Reasons U.S. Women Have Abortions: Quantitative and Qualitative Perspectives

Guttmacher Institute ^ | 3, September 2005 | Lawrence B. Finer, Lori F. Frohwirth, Lindsay A. Dauphinee, Susheela Singh, Ann M. Moore

[Lorianne]

I have never understood how the reasons given don't jive with the fact that a woman is not required by law to keep a baby she has born ... she may put it up for adoption, or simply abandon the child to State care.

Forgetting any other aspects ... the reasons given do not make logical sense. Saying one doesn't want to be pregnant or doesn't want to give birth would make LOGICAL sense as reason for an abortion. However, this reason is not given.

[brytlea]

Perhaps those reasons sound too selfish for them to be willing to admit.
susie

[saveliberty]

There was a good article in 2002 (Feb) in National Review by Kathryn Jean Lopez. She published some pro life advocate's comments that abortion eliminates all of the supports that a woman or girl has because no one wants to get involved and or deal. She also published the observation that the number of women and girls who die from abortions is a higher number than prior to Roe v. Wade.

[jdm]

[ The reasons most frequently cited were that having a child would interfere with a woman's ... ability to care for dependents (74%); ]

BS. The unborn child would be a dependent if ALLOWED TO LIVE! Until the child is born there are no dependents. Unless by "dependent" they're referring to the woman's deadbeat boyfriend / would-be "father" who smokes crack and plays x-BOX all day.

[LWalk18]

Until the child is born there are no dependents.

I think you are assuming that a woman who has an abortion is aborting her first child. Many are having abortion after having given birth in the past, and worry that they cannot take care of child number 2 or 3.

[LWalk18]

Adoption is an underrated option. Many women would rather get rid of the child now instead of blowing up in weight, going through the labor and/or having abdominal surgery, all for a child that they will never see again in life. Others around the mother (parents, the father of the baby,etc.) often fear that if the woman completes the pregnancy she will change her mind at birth and keep the baby. For the parents of a girl who gets pregnant, adoption does not spare them from the judgment of their neighbors, friends, and church members who will see their 15 year old growing waistline.

For black women, in particular, there is a widely held perception that people would rather adopt children from foreign countries than black American babies, and that they are doomed to languish in foster care. As a result, many black women and girls do not see adoption as an option, and abort in disproportionate numbers.

As for abandoning the child to Social Services, while many states have Safe Haven laws, other do not so just leaving the baby at the hospital may have legal consequences for the mother, particularly when she has more children.

[Tamar1973]

Others around the mother (parents, the father of the baby,etc.) often fear that if the woman completes the pregnancy she will change her mind at birth and keep the baby.

Unfortunately (for the baby), many of them do change their minds and give in to the delusion that they are ready to deal with it on their own and often it's the grandparents who encourage that the most.

[A CA Guy]

Paganism and selfishness!

[Robert A Cook PE]

Less than 3% of all abortions are for true :health of the mother" medical reasons.

92% are merely for the "convenience" of the (former) mother. Child 2 and child 3 pay more welfare (although not as much as before Welfare Reform Act) and having extra kids is often blamed for "raising" the income level of those on welfare.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Unfortunately (for the baby), many of them do change their minds

????

You're assuming it's "unfortunate" for the baby that the baby lives?

[papertyger]

Adoption is an underrated option.

As one currently in the process, it is my heartfelt belief that those forces sympathetic to abortion have managed to make the process of adoption as problematic as humanly possible.

People do not go outside our borders to adopt because it's stylish: they do so because it's smart.

[RobbyS]

You need to add the legal hoops through which those wishing to adopt have to jump. Plus the expense. A family I know had two adoptions and paid more than $10,000 each time.

[Tamar1973]

You're assuming it's "unfortunate" for the baby that the baby lives?

No, I consider it unfortunate that people who aren't ready to raise children are raising children rather than giving them up for adoption.

[Bellflower]

Interesting home page. Pinging it to read closer later. My cats name is Tamar or Ta Ta for her nick name. She was feral and right away seemed very attached to her name. I think Tamar in the OT is a heroine.

[RobbyS]

Just saw "Penny Serenade" over Christmas. Unfortunately not all involved in the adoption business are as nice as the character played by Beulah Bondi.

[Bellflower]

We need many more ads that stress that the "thing" within the womb is a person. It is too easy in today's climate for people who are pregnant to rationalize away a human unborn child into a choice. I think the mothers and others involved know better in a lot of cases but find it easy to suppress the facts in favor of what is convenient. We need to constantly remind the public that abortion is murder.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

"Opinions on adoption. Respondents were not specifically asked about adoption; nevertheless, it came up spontaneously in both parts of the study. While fewer than 1% of women in the quantitative survey volunteered that they would not consider or did not favor having a baby and giving it up for adoption, more than one-third of interview respondents said they had considered adoption and concluded that it was a morally unconscionable option because giving one's child away is wrong."

What is wrong with these women? 33%+ of those interviewed said it's wrong to give your child away, but right to kill it? Good Lord.

[trimom]

I had two babies in 10 months and 29 days. Believe me, when I found out I was expecting #2, I was TERRIFIED about caring for two babies. My husband was delighted and my mom told me I had no time to THINK, only time to DO! Guess what? I found enough love and time and energy to do the job. Maybe having a committed, loving and responsible husband had something to do with that.

[knuthom]

Killing one's child by abortion can be done mostly in secret. Nobody knows if a woman has an abortion unless she tells them. But anyone can see when a woman is pregnant. Friends and acquaintances would ask where the baby was if she gave the child up.

It is absurd to think it is okay to kill the child, but not to give it up for adoption. This is the kind of attitude that occurs when a woman considers what other people think, more than she considers what God thinks.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

"Maybe having a committed, loving and responsible husband had something to do with that."

WHAT? You made a nest FIRST, and provided a legal, functional father for your children? Do the Femi-Nazis know about you? How totally "Un-PC!" Back to the Re-Education Camp with you Missy, LOL!

Just kidding! Glad to hear it. You know what you're doing. While I've never given birth myself, I waited to have my family until I was close to 35 so I, too, could raise my Step-Son as we (his PARENTS) saw fit. DH didn't allow me to even MEET his son until we had dated for over 9 months. Had I not been deemed "worthy" by my future son, I would've been toast.

So, I ended up with one of those "loving and RESPONSIBLE" husbands, too. Man! They really hold you accountable with their offspring, don't they? It's definately not for the faint of heart, LOL! ;)