According to a 1988 article published in a journal by advocates of abortion, 93% of abortions are obtained for social reasons. Authors Aida Torres and Jacqueline Sarroch Forrest conducted a survey of 1900 women with 1,773 responding. They then compiled a table taken from the responses of the women surveyed, of the most important reason each woman had obtained an abortion. When the percentages are added together, 93% of abortions were obtained for social reasons which do NOT include abortions for hard-case pregnancies. Their own analysis showed that so-called hard cases were, at most, 7%. These include abortions for:
- Rape or incest (1%)
- Pregnancies which jeopardized health (3%)
- Pregnancies in which the child had a potential disability (3%)
Reference: Torres, Aida and Jacqueline Sarroch Forrest, Family Planning Perspectives, Volume 20, Number 4, July/August 1988, p. 170.
- Please note that the data comes from a publication of the Alan Guttmacher Institute, the research arm of Planned Parenthood, an abortion advocate group. Data presented in this and other tables may be biased infavor of abortion.
Why Women Have Abortions: Reason for Abortion | * | ** |
Woman is concerned about how having baby would change her life | 6% | 284 women |
Women can’t afford baby now | 21% | 372 women |
Woman has problems with relationship/wants to avoid single parenthood | 12% | 213 women |
Woman is unready for responsibility | 21% | 372 women |
Woman doesn’t want others to know she has had sex or is pregnant | 1% | 18 women |
Woman is not mature enough, or is too young to have child | 11% | 195 women |
Woman has all the children she wanted, or has all grown children | 8% | 142 women |
Husband or partner wants woman to have abortion | 1% | 18 women |
Fetus has possible health problem | 3% | 53 women |
Woman has health problem | 3% | 53 women |
Woman’s parents want her to have abortion | 1/2% | 9 women |
Woman was victim of rape or incest | 1% | 18 women |
Other | 3% | 53 women |
* Percent of 1,773 responses. Percentages in the original add up to 101% due to rounding, per Communication Dept. of Family Planning Perspectives.
** Raw number of 1,773 respondents who chose each answer. |