Limits on Abortion

Yet, while it may seem paradoxical, a country's abortion rate is not closely correlated with whether abortion is legal there. For example, abortion levels are quite high in Latin American countries, where abortion is highly restricted. (In fact, 20 million of the 46 million abortions performed annually worldwide occur in countries with highly restrictive abortion laws.) At the same time, abortion rates are quite low throughout Western Europe, where the procedure is legal and widely available. Also, Eastern and Western Europe have the world's highest and lowest abortion rates, respectively, yet abortion is generally legal throughout the Continent.If legality is not the determining factor, what drives the rates at which abortions occur in a given country? Clearly, a key factor is the rate at which women experience unintended pregnancies”itself a function of the interplay between a couple's family-size (and timing) goals and their contraceptive use.Abortion levels are high in countries where the desire for small families is strong but contraceptive use is low or ineffective. For example, in most of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics, where desired family size has been small for many years, modern contraceptive methods were not generally available until recently. As a result, women relied on abortion”which was legal, safe and easily accessible”to regulate births. However, as contraceptives have become much easier to obtain in recent years, the situation has begun to change rapidly, and abortion rates in some of these countries fell by as much as 50% between 1990 and 1996.In sharp contrast, even in countries where abortion is legal and widely available, abortion rates are low if couples practice contraception effectively to limit or space births. In the Netherlands, for example, where abortion has been legal and widely accessible for many years, abortion and unintended pregnancy rates are low because of widespread contraceptive use.

When abortion occurs under legal conditions, it is usually performed early in pregnancy by a skilled practitioner using an accepted medical or surgical method in a hygienic setting; in such circumstances, the risk of complications and maternal morbidity is low. However, when abortion is largely illegal and must be performed clandestinely, it often is unsafe; in such situations, complication rates and maternal morbidity skyrocket.

Some abortion opponents allege that the U.S. abortion rate is due to the extreme "permissiveness" of the nation's abortion policy. (As the result of the Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, the right to choose abortion is constitutionally protected until fetal viability, after which states may prohibit abortion except when it is necessary to save a woman's life or protect her health.) In practice, however, U.S. policy is roughly comparable to that of many Western European countries (which, moreover, pay for the procedure under their national health programs)”and virtually all of these countries have much lower abortion rates. Consistent with the experience of other countries around the world, the key variable that accounts for the high U.S. abortion rate is not a permissive law but a high unintended pregnancy rate.At the same time, and also consistent with the worldwide picture, abortion is extremely safe in this country”far safer than it was prior to Roe v. Wade, when the procedure was illegal in many states. Before Roe, women's choices, and experiences, were similar to those of women in developing countries today. Less affluent women who could not afford to travel to states where abortion was legal commonly turned to illegal, clandestine procedures”which often resulted in serious health complications and sometimes death. Even some better-off women who could afford to travel suffered consequences associated with delaying their abortions. And complications of abortion were a major cause of hospital admission.But as has been the experience in other countries, legalization has enabled women to obtain earlier, safer abortions. Today, more than half of abortions in this country occur within the first eight weeks of gestation, three-quarters within 12 weeks and almost 99% within 20 weeks. (A full-term pregnancy lasts 38 weeks.) A woman's risk of dying from abortion-related complications in this country (0.4 deaths per 100,000 procedures performed before eight weeks' gestation) is significantly lower than her risk of dying as the result of pregnancy or childbirth (seven deaths per 100,000 live births).

In this regard, understanding that the legal status of abortion correlates much more with its safety than with its incidence is critical. One need only look at the experience in many developing countries”with their high rates of maternal death and disability related to illegal, unsafe abortions”for a powerful reminder of the social and medical costs routinely borne by women when access to safe abortion is denied.Moreover, efforts focusing on restricting access to abortion in order to reduce its incidence are misguided; public policy should concentrate on helping women prevent unplanned pregnancies. Therefore, key policy objectives must include improving women's access to comprehensive family planning services and promoting the effective use of contraceptives.

A woman's risk of dying from abortion-related complications in this country (0.4 deaths per 100,000 procedures performed before eight weeks' gestation) is significantly lower than her risk of dying as the result of pregnancy or childbirth (seven deaths per 100,000 live births).

A woman's risk of dying from abortion-related complications in this country (0.4 deaths per 100,000 procedures performed before eight weeks' gestation) is significantly lower than her risk of dying as the result of pregnancy or childbirth (seven deaths per 100,000 live births).

I made a choice to end two pregnancies. I made a choice to continue to give my two sons the time and attention that they deserve. I made a choice to not burden our family financially. I made a choice to spend more time with my husband and to help our relationship, as not only parents, but as lifetime partners, flourish. I don't regret my decisions and I'm not sorry.

I am almost four years later, I have been happily married for almost 2 years now and we look forward to having children in a couple of years from now when we are capable of providing a stable home for a child. Life couldn’t be better. Pro-Choice! I AM NOT SORRY!

I made my choice and I do not regret it and I know I never will. I am a better, more empathetic person because of it and so are those close to me. I have a college degree and a career, a happy and fulfilling marriage, and the promise that the conception of our first child will be a joyous occasion. I made my choice and because I know the importance of that freedom, I will always fight for others to have that same choice.