May 25 2011
The overall abortion rate dropped 8 percent between 2000 and 2008, but rose about 18 percent among the nation's poorest women.
USA Today: Abortion Rates Decline Overall, Increasing In Poor
Abortion rates fell among most groups of women between 2000 and 2008, except for those classified as poor, finds an analysis conducted by the nonprofit Guttmacher Institute and published online today in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology (Jayson, 5/23).
ABC News: Abortion Rate Down Overall, Up Among Poor Women
The abortion rate in the United States dropped 8 percent between 2000 and 2008, while rising nearly 18 percent among the country's poorest women — a trend that researchers believe might reflect tough economic times. Of the more than 1.2 million legal abortions reported in 2008, women whose family income fell below the national poverty level accounted for 42 percent of them. ... Planned Parenthood puts the cost of an abortion during the first trimester at between $300 to $950 — a fee many women front out-of-pocket because of a lack of insurance coverage, confusion about whether the procedure is covered or a desire for privacy (Moisse, 5/24).
This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente. |