Differences in Race, Marital Status, and Education among Women Obtaining Abortions

Author(s): Katherine Trent and Eve Powell-Griner

Source: Social Forces, Vol. 69, No. 4 (Jun., 1991), pp. 1121-1141
Published by: Oxford University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2579305 .
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Differences
in Race,Muital Status,
and EducationAmongWomen
Obtaiing Abortions*

ofNew Yorkat Albany

KATHERINETRENT,StateUniversity
NationalCenterfor
EVE POWELL-GRINER, HealthStatistics

Abstract

An analysisofover500,000pregnancies examines and educational

racial,marital,
inadultwomen
differences choosing abortion.
Findings indicate inrace
thatdifferences
among women whoabort varybymarital status,
parity,andstateofresidence.
Among
unmarriedwomen, whites
aremorelikelythanblacks, andamongmarried women,
aremore
blacks thanwhites
likely toabort.Therelationshipbetweenmaritalstatus
and
also variesbyeducation,
abortion and stateofresidence.
parity, Thelikelihoodof
aborting
increases as education
monotonically butonlyfor
increases, unmarriedwomen.
ofeducation
Theeffect onwhether women abortalsovariesbyparity. Among women
witha highschool orless,those
education withnoprior birthsareleastlikely
toabort,
whilefor
college-educated
women, thosewithnoprior birthsarethemostlikelytoabort.
A separate
analysisexamines
determinantsofabortion
forteenage women.

Fertilitybehavior byrace,marital
intheU.S.variesgreatly andeducation
status,
(see Cochrane1979; Hogan & Kitagawa1985;Johnson1979;Marini1984;
Rindfuss, Bumpass& St.John1980;St.John1982;St.John& Grasmick 1985as
a fewexamples).Abortion maybe an integral aspectofgroupdifferentialsin
yetthebasicstudyofthecharacteristics
fertility, ofwomenwhoaborthasbeen
limitedtounivariate due tothelackofindividual-level
description data.There
is alsoa generallackoftheoryguidingresearchonthecharacteristics
ofwomen
who abort.An objectiveof thisarticleis to linktheoreticalframeworks of
behaviortoabortion
generalfertility We use individual-level
behavior. datato
expandourunderstanding ofthedecisiontoabort.Unlikepreviousstudies,
our
studyinvestigates theneteffects
ofselectedvariableson abortion.
Manysocialfactors are involvedin thedecisionto carrya pregnancy to
term.Theseincludeknowledgeofabortionas an altemative to an unwanted
pregnancy, attitudestowardabortion,and theavailability
ofabortionservices.
*
We thankRobertKaufman, HarryRosenberg, ScottJ.South,GlennaSpitze,and anonymous
reviewersfor helpfulcommentson an earlierdraftof thisarticle,and Pat Hofmasterfor
assistance.Theopinionsexpressed
research thoseof
in thisarticleareoursandnotnecessarily
theNationalCenterforHealth Directcorrespondence
Statistics. toKatherine Department
Trent,
ofNew Yorkat Albany,Albany,NY 12222.
ofSociology,State University

? TheUniversity
ofNorthCarolinaPress Social Forces, June1991,69(4):1121-1141

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1122/ Social Forces 69:4,June1991

Unplannedand unintended pregnancies,

knowledgeof physicalrisks,and
normative pressureagainsta nomnaritalbirthcouldmakechildbearing more
costlythanabortion.Whilewe acknowledge onthedecisionto
otherinfluences
abort,we focusourarguments morecloselyon a woman'srace,maritalstatus,
and education.Thesethreefactors strongly
influencea woman'sfertility
and
havebeenshowntobe particularly influential studiesofabortion
indescriptive
behavior.

Background
Thereareimportant racialdifferences infertility
behavior.Blackwomenon the
averageare olderat firstmarriagebut have earlierpregnancies and higher
levelsoffertility thanwhitewomen(Espenshade1985;Presser1971;St.John
1982;St.John& Grasmick 1985;Waite& Spitze1981).Blackwomenalso have
higherhigherproportions ofunwantedand mistimed pregnancies thanwhite
women(Pratt& Horn1985;Presser1971).Limitedopportunities andresources
amongblackwomenmaytranslate intolessaccesstocontraceptives andhigher
ratesofcontraceptive failurethanwhites.Forthesereasonsblackwomenmay
use abortion as a contraceptive methodmorewidelythanwhites(Tietze1977).
Descriptive studiesshowthatalthoughthelargestpercentage ofwomenwho
abortare white,abortionratesand ratios(abortions per1,000livebirths)are
higherfornonwhites thanwhites(Burnham 1983;Henshawet al. 1985;Prager
1985).
Regardlessof race, a woman's maritalstatusinfluences her fertility,
includingwhether a pregnancy is carriedtoterm.Maritalfertilityis higherthan
nonmarital, and abortion is morelikelyamongtheunmarried thanthemarried
(Henshaw& O'Reilly1983,amongothers). Unmarried womenarelesslikelyto
dependon sterilization and otherhighlyeffective contraceptives thanmarried
women(Pratt etal. 1984).Although differencesbetween married andunmarried
women'spropensity toabortareaffected bythegreater likelihood ofunwanted
pregnancies amongunmarried thanmarried women,differences in thecostsof
carryinga pregnancy totermalsoinfluence abortionlevels.Forexample, a birth
to an unmarried womanis likelyto be moredisruptive, moresociallystig-
matizing, and morecostlyin termsof lost opportunities thana birthto a
married woman.
Evidencealso strongly suggestsan inverserelationship betweeneducation
and fertility(Cochrane1979;Marinn 1984;Rindfuss, Bumpass& St.John1980;
Tickamyer 1979),although thecausaldirection has beendebated.Thenegative
relationshipbetween education andfertilitysuggestschildbearing amonghighly
educatedwomenentailsmorecosts(i.e.,possibleforegone careeropportunities)
thanamongwomenwithless education.Therefore, educationshouldhave a
strongeffect on thelikelihoodofaborting. Thisassociation has beennotedin
bivariateanalyses(Burnham1983;Henshaw& O'Reilly1983;Prager1985).
Womenwithlowereducational attainment mayalso havelowerincomesand
henceless accessto abortionservices.In addition,theymaybe less awareof
abortionas an alternative to an unwantedbirth.Thedesireforfewerchildren
associatedwithhighereducational attainment mayalso lowerthetolerance of

