Delays in request for pregnancy termination: comparison of patients in the first and second trimesters

Abortion Surveillance — United States, 2013

“…Moreover, among the areas that reported abortions at ≤13 weeks' gestation by individual week, the distribution continued to shift toward earlier weeks of gestation with the percentage of early abortions performed at ≤6 weeks' gestation increasing 16%. Nonetheless, the overall percentage of abortions performed at ≤13 weeks' gestation changed little during 2004-2013, and findings from this and other reports suggest that delays in obtaining an abortion are more common among certain groups of women (55)(56)(57). Because of the small but persistent percentage of women who obtain abortions at >13 weeks' gestation, a better understanding is needed of the factors that cause delays in obtaining abortions (55,(57)(58)(59)(60).…”

“…Abortion numbers, rates, and ratios for 2013 have been calculated by reporting area of occurrence and the residence of the women who obtained the abortions ( 57.3% in the District of Columbia), abortion rates and ratios calculated by maternal residence might provide a more accurate reflection of the state-specific distribution of women obtaining abortions. However, because states vary in the level of detail they collect on maternal residence, 11.9% of abortions were reported to CDC without exact information on maternal residence.…”

Abortion Surveillance — United States, 2014

“…Moreover, among the areas that reported abortions at ≤13 weeks' gestation by individual week, the distribution continued to shift toward earlier weeks of gestation, with the percentage of early abortions performed at ≤6 weeks' gestation increasing 21% from 2005 to 2014. Nonetheless, the overall percentage of abortions performed at ≤13 weeks' gestation was stable during 2005-2014, and many reports indicate that delays in obtaining an abortion are more common among certain groups of women (63)(64)(65). The findings in this report indicate that among women obtaining abortions, a smaller percentage of adolescents aged ≤19 years and non-Hispanic black women, compared with women in other age and race/ethnicity groups, obtain abortions at ≤8 weeks' gestation.…”

“…The findings in this report indicate that among women obtaining abortions, a smaller percentage of adolescents aged ≤19 years and non-Hispanic black women, compared with women in other age and race/ethnicity groups, obtain abortions at ≤8 weeks' gestation. Because of the small but persistent percentage of women who obtain abortions at >13 weeks' gestation, a better understanding is needed of how to address factors that cause delays in obtaining abortions (63,(65)(66)(67)(68).…”

Did Policy Change Work? Oregon Women Continue to Encounter Delays in Medicaid Coverage for Abortion

“…It is well-documented that pregnant women in poverty already encounter bureaucratic and economic obstacles while seeking reproductive health care in the United States, particularly when in need of abor-tion care (Boonstra 2007;Ellison 2003;Henshaw et al 1999;Ostrach and Cheyney 2014). This is true even when state Medicaid programmes include provisions to cover abortion services for eligible women (Kiley et al 2010).…”