How many people have repeated abortions

It does not, however, provide any specific data on the reasons why women decided to seek an abortion. People seeking advice on reproductive health and contraception can speak with their GP or a community family planning clinic. GUM genitourinary medicine clinics, which are often located in hospitals, can also provide contraceptive services and sexual health advice.

For younger adults in particular, voluntary organisations such as Brook advisory centres also provide a wide range of sexual health services. Accept and close. Medical practice How common are repeat abortions? What is a repeat abortion? How many repeat abortions are happening each year? Are repeat abortions increasing? Texas abortion ban: New law continues to cause deep division as women travel outside state to end pregnancies. Woman with Down's syndrome loses case to prevent abortions on unborn babies with disabilities after 24 weeks.

The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children said women having high numbers of abortions were "crying out for help" and voiced concerns about the "harmful policy" that allows women in Britain to take an early abortion pill at home. Antonia Tully, the organisation's director of campaigns, told Sky News: "A woman seeking her seventh or eighth abortion could easily be in an abusive situation where she is being repeatedly coerced into having an abortion.

Is anyone asking questions about why a teenager, possibly underage, keeps presenting for abortion? Ms Tully added that women in Britain can have abortions at home "away from any medical supervision", saying: "This harmful policy ignores the evidence that women aborting at home, often alone, can be left with serious mental health problems. However, guidelines from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists state that there is no causal association between an induced abortion for an unwanted pregnancy and future psychiatric illness or self-harm.

Information was gathered using a four-page, paper-and-pencil, self-administered questionnaire, available in English or Spanish. Participating facilities were randomly selected, and data are nationally representative of nonhospital abortion patients in the United States.

Detailed information on the data collection and weighting procedures is available in previously published studies. The dependent variable for this analysis is a self-reported measure of prior abortion. Some respondents, 4. However, similar proportions indicated they had a prior abortion on both measures Thus, we dichotomized the more detailed question to make the two measures comparable, and combined them to make one variable.

As a sensitivity analysis, we compared the nonresponders of the continuous item and the dichotomous item for prior abortion; we found no differences between the two groups according to age, race and ethnicity, education, or prior births not shown.

Thus, it is possible that fewer individuals answered the open-ended item simply because it took more effort as opposed to avoiding any stigma that might arise when indicating a specific number of prior abortions. Additionally, we assessed for associations between prior abortion and several situational characteristics that could impact women's ability or need to access abortion services one or more times, including method of payment for the abortion, distance from the provider, and exposure to disruptive life events.

The survey included a question about the contraceptive method last used by the respondent and date of use. We distinguished between women who were using a method in the month they got pregnant, those who were not, and those who had never used a method. We adopted this strategy because we were primarily interested in determining whether nonuse or never-use of contraception was associated with having a prior abortion.

In preliminary analyses we explored a more detailed measure of type of contraceptive method used but determined that the three-category item allowed for a more straightforward set of associations. On average, patients travel 15 miles one way to access abortion services, 9 , 10 and women who live far from a provider may have a harder time accessing services even one time. Thus, we included a measure of distance to facility. Although most women pay out of pocket for abortion care, 7 , 11 those who are able to use health insurance may be able to access abortion services more easily and, in turn, more often.

Thus, we include these respondents in the self-payment category. We included a measure of disruptive events as these have the potential to expose women to the risk of repeat unintended pregnancy.

We distinguish between women who had experienced none, one, or two or more of these events. We first compared the demographic profiles of women who did not answer the item about prior abortions to those who did, using simple logistic regression to assess whether differences were statistically significant.

For analyses using the analytic sample, we used simple logistic regression to assess bivariate associations between demographic and situational characteristics and having had a prior abortion.

All independent variables were entered into a multivariable logistic regression model. Because the two items used to measure the dependent variable had slightly different levels of nonresponse, as a sensitivity analysis we generated two separate regression models using the two versions of the dependent variable; these findings are only reported when they differ from the ones using the full sample.

Despite these significant differences, the demographic profile of the analytic sample was comparable to that of the full sample, and we suspect that our findings would not change substantially if information had been provided by these nonrespondents. Slightly less than half of abortion patients These variations were maintained in the multivariable analysis. The likelihood of having a prior abortion increased with age and patients in their 30s had two and a half times the odds of having had a prior abortion odds ratio [OR]: 2.