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 Differences
in Abortion
/ 1123

better-educated womenforunplannedpregnancies and thereby increasetheir

likelihoodof obtaining an abortionratherthangivingbirth(see Henshaw&
O'Reilly1983).
Importantly, we expecttheserelationships amongrace,maritalstatus,
education, and abortionto be morecomplexthanbivariate analysesindicate.
Forexample, researchonracialdifferences inchildbearinghasfoundthatblacks
differfromwhitesnotonlyin cumulative and thepropensity
fertility to have
unwantedbirths,but also throughout the differentstagesof childbearing
(Rindfuss, Bumpass& St.John1980;St.John1982;St.John& Grasmick 1985).
Amongotherfindings, previousresearch showsthatblacksareyounger atfirst
birthand haveshorter spacingbetweenbirths. St.John(1982)pointsoutthat
"becauseofan earlierage atfirst birth,blackwomenareatrisktosecond,third,
fourth, and higherparityand unwantedbirthsat earlierages thanwhite
women"(303).Forthesereasons,therelationship betweenraceand abortion
shouldvaryby age. Duringtheprimeages ofchildbearing, blacksare more
likelythanwhitesto give birth.This increasestheirexposureto unwanted
pregnancies andshouldtranslate intoa strongerpropensity toabortduringthe
peakages ofchildbearing.
We mightalso expectracialdifferences betweenmarriedand unmarried
womenin thedecisionto abort.Forexample, blackunmarried womenmaybe
less likelyto abortthan whiteunmarriedwomenbecause of important
differences in theopportunity costsassociatedwithchildbearing. Researchon
fertilitydifferencesby race suggeststhatdisadvantaged, unmarriedblack
womenmaygivebirthbecausetheyhavelessat riskthantheirwhitecounter-
parts.Opportunities forblackwomento achievestatusthrough avenuesother
thanmotherhood aremorelimited(Hogan& Kitagawa1985).Thus,unmarried
blacksmaybe lesslikelythanunmarried whitestoresolvea pregnancy through
abortion. Marriedblackwomen,however, mayhavemoretoriskin carrying a
pregnancy totermthanmarried whitewomen.Marriedblackwomenaremore
likelythanmarried whitewomentobe inthelaborforceandtobe theprimary
sourceoffamily income?l7aeuber & Valdisera1986).Therefore,married blacks
may be more likelythanmarriedwhitesto resolvea pregnancy through
abortion.
The relationship betweenabortionand educationmayalso varybetween
unmarried and marriedwomen.At highlevelsofeducation, thedifferencein
abortionprobabilities betweenmarriedand unmarried womenis likelyto be
large.Unmarried, highly educatedwomenarelikelytobemuchmoreintolerant
ofunwantedpregnancies and to considercarrying a pregnancy to termmore
costlythan theirmarriedcounterparts. Comparedto a marriededucated
woman,an unmarried educatedwomanis likelyto havemuchmoreinvested
in hercareerin termsof havinggreaterdependenceon one incomeand far
fewerextrinsic and intrinsic resources(bothsocial and economic)forchild
supportavailable to her. Conversely,among less-educatedwomen,the
difference in abortionbetweenmarriedand unmarried womenshouldbe
smallerbecauseofsmallerdifferences in theopportunity costsassociatedwith
carrying a pregnancy to term.Therefore, we expectthe negativeeffectof
educationon carrying a pregnancy to termto becomestronger forunmarried
thanmarried womenas educational attainmentincreases.

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1124 / SocialForces 69:4,June1991

Thepositiveeffectofeducation onabortion mayalsoincrease withage.For

example,highlyeducatedolderwomenmaybeargreater costsin havingan
unwanted childbecausetheyaremorelikelythanothers tohavemoreextensive
timeinvestments in careers.Comparedwithless-educated youngerwomen,
educatedolderwomenarealso morelikelytobe awarethatage increasesthe
medicalriskofpregnancy and thelikelihood ofchromosomal abnormalities
in
a fetus.
Thefollowing datafromtheNationalCenter
analysisusesindividual-level
for Health Statistics(NCHS) to examineracial,marital,and educational
differencesamongwomenwho chooseto abort.Whileour focusis on race,
maritalstatus,andeducation, we alsoconsiderage,birthorder,andgeographic
residence.These factorsare important determinants and also
of fertility
influenceabortion(Burmham 1983;Henshawet al. 1981;Henshaw& O'Reilly
1983;Prager1985;Shelton1976;Sullivan,Tietze& Dryfoos 1977).Forexample,
descriptivestudiesreportthatyoungwomen,womenwithno previousbirths,
andmetropolitan residentsaremorelikelythanothers toaborta pregnancy.We
use log-linear
techniques to investigate
thedeterminants ofabortion forover
500,000pregnancy outcomesoccurring in 1980,focusingon therelationships
discussedabove.

Data and Methods

The unitsof analysisin thisstudyare pregnancy outcomes(livebirths, fetal

deaths,and inducedabortions) occurring in1980.Thedatausedwereobtained
bycombining threevitalstatisticsfilesmaintained
bytheNationalCenterfor
HealthStatistics:
inducedterminations ofpregnancy fetaldeaths,
(abortion), and
livebirthsoccurring in1980.Thistypeoflinkagehasnotbeendonepreviously.
Commondata itemson all threetypesof vitalstatistics filesenhancethe
analyticpotentialof thissourceby permitting individual-level analysisof
ontypeofpregnancy
characteristics outcome. Although thegeographic coverage
is limitedto12 statesin 1980,theNCHS abortion datasystem providesunique
information on riskfactors associatedwithinducedtermination ofpregnancy
and characteristicsof womenwho abort.Unlikethe two majorsourcesof
nationalabortiondata (theCentersforDisease Control[CDCqand theAlan
Guttmacher Institute),whichcollectand distribute onlyaggregatedata,the
individual-levelrecorddata fromNCHS allow us to make detailedcross-
toreclassify
classification, variables,toundertakeindividual-levelanalyses,and
to combinebirth,fetaldeath,and abortiondata to investigate the factors
associatedwithpregnancy outcomein a singleyear.
NCHS recommends forusebythestatesinreporting
definitions vitalevents
(Prager1985).Thesedefinitions specify thateveryproductofconception that
gives a sign of lifeafterbirth,regardlessof the lengthof pregnancy, be
considered a live birth(Prager1985).Inducedabortions are distinguishedin
NCHS statistics fromspontaneous abortionsor fetaldeaths.Inducedabortion
referstothepurposeful interruptionofpregnancy withtheintention otherthan
to producea live-born infantand thatdoes notresultin a livebirth.In this
study,thetermabortion refersto inducedabortionor inducedtermination of

