Exercise # 2 Abortion 1

Running Head: Abortions by Characteristics

Abortions by Selected Characteristics

Exercise #2 Problem Definition Paper: Secondary Data Tables

Phylicia Augustin

Social Work 300 Section 02

J.L. McArthur

September 19, 2010

 Exercise # 2 Abortion 2

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the issue of abortion in reference to the charts I have

located from the use of the internet. These charts analyze numerically the amounts of abortions

that occur based on a wide variety of characteristics including race, age, marital status and

number of prior abortions. I have also incorporated some of my own views about abortion and

the current challenges that are faced with abortion. This paper also reviews the affects that

abortions have had on the African American community.

 Exercise # 2 Abortion 3

1. Problem Identification.

An abortion is the termination of an embryo from a pregnant woman. They are done so

for a multitude of grounds such as for personal reasons, preservation of the woman’s health or

the elimination of a child having being born with a threatening condition or disorder. Within

different locations of the world, some countries have implemented laws against or made

stipulations on abortions.

Particularly in the United States, no act of Congress has made the concept of having an

abortion illegal thus far. The U.S. Supreme Court case, Roe v Wade, was a well noted that made

abortion a right given to women for use at her discretion. Abortion is a prime discussion found

among people throughout the United States that causes some controversial responses. This

conflicting issue has brought about some division within the country as it has also been

addressed in recent presidential election campaigns.

2. Problem Description.

Abortion is the only man made right that is solely given to a woman. Roe v Wade was the

first major Supreme Court case that addressed the issue of abortion to the public. The Supreme

Court’s decision made it possible that a woman’s privacy would be respected in her decision to

have an abortion. This landmark case prompted states to develop abortion laws particularly to

those that are trying to be obtained illegally.

Pro life, as abortion is sometimes referred to as, is the belief that an embryo should be

given the opportunity to live life outside of a woman. It is resistant upon the views that the
 Exercise # 2 Abortion 4

termination of life should be left up to woman bearing that child. On the contrary, pro choice is

driven and geared towards the decision by the woman. The idea gives the woman the ultimate

choice of continuing with the pregnancy and eventually giving the embryo life. Pro life and pro

choice have always been very controversial in the concept of abortion.

Abortion has been said to be the leading cause of death located within the African

American community overshadowing heart disease, the AIDS epidemic and accidents.

Abortions among African American women constitutes for 35% of abortions performed on all

women within the United States alone. Among the African American communities, they are

more liberal and identify with the concept of being pro choice.

I support the issue of abortion because ultimately the woman is in control over the

situation. It would be a contradiction to allow men to have control over the contents of their body

but refuse those same rights to a woman. The theory of conceiving a child takes a great deal of

responsibility and there are some women who aren’t fully capable of providing adequate time to

raise a child. In some complex conditions, i.e. pregnancy due to rape could cause for the need of

an abortion as rape among women can be a very traumatic experience that could cause the

mother to feel a form of regret if they would have kept the fetus.

3. Findings.

The data tables I located were retrieved from the Center of Control Disease (CDC) and

the U.S. Census Bureau. Each of the data tables I chose include vital statistical

information that was conducted based on various characteristics found within abortion

such as race, age, location at the abortion, and weeks of gestation.

 Exercise # 2 Abortion 5

a. Magnitude

Abortion has become a severe problem throughout the country as it is being more

publicized through the media and various protests. Citizens have become more willing to discuss

the idea of abortion as it was previously enveloped under other issues that may have been as

having a greater importance than abortion. Table 100 shows how significant the numbers have

been about abortion although it may have been overlooked in previous years.

Due to the fact that only women can receive an abortion, the effects of abortion are

placed solely upon the women. This aspect will never change based on the simple fact that

women are the only individuals that can bear children. The quantity of legal abortions totaled to

more than 650,000 in 1990 alone. This staggering number proves that abortions have and always

will be a leading contribution in results that could possibly affect the amount of legal abortions

each state is willing to administer.

Although a majority of abortions are performed as women are in their adult years, there

are a few girls who experience the issue of becoming pregnant. As most girls frown upon the

idea of conceiving a child at a young age, it is rate when they are willing to consider keeping

their baby and avoiding abortions. As a 14 year old girl’s body is still growing and evolving, it is

sometimes unbearable for them to provide and maintain the costs for taking care of a child.

Although there were over 4,000 girls who received abortions in 2000, table 4 shows how there

are still a vast amount of women over the age of 40 that are getting abortions.

The economical cost for an abortion has an immense variation in that is factored based on

all the additional items that are required to have an abortion. Things such as the type of
 Exercise # 2 Abortion 6

anesthesiologist given, the location that the abortion takes place whether in a suburban area or a

rural area or even the particular doctor who performs the procedure can have a detrimental

impact on the funding cost of an abortion.

b. Scope

The problem with abortion is worldwide. Particularly within the United States abortion

has been found more along the states found on the eastern side of the country. These states are

more open to granting women a legal abortion whereas other states may reject or limit the idea of

women terminating their pregnancies. More states attempt to refrain for making drastic changes

in abortion rights as it stirs about much trouble that people sometimes are unwilling to confront

when faced in those form of situations.