Similarly, women who had one or more births had twice the odds of nulliparous women of having had a prior abortion OR: 1. This association was maintained in the logistic regression model when white patients were the comparison group OR: 1. Patients who had graduated from college were less likely to have had a prior abortion than those with high school degree OR: 0. However, this association was tenuous as it was not significant in either of the models generated for sensitivity analyses not shown.

Several of the circumstances we examined were associated with prior abortion. Compared with patients who paid for the abortion out of pocket, the odds of having had a prior abortion were higher for those who paid for the procedure using public or private health insurance OR: 1.

This report provides aggregate and reporting area—specific abortion numbers, rates, and ratios for the 49 areas that reported to CDC for , which excluded California, Maryland, and New Hampshire.

In addition, this report describes characteristics of women who obtained abortions in The data in this report are presented by the reporting area in which the abortions were performed. The completeness and quality of data received varies by year and by variable; this report only describes the characteristics of women obtaining abortions in reporting areas that met CDC reporting standards i. Cells with a value in the range of 1—4 or cells that would allow for calculation of these values have been suppressed in this report to maintain confidentiality.

Trends in the number, rate, and ratio of reported abortions and annual data are presented for the 48 areas that reported data every year during — The percentage change in abortion measures from the most recent past year to and during the year period of analysis to were calculated for these 48 reporting areas. Trends were also reported for abortions by age group of women obtaining abortions and by weeks of gestation. Annual data are presented for areas that met reporting standards every year during —; the percentage change was calculated from the beginning to the end of the year period of analysis — , from the beginning to the end of the first and second halves of this period — and — , and from the most recent past year to Consistent with previous reports, key findings for trends are presented to highlight observed changes over time and differences between groups.

However, no statistical testing was performed. Comparisons do not imply statistical significance, and lack of comment regarding the difference between values does not imply that no statistically significant difference exists.

Data from some reporting areas are not included in trends if the data did not meet reporting standards every year during — for overall, age, and gestational age trend analyses or if data did not meet reporting standards for selected years of comparison for early medical abortion trend analysis. As a result, aggregate measures for in trend analyses might differ from the point estimates reported for CDC has reported data on abortion-related deaths periodically since information on abortion mortality first was included in the abortion surveillance report 18 , An abortion-related death is defined as a death resulting from a direct complication of an abortion legal or illegal , an indirect complication caused by a chain of events initiated by an abortion, or an aggravation of a preexisting condition by the physiologic or psychologic effects of abortion An abortion is categorized as legal when it is performed by a licensed clinician within the limits of state law.

Sources of data to identify abortion-related deaths have included state vital records; media reports, including computerized searches of full-text newspaper and other print media databases; and individual case reports by public health agencies, including maternal mortality review committees, health care providers and provider organizations, private citizens, and citizen groups.

For each death that is possibly related to abortion, CDC requests clinical records and autopsy reports. Two medical epidemiologists independently review these reports to determine the cause of death and whether the death was abortion related. Discrepancies are discussed and resolved by consensus. Each death is categorized by abortion type as legal induced, illegal induced, spontaneous, or unknown type.

Data on induced abortion-related deaths that occurred during — have been published 12 — 15 , 17 , 18 , Thus, denominator data for calculation of national legal induced abortion case-fatality rates were obtained from a published report by the Guttmacher Institute that includes estimated total numbers of abortions in the United States from a national survey of abortion-providing facilities Among the 49 reporting areas that provided data for , a total of , abortions were reported.

Of these abortions, , In , these continuously reporting areas had an abortion rate of In , the total number, rate, and ratio of reported abortions decreased to historic lows for the period of analysis for all three measures. In , a considerable range existed in abortion rates by reporting area of occurrence from 2. The percentage of abortions obtained by out-of-state residents also varied among reporting areas from 0. Overall, 9. In contrast, abortion ratios in were lowest among women aged 25—39 years — per 1, live births.

Non-Hispanic White women had the lowest abortion rate 6. Among the 42 areas that reported by marital status for , The abortion ratio was 44 abortions per 1, live births for married women and abortions per 1, live births for unmarried women.

