REASONS FOR ABORTION

Reasons for Women Having Abortion

[Name of the Institute]Abstract

CONTEXT: Public's information about policies regarding abortion and unwanted pregnancy can be improved through understanding the rationales for having abortions. The reasons behind women's decision of abortion change with the changes in demography.

METHODS: A structured survey was completed in 2012 by 313 abortion patients at 5 large providers. At five sites, 40 women were interviewed in-depth. Across subgroups, differences in the reasons of abortion were examined through bivariate analyses. The associations between the respondent's reasons reported and their characteristics are assessed through multivariate logistic regression models.

RESULTS: The most frequently cited reasons were that the pregnant woman's life was seriously endangered (88.1%), the pregnancy was resulted from rape (76.5%), and there as a strong chance of serious defect in child (74.6%). 46% women said that they have completed their child bearing, 44.3 percent has issues with income and they were not able to bear a child while 42.8% women wanted abortion because they were unmarried.

CONCLUSIONS: Multiple interrelated and diverse reasons are behind the decision of abortion. Issues with the health of pregnant woman dominate all other reasons behind abortion.

Abstracti

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Comparison of Reasons for Having Abortion3

METHODS6

Results10

Discussion15

Reference17

Appendix 23

Comparison of Reasons for Having Abortion

Policies are generally focused in public's discussion about abortion in the United States: under what circumstances who should be allowed to have abortions. 1.3 million women who abort their child every year and whose records are not found in statistics, receive less attention and also their reasons for having abortions left unknown (Finner & Henshaw, 2003). Fetal anomalies and health concerns are among the reasons given by a very small proportion of women. The most frequently given reason is the unintended pregnancy (Finner & Henshaw, 2003). What economic, social, familial, and personal factors end up in the decision of aborting the child? The answer is not completely known unless the life circumstances behind a pregnant woman who wants abortion are not fully captured.

There has been limited research into women's reasons for having abortions in United States. In Kansas 500 women participated in a study in 1985 and the study revealed the most frequently given reason was unreadiness to parent. The absence of partner and lack of financial resources are the next frequently given reasons (Faria, Barrett, & Goodman, 1985). A survey of 1900 women was conducted in 1987 at large abortion providers countrywide, the women's most common result for having an abortion was found to be the feeling that having a baby would interfere with responsibilities at work and a child is not affordable (Torres & Forrest, 1988). Since 1987, in this area, little search has been conducted in United States. Unreadiness for parenting, partner difficulties, economic hardship, and several recurring motivations have found in studies done worldwide (Vestermark. Peterse, & Asping, 1990, Hansen et al., 1996, Jordheium, 1991, Sihvo et al. 2003, and Bankole, 1998). An extensive literature using qualitative and quantitative research examines how women decide either to abort the child or give birth (Fielding & Schaff, 2004, Tornborn et ...