I recently researched which demographic categories of women were most likely to have abortions. My predictions were that young, single, and low income minorities would be most likely to receive an abortion. For the most part my predictions were true. The low income, single, minorities were most likely to receive abortions because they believed they would be financially unable to care for the child. It was understandable that single, low income women would have more abortions, and usually these women are associated with a minority group. However, instead of young women having more abortions, I discovered that a higher percent of older women tend to have abortions. This finding astounded me. The only reason that could possibly explain this statistic is that in today's society young teens are becoming more well-informed about using contraceptives. This may tend to make them more cautious of having sex without protection. Also, possibly older women that get pregnant may think that they would be too old to have a child, and/or their "partner" does not think it would be appropriate to have a child yet.
As I have discussed before the new Pregnant Women Support Act that is being considered now would provide women that have a lower income with resources so that she would be able to carry the pregnancy full term. If she did not want to keep the child she could give it up for adoption, but all the pre-birth finances would be taken care of. This would lower the rate of single, low income, minorities that receive abortions.
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You bring up the point that older women are more likely to have an abortion. This being said it is also more likely for a child to be born with a birth defect with increasing frequency and severity as the mother's age increases. What possible solutions would you consider for this women and any pregnant woman who knows that their child is going to have a birth defect? (ex: the mother finds out through genetic testing)
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