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 Differences
in Abortion
/ 1125

pregnancy; theterm fetaldeathis restricted tospontaneous abortions of20weeks

or moregestation (Prager1985).
Theanalysisdoesnotincludeearlyspontaneous fetaldeaths(spontaneous
abortions of20weeksorlessgestation) becausethisinformation is notavailable
in thesample.Althoughfetaldeathsrepresent thesmallestproportion ofall
pregnancy outcomes, mostspontaneous fetaldeathsoccurearlyina pregnancy.
Sincebothinducedand spontaneous abortions aremostlikelytooccurduring
the firsthalfof pregnancy, countingone and not the otherresultsin the
populationat riskbeingunderestimated and theratesof inducedabortion
overestimated. However,we do notexpectthelack of information on early
spontaneous abortions toseriously bias ourresults. Thefocusofthisarticleis
on pregnancy outcomedifferentials, andtherateofspontaneous abortion is not
likelyto varyamongmostof thesocialgroupings considered here.As Bon-
gaartsand Potter(1983)pointout, "in the earlymonthsof gestation, the
majority offetaldeathsarecausedbygeneticdefects ... (and)thesebiological
causespresumably operaterelatively independently fromsocial,economic and
healthfactors" (4041).Itis notuntilthelaterstagesofpregnancy thatthefetus
is moreinfluenced by thehealthof themotherand therefore by social and
economic factors(Bongaarts & Potter 1983).Importantly, therateofspontaneous
abortion doesvarysubstantially byage - therateis lowestforwomenin their
early20sandearly30s,andrisessharply afterthemid-30s(Bongaarts & Potter
1983).Therefore, theratioofabortions to otherpregnancy outcomesmaybe
overestimated fortheoldestgroupofwomenin ourstudy.Thispotential bias
is takenintoaccountin subsequent interpretation and discussionofresults.
The sampleonlyapproximates thetruepopulationat riskof terminating
pregnancy in 1980foranother reason.Forexample, womenwhoconceivedin
thelatterpartof1979and terminated, lost,orgavebirthbefore January 1,1980
wereat riskofterminating pregnancy in 1980,buttheirpregnancies werenot
countedin our samplebecausetheydid notcarryoverinto1980.Similarly,
womenwho conceivedin 1980butdid notabort,suffer a fetalloss,or havea
livebirthuntil1981arenotin thesample.Thesampleonlycaptures pregnancy
outcomes occurring in1980.However, we haveno reasontosuspectthislossof
thetruepopulationat riskto differentially affectthesocial groupingscon-
sideredin thisanalysis.Althoughtheunitsof analysisreferto pregnancy
outcomesoccurring in 1980,forstylistic reasonswe use thetermspregnancies
and women interchangeably.
TheNCHS livebirthand fetaldeathreporting areasconsistofall 50 states
andtheDistrict ofColumbia.TheNCHS abortion reportingareaconsisted of12
statesin1980:Colorado,Kansas,Missouri, Montana, NewYork,Oregon, Rhode
Island,SouthCarolina,Tennessee, Utah,Vermont, andVirginia. Thereporting
areas provideddata for individualreportsof inducedabortion.Induced
abortions occurring in the12-state reporting area constituteabout25% ofthe
totalU.S. inducedabortions reported to theCentersforDiseaseControl(CDC
1983).Information concerning classification andcodingoftheNCHS birthand
fetaldeathdatacan be foundin theTechnical Appendix-forVitalStatisticsofthe
United States(NCHS 1984,1985).Information on abortions canbe foundin the
technicalnotesofreports ofinducedtermination ofpregnancy (Burnham 1983,
amongothers).

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1126/ Social Forces 69:4,June1991

This analysisincludes1980 data for nine reporting areas (Missouri,

Montana,Oregon,SouthCarolina,Tennessee,Utah,Vermont, Virginia,and
New YorkCity)thathad information on thevariablesofinterest(race,marital
status,educational attainment,age,metropolitan/nonmetropolitan status,and
numberofpreviouslivebirths) forall threetypesofpregnancy outcomes.' The
analysisis restrictedtoeventsoccurring in1980toarearesidents aged20years
or moreand to recordswithcompletereporting ofvariablesofinterest.
Teenagewomenare notin themainstudysamplebecausepreliminary
analysesshowedthevastmajority oftheseyoungwomenwereunmarried, had
lessthana highschooleducation, and hadno priorbirths.We wereinterested
in testinga complexlog-linear modelwithseveralinteractions focusingon
detailedcategorizations ofvariables.Includingteenagewomenwouldnotallow
us to perform suchtesting. Forexample,in themodeldiscussed(forwomen
ages20 orolder),morethan25%ofthecellswouldbe empty orcontaintoofew
casesifteenagewomenwereincluded.Therefore, theanalysisis basedon two
samples:adultwomen(ages20 orolder)andteenagewomen.(Seealso Powell-
Grinerand Trent[1987Jfora moresimplistic modelincludingall women.
Dichotomous variableswereused in thisearlieranalysisbecauseofthesmall
variationin mostof theindependent variablesforteenagewomen.In this
earlieranalysisall variablesexceptage weredichotomized and muchinfor-
mationwas lost.)
The resulting sampleofadultwomen(ages20 or older)includes386,887
livebirthsandfetaldeathsand123,949 inducedabortions.Although thesample
is notnationally thedistribution
representative, ofbirths,abortions, and fetal
deathsbywoman'smaritalstatus,race,age,and birthorderis similarforthe
studyarea and theU.S. as a whole.(See AppendixA fora comparison ofthe
studysampleto othernationaldatasources.)
Thevariablesusedin theanalysisincludeoutcomeofpregnancy (abortion,
other),race (black,white),maritalstatus(married, notmarried), educational
attainment (0-8,9-11,12,13-15,16ormoreyears),previouslivebirth(parity 0,
1, 2, 3 or more),residencestatus(metropolitan, nonmetropolitan), stateof
residence(ninereporting areas),andage (20-24,25-29,30-34,35yearsormore).2
Descriptivestatistics forthevariablesused in theanalysisare providedin
AppendixB. As expected,AppendixB shows substantial variationin the
proportion ofpregnancies thatendinabortion bythecharacteristics
considered.
Forexample,approximately 38%ofpregnancies amongblacksendin abortion
comparedto 20%forwhites;nonmarital pregnanciesaremuchmorelikelyto
end in abortionthanmaritalpregnancies (60%versus10%);and pregnancies
amongtheleast-educated women(0-8years)have thelowestproportion of
abortions (19%).
Therelationships betweenthedependent variable,
pregnancy outcome, and
the independentvariableswere investigatedthroughlog-linearmodels.
Followingthestandardprocedure forlog-lineartechniques,eachmodeltested
forfitspecified a saturatedrelationshipamongtheindependent variables.Due
tothelargenumberofcases,thesamplewas deflated bya factorof10 priorto
runningthemodelsso thatrelationships thatare substantivelyunimportant
wouldnotappearin themodelssolelydue tolargesamplesize.Themodeling
processbegan with a baselinemodel specifying no relationship between

