There are many reasons why a woman chooses to have an abortion, and statistics reporting these reasons are kept by many agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and the Guttmacher Institute, which track data on many areas of reproductive health. Each year, 1 million American teenagers become pregnant, and 78 percent of these pregnancies are unintended. The most common reasons women choose abortions include financial concerns, negative effects on the woman's life, lack of a partner or a bad relationship, and medical considerations.
Prevalence of Abortion Among Teens
Four in every five Americans begin having intercourse before age 20, and by the time they turn 20, about 40 percent of American women have been pregnant at least once, according to the National Abortion Federation, a leading resource for information regarding abortion. Of the teenage women who become pregnant, about 35 percent choose to have an abortion rather than bear a child. Compared to abortion rates overall, the Guttmacher Institute reports that 18 percent of U.S. women obtaining abortions are teenagers with the following breakdown of age groups: those ages 15 to 17 obtain 6 percent of all abortions, ages 18 to 19 obtain 11 percent and teens under age 15 obtain 0.4 percent.
Negative Effects on Life
An overwhelming number of women cite personal reasons that would negatively effect their life as the reason they choose abortion. More than half of women that have an abortion already have at least one child and do not want another at that time. Additionally, having a child leads to time off work and career interruption, including finishing higher education. For teens, this includes finishing high school, engaging in activities such as school sports or prom, and missing the opportunity to live in a college dorm.
Financial Concerns
According to the CDC, approximately 3/4 of women that have abortions say that they cannot afford to have a child. This may include not having enough money for a place to live, child care, the cost of prenatal care and delivery, and the overall cost of raising a child for his entire life, which is estimated at around $250,000 from birth till age 18. This is a huge financial responsibility, one many women do not feel they are ready for, and as a result they choose abortion.
Unwillingness to be a Single Parent
Half of women that have abortions indicate that their relationship status is a primary reason for choosing not to continue their pregnancy. Not wanting to be a single parent is the main concern. However, being in an unhappy or problematic relationship is also an issue. For unmarried teens, even those living with a partner, there is still a high likelihood that they will end up as single parents. This leads to financial hardship and the disruption of future goals.
Medical Reasons
According to statistics collected by the Guttmacher Institute, almost 25 percent of women cited either concerns for the fetus' heath or their own health as the reason they were choosing abortion. These reasons included such issues as cancer, chronic conditions and conditions specific to pregnancy, such as gestational diabetes. Furthermore, in some cases, a woman chooses an abortion when it is clear a miscarriage is going to happen to avoid the health risks associated with miscarriage, such as hemorrhage, infertility, products of conception being left in the uterus and extensive pain.
