Susan Tew/Chris Kirchgaessner
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Despite variations in the legality and availability of abortion worldwide, some women in all demographic and socioeconomic subgroups will obtain an abortion when faced with an unintended pregnancy, according to findings reported in "Characteristics of Women Who Obtain Induced Abortion: A Worldwide Review." The analysis, by Akinrinola Bankole, Susheela Singh and Taylor Haas of The Alan Guttmacher Institute, used data from government statistics, nationally representative sample surveys and regional sources to examine measures of abortion by selected characteristics of women and to present comparisons within and across countries.According to the analysis, published in the June 1999 issue of International Family Planning Perspectives, the Institute's quarterly, peer-reviewed journal, whether women terminate unintended pregnancies is likely to be determined by their background characteristics (age, marital status and parity), as well as characteristics that reflect and influence their values, attitudes and motivation to prevent an unintended birth (education, place of residence, religion, and race or ethnicity). Key findings include the following:
The authors conclude that their findings on "the extent to which abortion is obtained by women of all socioeconomic and demographic characteristics document[s] the universality of women's need for abortion when faced with an unplanned pregnancy."
• Both the proportion of women who have an abortion and abortion rates show that women in their 20s are usually the most likely to obtain an abortion.
• Married women are more likely than unmarried women in two-thirds of the countries studied to have an abortion. In the United States, by contrast, unmarried women are more than four times as likely as married women to obtain an abortion.
• In most developing countries studied and many Eastern European countries, women who have had at least one birth have the majority of abortions, whereas in the rest of Europe, Canada and the United States, childless women account for the majority of abortions.
• Women at all educational levels obtain abortions.
• Women in urban areas are more likely than their rural counterparts to obtain an abortion.
• In some countries abortion rates differ by religion-survey data for Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, countries where the majority of the population is Muslim, reveal that Muslims have lower abortion rates than Christians.
• Rates also differ by ethnicity-abortion rates are much higher for Turkish-born women living in the Netherlands than for native Dutch women.
The Alan Guttmacher Institute-www.guttmacher.org-is a nonprofit organization focused on reproductive health research, policy analysis and public education, with offices in New York and Washington, D.C.
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