Approximately six million women in the US become pregnant every year. Out of these, almost 1.2 million women opt for an abortion to end a pregnancy. These women consider abortions because of a variety of reasons.
Contraceptive or birth control failure. More than half of all the women who have abortions were using a form of contraceptive in the month when they became pregnant.
They are unable to care for or support a child
It is an unwanted pregnancy they want to end
They wish to prevent the birth if the child is found to have medical problems or birth defects
If the pregnancy is the result of incest or rape
If the woman has mental or physical conditions that are dangerous to her health if pregnancy is continued
In the US, nine out of ten abortions are conducted during the first trimester, or first twelve weeks of pregnancy. Of these, most are conducted within the first nine weeks of the pregnancy.
Very few abortions are conducted after sixteen weeks of a pregnancy. There are some women who had to delay having abortions because they had problems paying for, traveling to or locating an abortion specialist.
There are legal restrictions on abortions in some states. In some, women have to wait for twenty four hours after the first appointment. For information on yours or neighboring state