic. And regardless of race, high abortion rates are linked to hard times.
US abortions at lowest rate since 1974
AP: The number of abortions in the United States fell to 1.2 million in 2005, down 25 percent from the all-time high of 1.6 million in 1990 and dropping the abortion rate to its lowest level since 1974, according to report issued Thursday.
The Guttmacher Institute, which surveyed abortion providers nationwide, said there likely were several reasons for the decline, including more effective use of contraceptives, lower levels of unintended pregnancy and greater difficulty obtaining abortions in some parts of the country.
The institute’s president, Sharon Camp, noted that despite the drop, more than one in five pregnancies ended in abortion in 2005.
Pro-choicers would work with pro-lifers day and night to reduce the demand for abortions AS LONG AS criminalizing abortion is off the table. Or we can be at each others throats. It’s really up to the pro-lifers.
Lefthook
This is one of those “protracted battles” which frankly has been shoved in my face since before Reagan. It looks like a great way to get Americans to “lock horns” while the country is being robbed blind by crooks and liars. And I’ve mentioned several issues which are ignored by the “pro-lifers” which would reduce the number of abortions and appeal to pro-choicers too. And as usual I’m a fiscal conservative pro-choice Republican who is supporting a pro-life Presidential candidate. (And this one is ignored by the pro-life crowd too)
I can tell you who definitely isn’t getting abortions… old male lawmakers.