Demographics of second-trimester abortions

While the issue of “partial-birth abortion” has received much attention, less is known about the incidence of second-trimester abortions, the characteristics of the women who obtain them or the availability of these services. This presentation relies on data from several sources to address these issues: the Guttmacher Institute's most recent Abortion Provider Census (2005), abortion surveillance reports from the Centers for Disease Control (2004) and the Abortion Patient Survey (2000). In 2006, 67% of all abortion providers offered at least some second-trimester abortion services (13 weeks or later), though only 20% offered services at 20 weeks or later and 8% at 24 weeks or later. There is some indication that access to later second-trimester abortion services decreased slightly between 2000 and 2005 after increasing between 1995 and 2000. The proportion of all abortions that occur in the second trimester has largely been stable since the early 1990s: 1% of all abortions occur at 21 weeks of gestation or later, 4% at 16-20 weeks, and 6-7% at 13-15 weeks. Socially disadvantaged women are overrepresented among the population of women who obtain second trimester abortions: Teenagers make up 19% of all abortion patients, but 29% of second trimester patients; 57% of all abortions are to women with family incomes <200% of poverty, compared to 67% of second trimester patients. Additional analysis will examine where second-trimester abortions are provided (by region, provider type and provider caseload) amount charged for abortions at 20 weeks, and other characteristics.