Disruptive life events: Why women choose abortion

Their new research suggests a not-insignificant percentage of abortion-seeking women are in the midst of a disruptive life event, such as job loss, relationship breakdown or lack of funds for rent/mortgage payments around the time they made their abortion decision. …

The study, by researchers from the Guttmacher Institute in New York, relied on data from nearly 9,500 American women who had an abortion in 2008; the women indicated whether they had experienced any of 11 disruptive life events at the time, as well as socioeconomic factors and contraceptive use. The researchers also conducted in-depth interviews with 49 women, ages 18 and older, from June to October 2008.

Of the women who reported having an abortion, more than 57 percent noted they’d faced at least one major life stressor in the preceding year. For instance, nearly 20 percent had lost their job; 16 percent had separated from a partner; 14 percent had fallen behind on rent or mortgage; and nearly 12 percent had moved several times.