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 Differences
in Abortion
/ 1127

pregnancy outcomeand thesevenindependent variables.Thisbaselinemodel,

withan L2of20,728,a p-valueof.000,and5,759degreesoffreedom, didnotfit
the data. We examinedsubsequentmodels thatadded, in sequence,the
relationshipbetweenoutcomeand each of theindependent variables,then
modelsthattestedeachtwo-way, three-way, and four-way term(see Kennedy
1984;Knoke& Burke1980).The modelchosenas thebest-fitting, mostpar-
simoniousmodelspecifiesa seven-way or saturatedrelationshipamongthe
independent variables, and seventhree-way termsand twotwo-way terms.In
Goodman's(1970)notationthismodelis (EBWRSAM)(EBO) (EWO) (BWO)
(BRO)(WRO)(RSO) (WSO) (AO) (MO),wherethelettersE, B, W,R, S, A, M,
and 0 referto education, maritalstatus,race,state,age,metropolitan
parity,
residence,andpregnancy outcome, respectively.Thechosenmodelaccounts for
93% of thebaselinevariation, has a likelihoodratiochi-square of1,421with
5,699degreesoffreedom, and a p-valuebelow0.5.
Multiplicativeparameters wereobtainedfortheabovemodelforuse in
odds ratios.In addition,the parameters were used to producea table of
expectedcountsbased upon theknownsetofmarginals and therelationship
amongthevariablesas expressed bythemultiplicative parameters (Kaufman &
Schervish 1986).The tableofexpectedcountshas thesameodds ratiosas the
ordinary butthecellcountswithinthetablecanbe percentaged
logisticresults,
by row or column.The netpercentage distributioncan be interpretedin the
samewayas anyotherpercentage, butis standardized forothervariables.That
is, the net distributions reveal the relationship betweenoutcomeand an
independent variable,controlling forthe effects of the otherindependent
variablesin the analysis.The net percentages can be comparedwith the
observedpercentages (i.e.,thegrossdistribution)toanalyzethechangesin the
relationshipbetweenan independent anda dependent variableaftertheeffects
ofothervariablesarestatisticallycontrolled. Thepercentaged tables,unlikethe
usual odds ratios,allowderivation ofabsoluteas wellas relativedifferences.

Results

Multiplicative
parameters forthepreferred modelare shownin Table1.3 In
theparameters
general, inTable1 indicateeffects
intheexpected The
direction.
observedand netpercentages shownin Table2 indicatethemodification in
an abortion
ofobtaining
likelihood thangivingbirth
rather associatedwitheach
oftheindependentvariables.
RACEAND ABORTION

Therelationshipbetweenpregnancy outcomeandracevariesbymaritalstatus,
As shownin Table2, amongmarriedwomen,
parity,and stateof residence.
birthis farmorelikelythanabortionforbothracegroups.However,among
married womenthelikelihood ofabortion amongblacksthanwhites,
is greater
whiletheoppositeis trueforunmarried women.Controllingforothercharac-
teristics,
approximately 21% of black marriedwomenobtainan abortion
comparedwith8% of whitemarriedwomen.However,about64% of white
unmarried womenobtainan abortion comparedwith55%ofblackunmarried

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1128/ SocialForces 69:4,June1991

TABLE 1: MultiplicativeParametersforInduced Abortion- Adult Women'

Race 0
Black 1.097
White .911
MaritalStatus
Maried .568
Not married 1.762
Education
0-8 .729
9-11 .835
12 1.104
13-15 1.186
16+ 1.255
Age
20-24 .928
25-29 .907
30-34 .956
35+ 1.243
Parity
0 .926
1 .963
2 1.131
3+ .992
Residence
Metropolitan 1.130
Nonmetropolitan .885
State
Missouri .776
Montana 1.215
New YorkCity 1.395
Oregon .850
SouthCarolina .842
Tennessee .871
Utah .958
Vermont 1.332
Virginia .956

a ForModel(EBWRSAM)(EBO)(EWO)(BWO)(BRO)(WRO)(RSO)(WSO)(AO) (MO)
R-race,W-marital
where0-outcome(abortion), E-education,
status, A-age,B-birth
order(parity), S-state.
residence,
M-metropolitan/nonmetropolitan

p> .05

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 Differences
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/ 1129

TABLE 1: MultiplicativeParametersforInduced Abortion- Adult Women

(Continued)

Race* MaritalStatus Married NotMarried

Black .750 1.604
White .430 1.933

Race* Parity 0 1 2 3+
Black .877 1.112 1.294 1.147
White .978 .833 .988 .857

Race* State MO MT NYC OR SC TN UT VT VA

Black .856 1.723 1.443 .815 .715 .776 1.608 1.716 .867
White .703 .857 1.347 .886 .991 .977 571 1.034 1.053

MaritalStatus* Parity 0 1 2 3+
Married .415 .524 .714 .672
Not married 2.072 1.773 1.792 1.465

MaritalStatus* Educa 0-8 9-11 12 13-15 16+

Married .517 .585 .625 .608 .515
Not married 1.029 1.193 1.951 2.315 3.065

MaritalStatus* State MO MT NYC OR SC TN UT VT VA

Married .447 .676 .921 .520 .445 .511 .445 .852 .495
Not married 1.347 2.188 2.1141.391 1.595 1.487 2.066 2.084 1.848

* Parity
Education 0 1 2 3+
0-8 .645 .706 .853 .728
9-11 .599 .848 1.028 .929
12 .956 1.079 1.274 1.132
13-15 1.271 1.155 1.250 1.079
16+ 1.450 1.111 1.324 1.164

L - 1421
df - 5699

women. In additionto thesepatterns,the differencesbetweenunmarriedand

marriedwomen's propensityto obtain an abortionratherthan to deliverare
considerablylargerforwhitesthanforblacks.Net ofotherfactors,theodds of
a white unmarriedwoman inducingabortionratherthan givingbirthis 20
timesthoseof a marriedwhitewoman.4For blacks,theodds of an unmarried
woman inducing abortion ratherthan giving birthare 5 times those of a
marriedwoman. The race-maritalstatusinteractionsupportsthe findingsof
previousstudies (see Henshaw et al. 1985,among others).

