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First Study of Second Trimester Abortion Patients

According to a study by the Guttmacher Institute’s Rachel Jones and Lawrence Finer entitled, “Who Has Second-Trimester Abortions in the United States?,” women with lower educational attainment, teenagers, women who have “experienced multiple disruptive events in the last year,” and African American women are more likely to have second trimester abortions-at 13 weeks gestation or later. This is the first comprehensive study of second-trimester abortion patients in the United States.

The researchers recommend that “removing the many existing barriers to early abortion services could reduce the number of second-trimester abortions, particularly among black women and those with less education. For women needing second-trimester procedures, having health insurance or other financial resources to pay for abortion services is especially important…Growing restrictions on public and private insurance coverage for abortion may paradoxically increase the need for second-trimester abortion by further delaying women’s access to services early in pregnancy, while also reducing access to second-trimester abortion services for poor and low-income women who need them.”

The study indicates that 90 percent of women who get an abortion do so during the first trimester and is based on a sample of over 9,400 women.

Sources:

Guttmacher Institute Statement 12/16/11;

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