Table 8 refers to the location of abortions that occurred along with the race of those

women. For example, more than 80% of the women who received abortions in the state of

Arizona were white. The state of New York is divided into the amount of abortions received

within the city verses those received in the state alone. There were more than 80,000 abortions

among New Yorkers during 1990 that were white alone. In total there were more than 159,000

women who had abortions performed during that same year.

In the District of Columbia, more than 63% of women that received abortions were of African

American descent. Due to the fact that the nation’s capitol is surrounded by a large majority of

black people these numbers can not be surprising based on other contributions that lead up to

this. Whereas about 4,500 white women in the glorious city were impacted accounting for only
 Exercise # 2 Abortion 7

22% of the total number of legal abortions administered. The total amount of women who

accepted abortions within the District of Columbia is just shy of 20,000.

After reviewing the data tables I noticed that there are vast variations in the areas where

abortion is inflicted upon women the most. It seems as though women that are located in states

with larger cities are more probable to receive an abortion compared to those who are located in

more rural areas of the country.

c. Changes

In reference to changes for within the amount of abortions being conducted, Table 100

shows a contrast over the various years. Reportedly, the amount of abortions that have been done

women has decreased within a 15 year period. In 1990, over 1.6 million women obtained

abortions whereas the numbers dropped to 1.2 million women. The reductions in these numbers

show that as time has changed less women are included in the prospect of exploring an unwanted

pregnancy.

The abortion rate continued to drop over the years. Based on Table 100, in 1990 the total

abortion rate was 27.4 then it dropped to 21.3 in 2000 and was later reduced to 19.4 by 2005.

This abortion rate is done so based per 1,000 women that were included within these statistics.

This shows that as the years went on, the number of women who received an abortion was able

to create a decrease in the abortion rate.

As the United States history is constantly evolving, there are a multitude of liberalists that

are willing to view all options before conducting the termination of an embryo. As it has been
 Exercise # 2 Abortion 8

viewed that a large amount of democrats are more liberal and open to seeing other sides of

stories, they are often counted upon to certify that rights are granted in the interest of the of the

people. For example, when the ruckus about abortion had been addressed in recent years in

which a democrat has been in office, those individuals are more open to understanding what

others believe.

d. Disparities

Abortions have been controversial amongst different races of women. Most statistical

data that is found from abortion conforms to the understanding of the various ethnicities that are

affected by this issue. Most abortions are found within white women, non Hispanic whites and

African Americans. As these three races play a dominant role in any statistical research that

includes ethnicity, abortions must also be included to illustrate the differences found among each

race and possibly understand what reason the numbers may be higher in some states than in

others.

Most legal abortions occur during the time women are developing themselves as young

women. Table 4 shows the various age ranges that women have encountered receiving an

abortion during. The data table also provides a more detailed view that looks at these various

ages along with the state residence of the women. Some girls, under the age of 15, who receive

abortions only constitutes for a small amount of the total abortions but it should lead you to

question why children of this young age are doing so.

One of the main questions that a doctor asks a woman who wants to receive an abortion

is how far along are they. The gestation period can affect the likelihood or opportunity of a
 Exercise # 2 Abortion 9

woman receiving an abortion. Most doctors suggest that the best time to receive an abortion

during a pregnancy is no longer than 8 weeks. Table 100 shows a glance of how many women

received abortions prior to 8 weeks and those who received them as late as more than 13 weeks.

According to Table 100, in 2005 those women who received abortions prior to nine weeks were

more than three times larger than the amount of women who waited an additional week.

The marital status of a woman could alter the decision that is made to have an abortion or

not. According to Table 100, the ratio of unmarried women to married women is almost 4:1. In

1990, 1,268 unmarried women received abortions compared to the mere 341married women.

When most women get married, they aspire to have children and build their own family which

shows such the contrasting variation of those married verses unmarried women who receive an

abortion.
 Exercise # 2 Abortion 10

References

Center for Disease Control.1990. Table 8. Reported legal abortions, by race and state of
occurrence -- selected states, United States, 1990.
Retrieved September 19th, 2010
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00031585.htm

Center for Disease Control 2000. Table 4. Reported legal abortions by age group of women who
obtained an abortion and state of occurrence- United States 2000.
Retrieved September 20th,2010

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5212a1.htm

Center for Disease Control 2000. Report of legal abortion by week of gestation and state of
occurrence-selected states, United States 2000

