U.S. Abortion in Context: Selected Characteristics and Motivations of Women Seeking Abortions

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Abstract
The implications and effects of restrictive abortion laws depend on the characteristics and motivations of women obtaining abortions. Using secondary analysis of abortion patient data, this article documents substantial diversity in reproductive histories, family responsibilities, resources, and reasons for abortion among minors and adults who differed in marital and parental status. Abortion patients had substantial family responsibilities; nearly half were mothers. Reasons for abortion were related to internal, personal characteristics as well as to external circumstances, but for adult women, external circumstances were particularly salient. Women's abortion decisions reflected a desire to optimize the quality of marriage and childbearing, and to reduce risk of physical, psychological, social, and economic disadvantage for themselves and their existing and future children.