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1130/ Social Forces 69:4,June1991

TABLE 2: Gross and Net Percentages of Induced Abortion,by Selected

Characteristics
- Adult Womena

PercentInducingAbortion
Gross Net
Race* MaritalStatus Married NotMarried Married NotMarried
Black 22.91 48.68 20.95 54.80
White 7.86 68.32 7.99 63.76

Race*Parity 0 1 2 3+ 0 1 2 3+
Black 38.51 37.43 39.76 34.57 21.02 30.03 36.71 31.32
White 28.57 13.71 17.97 16.15 24.87 19.38 25.27 20.29

Race* State Black White Black White

Missouri 29.47 9.77 18.69 13.45
Montana 12.89 18.71
New YorkCity 51.66 38.82 39.53 36.29
Oregon 19.44 17.75 17.19 19.76
SouthCarolina 17.63 14.87 13.83 23.57
Tennessee 24.21 16.53 15.90 23.05
Utah - 5.85 9.27
Vermont - 20.71 25.11
Virginia 28.64 20.81 19.10 25.81

MaritalStatus* Parity 0 1 2 3+ 0 1 2 3+
Married 6.62 7.78 14.29 14.47 6.25 9.63 16.71 14.94
Not married 71.13 54.81 52.85 43.01 62.51 55.01 55.52 45.48

MaritalStatus* Education
0-8 9-11 12 13-15 16+ 0-8 9-11 12 13-15 16+
Married 11.53 11.78 11.17 9.17 7.05 8.96 11.21 12.59 11.98 8.85
Not married 32.11 36.34 59.97 72.79 86.83 28.06 34.39 58.38 66.41 77.58

a
The grosspercentage refersto thebivariaterelationship
betweentheindependent
variableand pregnancy outcome.The net percentage showsthe distribution
after
statistically fortheeffects
controlling ofothervariables.

- Fewerthan30 totalcases;doesnotmeetstandards
ofreliability
orprecision

Table 2 also shows theeffectofrace and parityon pregnancyoutcome.Net

of otherfactors,the likelihoodof black women versuswhitewomen inducing
abortionchanges afterparity0. Among blacks, the likelihood of abortionis
greaterafterparity0, while thepatternamongwhitesis less consistent,
but the
likelihoodof abortionis less forparity1 thanparity0. We did not expectan
interactiveeffectofracewithparityon abortionsinceunwantedpregnanciesare
more likelyamong blacks thanwhitesregardlessof parity(Prattet al. 1984).

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 Differences
in Abortion
/ 1131

TABLE 2: Gross and Net Percentages of Induced Abortion,by Selected

- Adult Womena(Continued)
Characteristics

Gross Net
MaritalStatus* State Married NotMarried Married NotMarried
Missouri 4.71 46.10 6.92 40.27
Montana 4.00 64.21 14.49 64.00
New YorkCity 24.99 64.88 23.95 62.41
Oregon 6.73 59.69 9.11 41.83
SouthCarolina 6.71 45.83 6.85 48.60
Tennessee 7.84 51.18 8.83 45.10
Utah 1.89 56.10 6.84 61.31
Vermont 7.74 67.27 21.23 61.72
Virginia 7.73 60.94 8.34 55.93

Education
* Parity 0 1 2 3+ 0 1 2 3+
0-8 20.56 15.20 21.11 19.08 9.79 11.49 15.93 12.14
9-11 18.30 19.94 24.89 23.67 8.57 15.81 21.63 18.39
12 27.39 21.50 27.35 25.92 19.24 23.31 29.74 25.07
13-15 37.28 20.20 22.00 17.54 29.65 25.82 28.98 23.29
16+ 31.61 10.92 14.24 11.97 35.43 24.35 31.39 26.11

Age
20-24 27.65 23.55
25-29 20.43 22.75
30-34 20.85 24.64
35+ 31.51 35.61

Residence
Metropolitan 28.11 26.17
Nonmetropolitan 11.37 17.86

This findingappears to be a functionof an importantracial difference in the

pregnancyoutcome forwomen with no prior births- whites with no live
birthsare much more likely than blacks to abort a pregnancyeven after
accountingforsuch factorsas age and maritalstatus.
The relationshipbetweenraceand abortionalso variesbystateofresidence.
The grosspercentagesreflecttheknownrelationshipbetweenrace and abortion
- blacks are much more likelyto abortthanwhitesforall statesof residence.
The netpercentagesindicatea different pattern.Controllingforothervariables,
state of residencehas a clear impact on the differences between blacks and
whitesin thelikelihoodofabortinga pregnancy.In some cases, thedifferences
betweenblacks and whitesare substantiallyreduced.This suggeststhatsome
of the racial differencesby state may be accounted for by such factorsas
regionaldifferences in age, maritalstatus,and educationalattainment.
In other
cases, the racial differencesby state of residencein women who abort are

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1132/ SocialForces 69:4,June1991

reversedafter forotherfactors.
controlling inpart,differential
Thismayreflect,
ofservicesbystate.
and availability
accessto abortion
MAR1TALSrATUS AND ABORTION

Therelationshipbetweenmarital statusandpregnancy outcomevariesbyrace,

parity,educationalattainment,andstateofresidence. Wealreadydiscussedthe
interactive
effectofracewithmaritalstatuson abortion. Theinteractive effect
ofmaritalstatuswithparityshowsthatamongmarried women,thelikelihood
ofinducing abortionincreasesas parityincreases (although thereis a declinefor
thosewith3 or morepreviousbirths), whileamongunmarried womenthe
likelihoodofinducing abortionis muchhigher atparity 0 thanatotherparities.
Theeffectofincreasing parityon abortion is muchstronger forunmarried than
marriedwomen.We did not hypothesize thisfinding, but suspectthatfor
unmarried womena selective processoccurswithincreases in parity. Perhaps
a firstpregnancy to an unmarried womanis themostdetrimental socially;
theprobability
thereafter, ofaborting weakens.However,formarried women,
therelationshipbetweenhigher-order pregnancies and abortionmayreflect
maintenance ofidealfamily size.
Theoppositedirection oftheinteraction effectresultsin reductions in the
comparative oddsratiosofunmarried compared withmarried womenas parity
increases.
Forexample, amongwomenwithno priorbirths thelikelihood ofan
unmarried womaninducing abortion rather thangivingbirth is 25 timesthatof
a marriedwoman.In contrast, amongwomenat parity3 or higher,the
likelihoodof an unmarried womaninducingabortionis 5 timesthatof a
married woman.
Educationand maritalstatusalso interact in affectingpregnancy outcome.
Amongmarried women,thereis littledifference in thelikelihood ofinducing
abortionamongthe least-and most-educated women.In contrastand as
hypothesized, among unmarriedwomen the likelihoodof terminating a
pregnancy by abortionincreasesmonotonically witheducation.Thus,the
comparative oddsratiosofunmarried versusmarried womenincreasefrom 4.0
forthe least-educated womento 35.4 amongwomenwho have completed
college.
Therelationshipbetweenmarital statusandabortion alsovariesbystateof
residence.
Netofotherfactors, thedifferences between married andunmarried
womenaborting a pregnancy aremuchgreater inMontana, Utah,andVirginia
than in otherstates.These differences by stateof residencemay reflect
accesstoand availability
differential ofabortion servicesforthetwogroupsof
women,andmayalsosuggestgeographic differences innormative proscriptions
againstabortionformaritalversusnonmarital pregnancies.
EDUCAT`ON AND ABORTION

ofeducational
Theeffects on pregnancy
attairunment outcomearealso shownin
Table2. We have alreadydiscussedthemaritalstatus-education
interaction;
however,theeffect ofterminating
ofeducationon thelikelihood a pregnancy
byabortion Theinteractive
also variesbyparity. ofeducation
effect withparity

