Young women crossing county lines: Distance traveled relates to delay in obtaining abortion

Objectives/Background: Equitable access to abortion services is a major public health issue. Although first and second trimester abortions are safe, procedures performed earlier confer a lower risk of adverse events. A multitude of factors affect a woman's ability to obtain a timely pregnancy termination. We focused on age, gestational age, and distance traveled to obtain abortion services.

Methods: Women presenting for first or second trimester pregnancy termination at a family planning clinic in Chicago were given self-administered surveys assessing delay in obtaining abortion services.

Results: Out of 171 subjects, 127 (74.3%) presented at less than 13 weeks gestation, and 44 (25.7%) presented between 13 and 23 weeks. Sixty-one subjects (35.7%) lived within 20 miles of the clinic, 71 (41.5%) resided 21 to 60 miles from clinic, and 38 (22.2%) reported traveling 61 or more miles to clinic. Of participants who traveled the longest distances, 15 (39.5%) presented in the second trimester, all of whom were under age 30. Ten (66.7%) were between the ages of 18 and 23. Twenty-seven (15.8%) reported difficulty finding an abortion clinic. Of these, 23 (85.2%) traveled over 20 miles to obtain services, and 13 traveled over 60 miles. Over half (14 of 27, 51.9%) presented beyond 14 weeks.

Conclusions: Young women reported traveling long distances to obtain abortion and presented at later gestational ages, suggesting a barrier to abortion access in younger age groups and in certain geographic locations. Difficulty finding an abortion provider was associated with obtaining abortion in the second trimester.