Retrieved September 20th ,2010 from CDC Abortion Surveillance United States 2000

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5212a1.htm

United States Census Bureau. Table 100 Abortions by Selected Characteristics 1990 to 2005

Retrieved September 19th, 2010

http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/births_deaths_marriages_divorces/family_planning_ab
ortions.html
 Exercise # 2 Abortion 11

Data Tables
TABLE 8. Reported legal abortions, by race and state of occurrence -- selected states, *
United States, 1990
==================================================================================================
Race
---------------------------------------------------------
White + Black Other Unknown Total
------------- -------------- ----------- ---------- --------------
State No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arizona 12,718 80.6 777 4.9 753 4.8 1,535 9.7 15,783 100.0
Arkansas 4,165 70.0 1,666 28.0 65 1.1 57 1.0 5,953 100.0
Dist. of Columbia 4,545 22.8 12,247 61.3 2,861 14.3 316 1.6 19,969 100.0
Georgia 20,548 52.4 17,209 43.9 1,488 3.8 0 0.0 39,245 100.0
Idaho 1,335 96.0 5 0.4 43 3.1 7 0.5 1,390 100.0
Indiana 10,605 73.9 3,143 21.9 220 1.5 383 2.7 14,351 100.0
Kansas 5,950 82.8 1,020 14.2 113 1.6 103 1.4 7,186 100.0
Kentucky & 8,763 80.2 1,823 16.7 218 2.0 117 1.1 10,921 100.0
Louisiana 7,260 55.8 5,530 @ 42.5 -- -- 230 1.8 13,020 100.0
Maine 4,434 96.2 57 1.2 116 2.5 0 0.0 4,607 100.0
Maryland 10,741 47.9 10,442 46.6 900 4.0 342 1.5 22,425 100.0
Minnesota 14,833 86.5 1,114 6.5 807 4.7 402 2.3 17,156 100.0
Mississippi 3,335 48.7 3,439 50.3 45 0.7 23 0.3 6,842 100.0
Missouri 10,350 63.2 5,682 34.7 298 1.8 36 0.2 16,366 100.0
Nevada 6,500 90.0 538 7.4 170 2.4 18 0.2 7,226 100.0
New Jersey 22,852 55.3 16,700 40.4 1,596 3.9 210 0.5 41,358 100.0
New Mexico 4,725 89.4 122 2.3 441 8.3 0 0.0 5,288 100.0
New York 85,733 53.9 62,559 39.3 4,235 2.7 6,571 4.1 159,098 100.0
(City) 43,984 43.0 51,359 50.3 3,639 3.6 3,220 3.2 102,202 100.0
(State) 41,749 73.4 11,200 19.7 596 1.0 3,351 5.9 56,896 100.0
N. Carolina 20,984 57.5 13,328 36.5 1,078 3.0 1,104 3.0 36,494 100.0
N. Dakota 1,582 91.8 23 1.3 117 6.8 1 0.1 1,723 100.0
Oregon 11,986 87.8 571 4.2 557 4.1 544 4.0 13,658 100.0
Rhode Island 6,430 82.6 913 11.7 343 4.4 96 1.2 7,782 100.0
S. Carolina 7,501 56.5 5,597 42.1 181 1.4 6 0.0 13,285 100.0
S. Dakota 865 91.4 12 1.3 69 7.3 0 0.0 946 100.0
Tennessee 13,784 65.2 6,865 32.5 205 1.0 290 1.4 21,144 100.0
Texas 70,689 76.4 18,427 19.9 3,218 3.5 246 0.3 92,580 100.0
Utah 4,384 91.6 100 2.1 260 5.4 42 0.9 4,786 100.0
Vermont 3,131 98.3 13 0.4 28 0.9 12 0.4 3,184 100.0
Virginia 20,436 61.9 11,424 34.6 952 2.9 180 0.5 32,992 100.0
W. Virginia 2,180 87.2 299 12.0 17 0.7 4 0.2 2,500 100.0
Wisconsin 13,209 78.4 3,187 18.9 418 2.5 34 0.2 16,848 100.0

Total 416,553 63.5 204,832 31.2 21,812 3.3 12,909 2.0 656,106 100.0

Abortion ratio ** 258 521 ++ 335 && 309

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* All 30 states for which data are available, the District of Columbia, and New York City;
excludes six states where unknown race is >15%.
+ White race includes those of Hispanic ethnicity.
& Redistributed based on known distribution for 6 months of data.
@ Includes black and other races.
** Calculated as the number of legal abortions obtained by women of a given race per 1,000
live births to women of the same race for these states. For each state, abortions obtained
by women of unknown race were distributed according to known race distribution for that
state. Excludes states reporting race unknown for >15% of women having abortions.
++ Ratio for black race excludes Kentucky because live births for blacks and others were
grouped together.
&& Ratio for other race excludes Louisiana because abortions for blacks and others were
grouped together.
-- Not reported.
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