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 Differences
in Abortion
/ 1133

on pregnancy outcomeis notconsistent.However,at all parities,thelower

likelihoodsof abortingare observedfortheless-educated womenand the
higherlikelihoodsforwomenwithmoreeducation.
Alsoofinterest thatamongwomenwith12yearsofschooling
is thefinding
or less,thelikelihoodof abortingincreasesthrough
thesecondparity,then
declines.Amongwomenwith12 yearseducationor less,thosewithno prior
birthare least likelyto use abortion.Amongwomenwith some college
education ormore,thosewhohavehadno priorbirth arethemostlikelytoend
thecurrent pregnancy byabortion.5

AnalysisofTeenageWomen

Thesampleofteenagewomenincludes73,105livebirths and fetaldeathsand

45,397inducedabortions. The variablesused in thisanalysisincludemore
simplified categoriesthanthoseusedforthesampleofolderwomen:outcome
ofpregnancy (abortion,other), race(black,white),maritalstatus(married,not
married),educationalattainment (less than12 years,morethan12 years),
previouslivebirth(parity0, 1 or more),residencestatus(metropolitan, non-
metropolitan), stateofresidence, and age.
Thelog-linear baselinemodelofnorelationship hadan L2of4979,a p-value
of 0.0, and 1727 degreesof freedom. This modeldid not fitthe data. We
examined subsequent modelsthatadded,insequence, therelationshipbetween
outcomeand eachof theindependent thenmodelsthattestedeach
variables,
two-way, three-way, and four-way term.Themodelchosenas thebest-fitting,
mostparsimonious modelspecifies a seven-wayorsaturatedrelationship
among
theindependent variables,andthreethree-way termsandthreetwo-way terms.
In Goodman's(1970)notation thismodelis (AMEBWRS)(BWO)(WRO)(RSO)
(MO) (AO) (EO), wherethelettersA, M, E, B, W,R, S, and 0 referto age,
metropolitan residence,education,parity,maritalstatus,race, state,and
pregnancy outcome,respectively. The chosenmodelaccountsfor91% of the
baselinevariation, has a likelihoodratiochi-squareof474with1699degreesof
freedom, and a p-valuebelow0.5.
As intheanalysisofadultwomen,multiplicative parameters wereobtained
forthemodeland usedin oddsratios.Theparameters wereusedtoproducea
tableof expectedcountsthatwerepercentaged. The grosspercentages (the
observeddistribution) and thenetpercentages (controlling
forothervariables)
are presentedin Table 3. (A tableof theparameters is availablefromthe
authorsuponrequest.)
Amongteenagewomen,therelationship betweenraceand abortion varies
by maritalstatusand by state.Amongmarriedteens,birthis farmorelikely
thanabortion forbothracegroups.However,amongmarried teenagewomen
the likelihoodof abortionis greateramongblacksthanwhites,while the
oppositeis trueforunmarriedteenagewomen.Unmarried whiteteenage
womenare morelikelyto obtainan abortionthangivebirth, butunlikethe
pattern amongolderwomen,youngunmarried blackwomenaremorelikelyto
givebirththanobtainan abortion.

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1134/ Social Forces 69:4,June1991

TABLE 3: Gross and Net Percentages of Induced Abortion,by Selected

Characteristics
- Teenage Womene

PercentInducingAbortion
Gross Net
Race* MaritalStatus Married NotMarried Married NotMarried
Black 14.24 39.66 17.45 40.80
White 6.17 63.98 8.11 61.33

Race* State Black White Black White

Missouri 26.74 23.28 26.17 28.19
Montana - 34.72 6.09
New YorkCity 56.14 56.25 54.30 45.59
Oregon 42.17 42.03
SouthCarolina 19.67 36.17 21.87 46.04
Tennessee 21.94 31.19 21.66 42.25
Utah - 15.86 21.40
Vermont 43.75 - 44.36
Virginia 31.80 49.41 47.40 36.10

MaritalStatus* Parity 0 1+ 0 1+
Married 4.55 11.90 6.28 18.48
Not married 56.55 38.66 53.34 43.72

Education
< 12 31.87 26.87
12+ 47.80 55.19

Age
< 15 53.77 59.48
15 43.55 47.51
16 41.85 46.49
17 38.19 41.50
18 39.54 36.67
19 33.79 31.25

Residence
Metropolitan 43.56 41.80
Nonmetropolitan 23.24 28.31

^ The grosspercentage refersto thebivariaterelationship

betweentheindependent
variableand pregnancy outcome.The net percentage after
showsthedistribution
statistically fortheeffects
controlling ofothervariables.

- Fewerthan30 totalcases;doesnotmeetstandards
ofreliability
orprecision

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 in Abortion
Differences / 1135

Therelationship betweenraceand abortion forteenagewomenalso varies

bystateofresidence. In someareas,blackteenagewomenaremorelikelyto
abortthanwhites(NewYorkCityandVirginia). However,in others(Missouri,
SouthCarolina,and Tennessee), whitesare morelikelythanblacksto aborta
pregnancy. This interaction may reflectfamilyplanningservicesby state
differentially
affectingblackand whiteteenagers. It mayalso indicatecultural
differencesbyregionin theacceptance ofearlychildbearing forthetworacial
groups.
The resultspresented in Table 3 show a dramaticdifference in thepro-
babilityofaborting amongteenagewomenbymaritalstatusand parity. Net
ofotherfactors,abortion is morelikelythanbirthamongteenagewomenwho
are not marriedand have had no priorbirths.However,amongmarried
teenagersof any parity,and amongunmarried teenagerswho have had a
previousbirth,aborting a current pregnancy is less likelythancarrying it to
term.
Theresultsalso showhighschoolcompletion increasestheprobability of
abortion.Abortion is twiceas likelyamongthosewhohavecompleted high
school thanamongthosewho have not. In addition,teenagerswho have
completed highschoolaremorelikelyto induceabortion thangivebirth.The
relationshipbetween ageandabortion is monotonic - theyounger thewoman,
themorelikelya pregnancy willendinabortion. Butonlyamongteenagers less
than15yearsofage is abortion morelikelythanbirth. Finally,andas expected,
metropolitan residence increasesthelikelihood ofabortion.
Theresultsforthesampleofteenagewomenaresimilarto thosereported
forolderwomen.Therelationship betweenabortion andracevariesbymarital
statusand stateofresidence. Also,therelationship betweenmaritalstatusand
abortionvariesbyparityforbothgroupsofwomen.Theadditional interaction
foundfortheolderwomenarelikelydue tolargervariation
effects amongthe
independent variablesin the older samplethanin the sampleof teenage
women.The direction of effects forbothgroupsof womenalso tendsto be
similar.An important difference appearsfortheeffect of age on abortion.
Increasingagelowersthelikelihood ofaborting a pregnancy amongtheteenage
sample,buttendsto increasethelikelihoodofabortion amongthesampleof
olderwomen.However,thisdifference shouldbe interpreted cautiously. As
notedearlier,theoldestcategory ofwomen(inthesampleofadultwomen)is
thegroupmostlikelyto be affected by theabsenceofinformation on spon-
taneousfetaldeathsof less than20 weeksgestation;therefore, therateof
inducedabortion maybe overestimated andcontribute tothegreater likelihood
ofabortion observedamongthisage group.

