A mother- to- be’s decision to continue or end a pregnancy is very personal and an abortion shouldn’t be a struggle to afford if a women does decide to end it. Each year 1.2 million women decide to get an abortion, whether if that is money coming out of pocket or if its paid with insurance, Medicaid, etc. The most common reasons for women to consider abortions are: birth control failure, incapacity to support child, pregnancy as a result of rape or incest, dangerous to a women’s health, or reasons as simple as just not being ready. The cost of an abortion depends on many factors including how far along she is, where she resides, and where she goes to get the procedure. But some women have to delay abortions because they have trouble paying for, finding or traveling to an abortion clinic or specialist. For reasons like these, abortion prices should be reduced and made affordable for women.
No method of birth control is 100% effective and half of unintended pregnancies are a result of the birth control not being used correctly. Whether if thats not using a condom or regularly taking birth control shot/pills etc. If a woman is taking certain medications like antibiotics or antidepressants, this can make birth control pills less effective. Hormone-based birth control can also be less effective to women who are overweight. In addition to this, a women usually only suspects to be pregnant, when a period is missed. By this time it is too late to take emergency contraception and the woman would have to start saving up for an abortion pill or procedure. In 2014, 53% of abortion patients paid out of pocket. Patients not covered by insurance and are getting a surgical abortion (or abortion pill) in a clinic, will be paying anywhere from $320-$2000 or more depending on how far along the woman is. All the more reason why abortion prices need to be reduced.
If a woman isn’t ready and/or can’t afford to have a child to begin with, abortion prices should be cheap enough that they can make that choice to get rid of it. Rather than having to struggle to raise and feed her child daily. A survey constructed in 2004 amongst 1,209 abortion patients showed that the most frequent reason being a child would interfere with a women’s education work, or ability to care for child (74%) . Not having the funds to care for a baby came in close 2nd at (73%). What if a women was ready to have a child, but it ended in a miscarriage? Or if the fetus growing inside of her was on account of being raped or of incest?
More of unmarried women who were not cohabiting (including both for married in the past and never-married women) than of cohabiting or married women said fear of single motherhood or relationship problems was a reason
Relationship problems included the partner's drinking, physical abuse, unfaithfulness, unreliability, immaturity and absence (often due to incarceration or responsibilities to his other children). Many of these women were disappointed because their partner had reacted to the pregnancy by denying paternity, breaking off communication with them or saying that they did not want a child. A small number of women stated that they were in new relationships and that it was too soon to have a child with their partner. They related how hard it was to raise children by themselves and how hard it would be to add another child to their families. Some felt depleted and alone:
"Well, I already had one son, and right now he's growing up without a father, just me and him.…If you ain't got a lot of help with the family support, it's really hard. Sometimes I can't handle it, but I have to, you know, for my son's sake.…I believe, right now, I'm gonna take care of myself and my son."—19-year-old, below the poverty line
A number of women stated that it was unfair to one's children to bring them up without a father figure
Financial difficulties. Higher proportions of women who were unmarried or cohabiting, nonwhite, poorer and unemployed said they could not afford to have a child now, compared with their respective counterparts (Table 5). This reason was also more commonly given by young teenagers and women aged 20–24. overlapping influence. For example, young women are likely to be unmarried, and poor women are likely to be unemployed. Women who were married, who were in the highest income category and who were employed had reduced odds of saying they could not afford a baby
In the qualitative sample, of women who stated that they could not afford to have a child now, the majority had children already. Financial difficulties included the absence of support from the father of either the current pregnancy or the woman's other children, anticipating not being able to continue working or to find work while pregnant or caring for a newborn, not having the resources to support a child whose conception was not planned and lacking health insurance. Respondents who gave financial reasons for having an abortion frequently reported feeling stressed and strained to the limit of their current resources, as did the never-married woman who commented:
"I am on my own, and financially and mentally, I can't stand it now. That is one whole reason.…It's a sin to bring the child here and not be able to provide for it.…This is just in the best interest for me and the children—no, my children and this child."—19-year-old with three children, below the poverty line
A few respondents articulated their fears that having another baby now would force them onto public assistance, an outcome they wanted to avoid. For example:
"If you think about it, OK—I get pregnant; I might not be financially stable. I got to take somebody's working money for welfare. You know what I'm saying? Why not let me get out of this situation, so I could better myself so when I do get pregnant and have another baby, I don't have to take your money, because you're working. I'm not going to be working, because I'm going to be sitting on my welfare, taking care of my baby! Why?"—21-year-old with one child, below the poverty lin
Interference with school or career, and unreadiness for a child or another child. Higher proportions of younger women, of women with no children and of never-married women identified interference with education or work and unreadiness for a child or another child as reasons for having an abortion, compared with their respective counterparts (Table 4). Even among older women and women who had children, however, about one-third cited disruption of schooling or work. A higher proportion of more educated women than of less educated women gave this reason.
