Alleviating, or Even Ending Poverty, Won't End Women's Need for Abortions

In 2014, 49 percent of the women who had abortions were poor and 26 percent were low-income -- far more than their proportion in the population. In a 2005 survey by Guttmacher Institute researchers, 73 percent of women seeking abortions said they couldn't afford to raise a child. A 2013 study by M. Antonia Biggs, Heather Gould and Diana Greene Foster found that 40 percent of women cited "financial reasons" as a reason to have an abortion.

It would seem in looking at the data above that reducing poverty would also reduce the abortion rate. This is not necessarily true, as in both the 2005 and 2013 surveys women gave multiple answers. In the Guttmacher study, 74 percent said that "having a baby would dramatically change my life";  48 percent said they didn't want to be a single mother or were having relationship problem; nearly 40 percent said they had finished their childbearing; and almost one-third said they weren't ready to have a child. In the 2013 study, 36 percent said it was "not the right time for a baby"; 29 percent needed to focus on the children they already had; 14 percent said having a baby now would interfere with their education; 7 percent said they were not independent or nature enough; and 3 percent said they never wanted kids. In both studies, around 12 percent cited health problems, either with themselves or the fetus. [1]

Do countries with strong social safety nets have abortion rates that are lower than in the United States? It turns out that social spending does not correlate directly with a country's abortion rate.

Sweden spends 28% of its GDP on social services and has a rate of 17.5 abortions per 1,000 women.

The United States spends 19% of its GDP on social services and has a rate of 13.2 abortions per 1,000 women.

Germany spends 26% of its GDP on social services and has a rate of 7.4 abortions per 1,000 women.

Denmark spends 30% of its GDP on social services and has a rate of 12.1 abortions per 1,000 women.

France spends 32% of its GDP on social services and has a rate of 15.3 abortions per 1,000 women. [2]

ADDENDUMS:
The Texas Policy Evaluation Project conducted a study that found an estimated 100,000 women in Texas between the ages of 18 and 49 -- and possibly as many as 240,000 -- have attempted to terminate a pregnancy on their own, without medical assistance. Had the U.S. Supreme Court not struck down the Texas law, HB2, that would have closed many abortion clinics, there would have been many more dangerous self-abortions in that state.

Of the 26 states requiring waiting periods for abortions, only Utah makes an exception for rape or incest. When women impregnated by rape carry their pregnancies to term, 31 states allow the rapist to sue for rights to the child.

Footnotes
[1] Katha Pollitt, "Poverty and Choices," The Nation, June 20/27, 2016.

[2] Alex Lubben, "Abortion vs. Social Spending," The Nation, June 20/27, 2016.