Discussionand Conclusion

Thisstudyhasgonebeyondpreviousbivariate thenet
analysesbyinvestigating
ofvariableson abortion.
effects Therelationshipsbetweenabortionand race,
maritalstatus,and educationhave been foundto be morecomplexthan
previousstudiessuggest.For example,the findingsshow thatthe racial
variesbymaritalstatus.Blacksaremorelikelyto abort
in abortion
difference

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1136/ SocialForces 69:4,June1991

thanwhites,andunmarried womenmorelikelytoabortthanmarried women.

However,amongunmarried women,whitesare morelikelyto abortthan
blacks.We suggestedearlierthatunmarried whitewomensuffer morecosts
froma nonmarital pregnancy thanunmarried blackwomenand thusmaybe
morelikelyto abort.Unmarried blackwomenmayhaveless to riskin child-
bearingthantheirwhitecounterparts becausestatus-generating alternatives to
motherhood aremorelimited. Moreover, a birthtoan unmarried whitewoman
maybe morestigmatizing sociallyand therefore morecostlythana birthtoan
unmarried blackwoman.
Oppositepatternsare seen in the racialdifferences of marriedwomen
obtaining abortions. Amongmarriedwomen,blacksare morelikelyto abort
thanwhites.Thistendency is perhapsdue,in part,toimportant racial-marital
differencesinlaborforceparticipation. Although theracialdifference infemale
laborforceparticipation has narrowed greatlyin recentyears,amongmarried
women,blackscontinue tohavesubstantially higher ratesofparticipation than
whites(Taeuber& Valdisera1986).Thisracedifferential is evenstronger for
married womenwithsmallchildren. Unfortunately, information on laborforce
participationis notintheNCHS dataset.However, we suspectthattheforgone
opportunity costs (i.e., perceivedadjustments to labor forceparticipation)
imposedbyan impending birtharegreater forblackmarried womenthanfor
whitemarriedwomenbecausetheyhave a stronger attachment to thework
force.Moreover,blackmarriedwomenare morelikelythanwhitemarried
womento be theprimary sourceoffamily income.
Thefindings fromthisanalysisalsodemonstrate thatwhilebirth is farmore
likelythanabortion formarried women,therelationship between marital status
and pregnancy outcomevariesby education(foradultwomen).Thepositive
effectof educationon abortionis muchstronger and moreconsistent for
unmarried womenthanformarried women.Oneinterpretation oftheseresults
is thatthecostsofcarrying a pregnancy totermaregreater forhighly educated
singlewomenthanformarriedwomenwithsimilarlevels of educational
attainment. Thesesinglewomenhavemoreinvestedin theireducationin that
theyare morelikelythanothersto be in thelaborforce,less likelyto have
historiesofinterrupted laborforceparticipation (forfamily reasons), andmore
likelyto be thesole earnerfortheirhouseholdincomeand therefore to have
fewerresources forchild-care support. In otherwords,thestructure foraccom-
modatinga childis notonlymuchweakerforthesewomenthanforhighly
educatedmarriedwomen,but it also poses moreseriousthreatsto future
returnsfromeducationalinvestment. Interestingly,the interaction between
maritalstatusand paritymay also reflectthe relativecostsof carrying a
pregnancy toterm. Although unmarried womenhaveveryhighprobabilities of
abortinga pregnancy, thedecreasinglikelihoodof aborting withincreasing
parity amongthesewomenmayarisefroma further narrowing ofchoicesboth
in termsof financing an abortionand in opportunities forlaborforcepar-
ticipation.In otherwords,unmarried womenwho are pregnant and already
havechildren arequiterestricted in theirrangeofopportunities andmayhave
feweroptions.Therelativecostsofan additionalchildarelikelytobe lessfor
thesewomen.Thispattern does notapplyto married women.Rather, among
married womenthelikelihood ofaborting a pregnancy atanyparity is low,but

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 Differences
in Abortion
/ 1137

becomeshighest at parity2. We interpretthispattemas morecloselyreflecting

thedesireto maintain an ideal familysize withinmarriage thanopportunity
costsassociatedwithchildbearing.
Theinteractiveeffectofeducation withparity onabortion is alsointeresting.
The pattemof thiseffect is particularlystrongforwomenwithno previous
births:increasingeducational attainmentincreasesthelikelihood ofaborting a
pregnancy. Theeffect forwomenofotherparities is weaker.Thissuggeststhat
thecostsassociatedwithchildbearing growstronger forchildlesswomenthan
forothersas educationincreases. Highlyeducatedchildless womenmayfinda
firstpregnancy verycostlyin termsofperceived future returns toeducational
investments.Thetransition from childlessto"childed"is perhapsinterpreted as
themostcostlyparitytransition amongmore-educated women.
In conclusion,we shouldstressthatthisstudyis a preliminary stepin the
multivariateanalysisofthedeterminants ofabortion. Whilethedataareunique
in allowingmicrolevel analysisof abortionbehavior,theyare not without
limitations.
Havingno information on earlyspontaneous abortions, we must
interpretthefindings regarding theoldestgroupofwomencautiously. Not
beingable to separatethepreviously marriedfromthenevermarriedmay
understatetheimpactofmaritalstatuson abortion behavior.
Whilea nationalsamplewouldbe preferable forthistypeofanalysis,the
NCHS data only allow analysisforwomenin a small numberof states.
Furthermore, theNCHS dataprovidelimited information onthecharacteristics
ofwomen.Forexample,we haveno information on a woman'sincome,labor
forceparticipation,
religion, orother thatcouldinfluence
characteristics abortion
behaviorin important ways.
Futureresearch on abortion shouldmorecloselyexaminetherelationships
uncovered heretofurther investigate whether thedeterminants ofhavingornot
havinga child are similarto the determinants forabortingor carrying a
pregnancy to term.Thisavenueofresearch shouldfurther clarifyourunder-
standing ofracial,marital, and educational differences in fertility
behavior.

