Poor Women, Black Women, More Likely to Get Abortions

10 Facts About Abortion in the U.S.

Jan. 22 marks the 40^th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case that legalized abortion in the United States. In 2011 and 2012, however, reproductive rights faced more restrictions than ever before, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Today, more than half of women between the ages of 15 and 44 live in states that oppose reproductive rights, the research organization has found. A decade ago, fewer than a third of women in their childbearing years lived in states that opposed abortion. In light of Roe v. Wade’s 40^th anniversary, the Guttmacher Institute also examined which women are most likely to experience unplanned pregnancies. Poor women and black women make this list.

According to the Institute:

Forty-two percent of women who have abortions are poor.

Poor women are five times as likely as higher-income women to have an unplanned pregnancy.

Poor women are five times as likely as higher-income women to have abortions.

Poor women are six times as likely as higher-income women to give birth after an unplanned pregnancy.

Seventy percent of women who get abortions say they would have liked to have had the procedure earlier than they did. Women in need of abortions often have to borrow from friends or family to pay for the procedure or forego groceries or paying for rent to do so.

Fifty-seven percent of abortion patients pay for the procedure out of pocket. This is typically because they lack health insurance of because their health insurance doesn’t cover abortions.

Nine percent of black women have unintended pregnancies vs. 3.6 percent of white women and 8 percent of Hispanic women.

Four percent of black women obtained abortions in 2008 vs. 1 percent of white women and 2.9 percent of Hispanic women.

Just under four percent of black women gave birth following an unintended pregnancy vs. 1.8 percent of white women and 4.5 percent of Hispanic women.

Eighty-seven percent of U.S. counties lack abortion providers, causing some women to travel more than 50 miles to obtain an abortion.

[ALSO READ: Women Who Can’t Get Abortions May Fall Into Poverty] 

[SUBSCRIBE TO LOOP 21 RSS FEED]