Data from the 43 areas that reported the number of previous live births for women who obtained abortions in indicate that Data from the 40 areas that reported the number of previous abortions for women who obtained abortions in indicate that the majority Among the 45 areas that reported by method type for and included medical abortion on their reporting form, Increases in early medical abortion occurred both from to from Surgical abortion accounted for In contrast, medical abortion accounted for In 42 reporting areas, by age, Conversely, Using national PMSS data 53 , CDC identified two abortion-related deaths for , the most recent year for which data were reviewed for abortion-related deaths Table Investigation of these cases indicated that two deaths were related to legal abortion.

The annual number of deaths related to legal induced abortion has fluctuated from year to year since Table Because of this variability and the relatively limited number of deaths related to legal induced abortions every year, national legal abortion case-fatality rates were calculated for consecutive 5-year periods during — The national legal induced abortion case-fatality rate for — was 0.

This case-fatality rate was lower than the rates for the preceding 5-year periods. For , a total of , abortions were reported to CDC by 49 areas. Of these reporting areas, 48 submitted data every year for —, thus providing the information necessary for consistently reporting trends.

Among these 48 areas, for , the abortion rate was These data underscore important age differences in abortion measures. The adolescent abortion trends described in this report are important for monitoring progress that has been made toward reducing adolescent pregnancies in the United States.

These findings highlight that decreases in adolescent births in the United States have been accompanied by large decreases in adolescent abortions 44 , For example, in , compared with non-Hispanic White women, abortion rates and ratios were 3. Similar differences have been demonstrated in other U.

The comparatively higher abortion rates and ratios among non-Hispanic Black women have been attributed to higher unintended pregnancy rates and a greater percentage of unintended pregnancies ending in abortion in this group The complex factors contributing to differences to ensure equitable access to quality family planning services need to be identified 58 , Previous research indicates that the distribution of abortions by gestational age differs by various sociodemographic characteristics 64 — Multiple factors might influence the gestational age when abortions are performed 56 , 60 — 63 , 65 — The trend of obtaining abortions earlier in pregnancy has been facilitated by changes in abortion practices.

However, subsequent advances in technology e. In , Because the annual number of deaths related to legal induced abortion is small and statistically unstable, case-fatality rates were calculated for consecutive 5-year periods during — The national legal induced abortion case-fatality rate for — was fewer than 1 per , abortions, as it was for all the previous 5-year periods since the late s, demonstrating the low risk for death associated with legal induced abortion. The findings in this report are subject to at least four limitations.

First, because reporting to CDC is voluntary and reporting requirements vary by the individual reporting areas 28 , CDC is unable to report the total number of abortions performed in the United States. In addition, the District of Columbia and New Jersey did not have abortion reporting requirements to a centralized health agency during the period covered in this report 27 , which potentially affects the representativeness of data these jurisdictions send to CDC. Moreover, even in states that legally require clinicians to submit a report for every abortion they perform, enforcement of this requirement varies.

Second, many states use abortion reporting forms that differ from the technical guidance that CDC developed in collaboration with the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems. Consequently, multiple reporting areas do not collect all variables requested by CDC e. Missing demographic information can reduce the extent to which the statistics in this report represent women who have had abortions.

Some areas that either do not report to CDC e. In addition, some areas collect gestational age data that are based on estimated date of conception or probable postfertilization age, which are not consistent with medical conventions for gestational age reporting. Without medical guidance on how to report these data, the validity and reliability of gestational age for these reporting areas is uncertain.

Third, abortion data are compiled and reported to CDC by the central health agency of the reporting area in which the abortion was performed rather than the reporting area in which the woman lived.

Thus, the available population 33 — 42 and birth data 43 — 45 , which are organized by the states in which women live, might differ from the population of women who undergo abortions in a given reporting area.

This likely results in an overestimation of abortions for reporting areas in which a higher percentage of abortions are obtained by out-of-state residents and an underestimation of abortions for states where residents more frequently obtain abortions out of state. Limited abortion services, stringent regulatory requirements for obtaining an abortion, or geographic proximity to services in another state might influence where women obtain abortion services Finally, CDC reporting of sociodemographic characteristics of women obtaining abortions is limited to data collected on jurisdiction reporting forms.

Therefore, examining additional demographic variables, e. Ongoing surveillance of legal induced abortion is important for several reasons. First, abortion surveillance can be used to help evaluate programs aimed at preventing unintended pregnancies. Efforts to help women avoid unintended pregnancies might reduce the number of abortions 85 , Second, routine abortion surveillance is needed to assess trends in clinical practice patterns over time.