Two studies from the Guttmacher Institute revealed the importance of offering women contraception after they obtain abortion services. The studies note that abortion patients are at high risk for additional unintended pregnancies.
The first study, “Patients’ Attitudes and Experiences Related to Receiving Contraception During Abortion Care,” conducted by Megan Kavanaugh et al., found that 66 percent of women who sought abortions stated that they wanted to leave with contraception. Moreover, of the women who had obtained an abortion in the last five years, two-thirds had been given a form of contraception at the abortion facility.
Adam Sonfield, in Abortion Clinics and Contraceptive Services: Opportunities and Challenges,” specialized abortion clinics, or those in which 50 percent or more of patients’ visits are for abortion services, performed 70 percent of all abortions in 2008, although they accounted for only 21 percent of abortion providers. Sonfield states that specialized abortion clinics may be “especially well-suited to provide the most effective contraceptive methods on the market,” such as IUDs, contraceptive implants, and surgical sterilization. Nevertheless, providing these services would place significant financial challenges on the specialized clinics.
