Important Facts about Women Seeking Abortion
Important facts about women seeking abortion
Missouri women who have abortions do not do so flippantly or recklessly, and they do not need Governor Blunt, a Task Force on the Effects of Abortion on Women, or what amounts to an abortion ban filed by a right-wing “institute” in Illinois deceptively implying that they have been coerced when in fact they have exercised their right to choose after careful thought. At least one member of the Governor's task force--which NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri offered to join in order to provide factual, objective resource material to the secretly appointed task force composed exclusively of anti-choice activists and organizations--is on the record with the incredible claim that women who have abortions are more likely to commit crimes than other women. These are the sort of propagandists that the governor has invited to the table. But we know the truth about the women who make the intensely private decision to terminate a pregnancy. When we ask who has abortions, we need look no further than our own sisters, mothers, friends, and co-workers. One in three American women will have an abortion at some point in their reproductive lives. Six in ten women having abortions are already mothers. More than half of women having abortions plan to have children in the future. 78% of women seeking abortion care have a religious affiliation, and their affiliation with individual denominations is reflective of the general population. No racial or ethnic group makes up the majority of women seeking abortions. Women are not less likely to seek an abortion because it is restricted or illegal. Decreases in abortion rates are linked, however, with the ability to prevent unplanned pregnancy. That means assuring access to emergency contraception without hassles, delays or lectures – another thing Governor Blunt opposes
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