Priscilla Fernandez - Abortion Rates in Women Of Color

Abortion Rates in Women Of Color

Abortion is a procedure used to end a pregnancy. It uses medicine or surgery to remove the embryo or fetus and placenta from the uterus. This procedure is done by a licensed healthcare professional.

Who has abortions and how is it affecting them?

In this chart, we can see that Black women consistently have had the highest abortion rates, followed by Hispanic women. 

Among the poorest women, Hispanics are the most likely to experience an unintended pregnancy. Overall, however, black women are three times as likely as white women to experience an unintended pregnancy; Hispanic women are twice as likely. Because black women experience so many more unintended pregnancies than any other group— sharply disproportionate to their numbers in the general population—they are more likely to seek out and obtain abortion services than any other group.

What are the causes of disparities in abortion rates?

According to Dehlendorf et al. (2013), "The abortion rates in the United States are higher than that in most other developed countries." Although this fact alone requires attention, looking deeper within these statistics reveals an additional area of concern: similar to many health outcomes in the United States, there are substantial disparities in abortion rates in the United States, with low-income women and women of color having higher rates than affluent and White women.

"These disparities are related to systemic hardships experienced by disadvantaged communities, including decreased access to health care, higher levels of stress, exposure to racial discrimination, and poorer living and working conditions."

   Induced Abortions In The United States

• "Eighteen percent of pregnancies (excluding miscarriages) in 2017 ended in abortion."
• "Approximately 862,320 abortions were performed in 2017, down 7% from 926,190 in 2014."
• "The abortion rate in 2017 was 13.5 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44, down 8% from 14.6 per 1,000 in 2014. This is the lowest rate ever observed in the United States; in 1973, the year abortion became legal, the rate was 16.3."
• "As of September 1, 2019, 29 states were considered hostile toward abortion­­ rights, 14 states were considered supportive and seven states were somewhere in between."
• "In 2019, 58% of U.S. women of reproductive age (nearly 40 million women) lived in states that were considered hostile to abortion rights. In contrast, 24 million women of reproductive age (35% of the total) lived in states that were supportive of abortion rights."

Data retrieved from https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/induced-abortion-united-states

How can we continue to spread awareness and push for change?

Recently, California Senator Connie M. Levya authored Senate Bill 523 also known as the Contraceptive Equity Act of 2021 that was passed on June 1, 2021. It aims to expand and modernize birth control access in California regardless of an individual's gender, insurance coverage status, where they work, or where they go to school.

"In spite of the progress already made in California, health disparities in reproductive health outcomes persist among Black Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), including disproportionate unintended pregnancy, infant and maternal mortality, and STD rates. The COVID-19 public health emergency has also further highlighted the structural inequities that disproportionately affect youth, low-income people, and communities of color in accessing birth control services," says Guttmacher Institute following the passing of the Contraceptive Equity Act of 2021. 

Research and policy that recognizes the importance of all aspects of women’s reproductive health—including pregnancy prevention, abortion care, pregnancy services, and economic supports—are essential to meeting the reproductive health care needs of low-SES women and women of color.

We must start addressing social and economic disparities as it is critical to reproductive health. At the same time, empowering women and couples to decide if and when to have a child and enabling them to have a healthy pregnancy and baby are critical to achieving social justice, protecting and promoting family planning, and abortion rights. 

References

Dehlendorf, C., Harris, L. H., & Weitz, T. A. (2013). Disparities in abortion rates: a public health approach. 

          American journal of public health, 103(10), 1772–1779. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2013.301339

Guttmacher Institute. (2020). Induced abortion in the United States. Guttmacher Institute. Retrieved from https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/induced-abortion-united-states.

Cohen, S. A. (2020). Abortion and women of color: The bigger picture. Guttmacher Institute. Retrieved from https://www.guttmacher.org/gpr/2008/08/abortion-and-women-color-bigger-picture#.

Senator Connie M. Leyva. (2021). Senate approves Leyva Bill expanding access to birth control in California. Retrieved from https://sd20.senate.ca.gov/news/2021-06-01-senate-approves-leyva-bill-expanding-access-birth-control-california.