Notes

1. Thelimitation ofthestudysampleto ninereporting areasmayintroduce bias.Forexample,

familyplanningservicesand access by different groupsof women may vary by state.
Preliminary analysesindicatedthatabortionratiosvarybyreporting area.Therefore,stateof
residenceis includedas a controlvariable.
2. A pregnancy thatends spontaneously after20 weeksor moregestation(a fetaldeath)is
consideredhereas a decisionnotto abortand is therefore classifiedaccordingly.We should
also notethatdetailedracialinformation is notavailablein thisdata set.Unfortunately,we
have no information on Hispanicwomen.We also do nothave more-detailed informationon
maritalstatus;maritalstatusis dichotomized on theoriginaldata file.
3. Interpretation of maineffectsof an independent variablewhenhigher-order effects
have
beenestimated mustinvolvea degreeofcaution.Whensecond-order effects
arespecified,the
maineffectof an independent variablerepresentsan averagerelationship acrossa second
independent variable.Therelativeeffectsofcategoriesofa variablecanbe judgedonlybythe
totaleffects(i.e.,theproductofthemaineffects and theinteraction Forexample,since
effects).
the preferred model specifiesthatthe relationship betweenmaritalstatusand pregnancy
outcomeis alteredbyrace,assessment oftherelativeeffectofraceor maritalstatusmustbe
basedon thetotaleffects.

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1138/ Social Forces 69:4,June1991

APPENDIXA: PercentageDistribution
of Abortionsby SelectedCharacteristics
fortheStudyArea and OtherNationalData Sources- 1980'

Alan Guttmacher Centersfor

b StudyArea Institute Disease Ctrl.
Race
% Black 34.9 29.6c 30.2
% White 65.1 70.4 69V
Totalabortions 183,888 1,553,890 742,338
Maritalstatusb
% Married 24.1 20.6 23.3
% Not married 75.9 79.4 76.7
Totalabortions 186,075 1,553,890 742,338
Educationf
% 0-8 3.0 2.6
% 9-11 12.6 12.3
% 12 46.6 46.3
% 13-15 23.8 24.4
% 16+ 13.9 14.4
Totalabortions 131,270 1,036,850
Age
% 20-24 47.1 50.2 49.7
% 25-29 28.6 27.8 27.7
% 30-34 15.4 14.0 14.1
% 35+ 8.9 8.0 8.5
Totalabortions 189,942 1,093,770 559,030$
parityb
%0 51.5 57.9 58.4
%1 20.8 19.6 19.5
%2 15.0 13.9 13.7
% 3+ 12.7 8.6 8.5
Totalabortions 187,649 1,553,890 656,7159

a
Data fromtheAlanGuttmacher arefrom
Institute HenshawandO'Reilly(1983).Data
fromtheCentersforDisease Control(CDC) wereobtainedthrough personalcom-
municationand fromCDC (1983).Totalabortionsbycharacteristic
mayvarybecause
numbers are based on different
age groupsof womenand/ordifferentnumbers of
reporting and/ordifferences
states, values.The"-" entry
inmissing thatdata
indicates
werenotavailable.
b
Womenages15-44only
c Nonwhites
d Nonblacks
' Basedon datafrom29 states
f Womenages20+ only;AGI dataarefor1979
8 Basedon datafrom33 states

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 in Abortion/ 1139
Differences

APPENDIXB: PercentInducedAbortions
forVariablesUsed in theAnalysis-
AdultWomen

Percent Numberof
InducedAbortions Pregnancies
Race
Black 37.5 121,977
White 20.1 388,859
MaritalStatus
Married 10.1 362,984
Not married 59.1 147,852
Education
0-8 19.0 18,885
9-11 22.2 70,911
12 25.3 229,028
13-15 26.9 110,265
16+ 20.9 81,747
Age
20-24 27.7 214,014
25-29 20.4 173,583
30-34 20.9 89,496
35+ 31.5 33,743
Parity
0 30.3 164,876
1 19.2 152,421
2 24.1 99,184
3+ 22.1 94,355
Residence
Metropolitan 28.1 393,436
Nonmetropolitan 11.4 117,400
State
Missouri 12.8 72,426
Montana 12.9 12,905
New YorkCity 43.9 146,459
Oregon 17.8 42,819
SouthCarolina 16.0 46,691
Tennessee 18.2 65,438
Utah 6.0 38,292
Vermont 20.8 7,603
Virginia 22.7 78,203
Total 24.3 510,836

theodds ofabortionto birthforcategory

odds ratios,whichcontrast
4. Comparative 1 ofan
variable(e.g.,unmarried
independent women)to thesame odds on category2 of thesame
independentvariable(marniedwomen),can be calculatedby [B(ac)/B(bc)]/[B(ad)/B(bd)],

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1140/ SocialForces 69:4,June1991

wherefora specifiedraceB(ac)is themultiplicative parameter forcategory a (abortion)ofthe

dependent variableand category c oftheindependent variable(unmariedwomen),B(bc)is the
multiplicativeparameter forcategory b (birth)ofthedependent variableand category c ofthe
independent variable,B(ad) is themultiplicative parameter forcategorya of thedependent
variableand categoryd of the independent variable(marredwomen),and B(bd) is the
multiplicativeparameterforcategoryb of the dependentvariableand categoryd of the
independent variable(see Kaufman& Schervish 1986;Page 1977).
5. FromTable2,we shouldalso notetheeffects ofage and metropolitan residenceon abortion.
Thegrossdistribution indicatesthatthelikelihoodofabortion is highest
fortheoldestwomen.
The usual relationshipbetweenage and abortionobservedat thebivariatelevel (wherethe
highestlikelihoodsofaborting a pregnancy are observedfortheyoungest and oldestwomen)
weakensonce otherfactorsassociatedwithage and outcomeare considered(see bivariate
studiesby Bumham1983;Henshaw& O'Reilly1983;Prager1985).Net of otherfactors, the
likelihoodof abortionversusbirthis noticeably higherovertheage of35: 36% of theoldest
groupofwomenterminate theirpregnancy byabortion. However,thisfinding regarding the
oldestage groupofwomenshouldbe interpreted Theoldestcategory
cautiously. ofwomenis
thegroupmostlikelyto be affected bytheabsenceofinformation on earlyspontaneous fetal
deaths;therefore therateof inducedabortionmaybe overestimated forthisage groupand
contributeto thegreaterlikelihoodofabortion observed.Finally, as expected,thelikelihoodof
abortinga pregnancy is greaterin metropolitan thannonmetropolitan areas.

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