I think that is very good news. Bring on OTC MAP!!! Orange County is a conservative county. I hope it will continue to spread nationwide. 50% decrease in abortion rates would be an excellent start.
90% of all abortions in the first trimester sounded low. I couldn't help but wonder if I have been misled about the number of 2d and 3d trimester abortions, or if PP is referring out. So I checked, and I'm amazed to find out that while that figure only slightly exceeds the nationwide figure of 88%, only 1.5% of abortions are performed after 20 wks, and that 29% of those is young, and very young minors who have been in denial, tried to hide their pregnancies, or been afraid to tell their parents. OTC MAP could work wonders with the "afraid to tell parenrs" set.
I know this is Planned Parenthood, but I trust the statistics from CDC.
The Number of Abortions after the First Trimester Is Relatively Small
Between 1992 and 1996, the number of abortions in the United
States fell from 1,529,000 to 1,366,000 (Henshaw, 1998). The CDC
estimates that 55 percent of legal abortions occur within the first eight
weeks of gestation, and 88 percent are performed within the first 12
weeks. Only 1.5 percent occur after 20 weeks (CDC, 1999).
Since the legalization of abortion in 1973, the proportion of abortions
performed after the first trimester has decreased because of increased
access to and knowledge about safe, legal abortion services (Gold,
1990). <clip>
Adolescents Often Delay Abortion Until after the First Trimester
Adolescents are more likely than older women to obtain abortions
later in pregnancy. Adolescents obtain 29 percent of all abortions
performed after the first trimester (CDC, 1998).
Among women under age 15, more than one in four abortions is
performed at 13 or more weeks gestation (CDC, 1998).
The very youngest women, those under age 15, are more likely than
others to obtain abortions at 21 or more weeks gestation (CDC, 1998).
Common reasons why adolescents delay abortion until after the first
trimester include fear of parents’ reaction, denial of pregnancy, and
prolonged fantasies that having a baby will result in a stable
relationship with their partner (Paul et al., 1999). In addition,
adolescents may have irregular periods for up to 18 months after
menarche (Friedman et al., 1998), making it difficult for them to detect
pregnancy. Also, as previously noted, state laws requiring parental
consent or court-authorized bypass for minors can cause delays.
plannedparenthood.org |
