Here I’ll give statistics from Trust Women about women’s reproductive health choices:
91.6 percent of abortions happen in the first trimester.
73 percent of women indicate they could not afford to have a baby at that point in their lives.
74 percent cited interference with their education or job/career or responsibility for existing children or other dependents.
49 percent of women who had abortions in 2014 were living below the federal poverty line.
95 percent of women terminating pregnancies think it was the right decision for them.
Between 50 and 60 percent of women who have abortions were using some form of contraception the month they got pregnant.
60 percent of women who have abortions already have children.
I’ll end here with this according to Peters:
“Women also face a host of barriers when trying to obtain birth control: cost and lack of insurance..difficulty accessing a pharmacy…challenges in getting prescription contraception..in scheduling appointments and getting to a clinic or doctor’s office.”
These barriers were greater for women living below 200 percent of the poverty line.
I recommend that readers go out and buy and read this Rebecca Todd Peters book.
In the next blog entry I’ll talk about my own life as a women with a diagnosis and how my own health narrative has informed my choices.
Left of the Dial 