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  • Title: Timing of steps and reasons for delays in obtaining abortions in the United States.
    Author: Finer LB, Frohwirth LF, Dauphinee LA, Singh S, Moore AM.
    Journal: Contraception; 2006 Oct; 74(4):334-44. PubMed ID: 16982236.
    Abstract:
    OBJECTIVE: We studied the steps in the process of obtaining abortions and women's reported delays in order to help understand difficulties in accessing abortion services. METHODS: In 2004, a structured survey was completed by 1209 abortion patients at 11 large providers, and in-depth interviews were conducted with 38 women at four sites. RESULTS: The median time from the last menstrual period to suspecting pregnancy was 33 days; the median time from suspecting pregnancy to confirming the pregnancy was 4 days; the median time from confirming the pregnancy to deciding to have an abortion was 0 day; the median time from deciding to have an abortion to first attempting to obtain abortion services was 2 days; and the median time from first attempting to obtain abortion services to obtaining the abortion was 7 days. Minors took a week longer to suspect pregnancy than adults did. Fifty-eight percent of women reported that they would have liked to have had the abortion earlier. The most common reasons for delay were that it took a long time to make arrangements (59%), to decide (39%) and to find out about the pregnancy (36%). Poor women were about twice as likely to be delayed by difficulties in making arrangements. CONCLUSIONS: Financial limitations and lack of knowledge about pregnancy may make it more difficult for some women to obtain early abortion.
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