In addition, women aged 30 and older were much less likely than those aged 17 and younger to cite educational or career interference (0.1).
Having no children was also the key predictor of reporting unreadiness for a child or another child: Women with children had reduced odds of citing this reason (odds ratios, 0.3–0.4). The fact that the odds ratios for women with one, two, and three or more children are similar suggests that unreadiness is more strongly linked to initiating childbearing than to limiting the number of children.
Fewer than half of the interview respondents said that having a baby now would keep them from fulfilling their goals or that they were not ready to have a(nother) child. The majority of these women were young and nulliparous; their aspirations were primarily educational. Many women who gave one of these reasons said they were too young to have children and felt they were "just starting out" in their lives. Most framed their decision in terms of the desire to have children later, when they could better provide for them. A never-married woman who had just started college and whose partner was still in high school remarked:
"You know, I'm 19 years old. I don't think I should be having a child right now. I should be more focused on what I'm trying…I'm trying to do things for myself. How am I supposed to do something for another human?"—Woman with no children, above the poverty lin
Operation Rescue has included first trimester abortion pricing in its survey for the past three years. Overall, the national average cost of an early abortion has steadily increased since 2015. In 2017, women paid an average of $595.67 for a first trimester abortion. This this reflects a three percent price hike over what women paid just two years ago.
Surgical abortions up to 12 weeks were the costliest of early abortion methods, averaging $616.16 nationally in 2017. Yet, that price was down about 2% since last year.
Medication abortions, (generally done through 9-10 weeks), received at clinics that also conducted surgical abortions have held firm in price at $579 since 2015.
However, there has been a dramatic price increase for medication abortions received from facilities that only dispense abortion drugs. In 2017, the national average cost of an abortion at a medication-only facility was $592, up about 6% since 2015.
This means that medication abortion facilities not only make women wait longer for their abortions, but also charge them more.
This price increase was ironic since, in many states, the abortion pill-only facilities have lower overhead and are able to avoid licensing requirements that may drive up prices. Some states, such as California, have attempted to reduce costs even farther by allowing non-physicians to prescribe abortion drugs. Medication abortion-only facilities have been favored by abortion businesses, particularly Planned Parenthood, as a stated means of keeping abortion costs down, but data shows that these facilities are actually driving up the price of an abortion.
Abortion prices varied, sometimes greatly, from state to state
The two states with the highest average price for a first trimester surgical abortion were Massachusetts and Wyoming. Massachusetts’ average surgical abortion cost $1,223.30, while in Wyoming, the average surgical abortion fee was $1,099.00. The two states with the lowest price for surgical abortions were the District of Columbia at $410, and Maryland at $419.
The two states with the highest average cost of a medication abortion at a medication-only facility were Alaska at $800, and Colorado at $791.20. Missouri had the lowest average price for a medication abortion in the nation at $384.80, followed by Pennsylvania at $445.
“This is another case where Planned Parenthood is ‘talking north and walking south.’ There is obviously exploitative profit-taking occurring at the medication abortion-only facilities, where overhead is the lowest,” said Newman. “For Planned Parenthood, it is always about the money.
Fetal and personal health. Lower proportions of black and Hispanic women than of whites cited possible problems affecting the health of the fetus as a reason to end their pregnancies.
Concern for one's own health was a more common reason for having an abortion among older women and those with children; it was cited less often by women who were never married and not cohabiting. Women aged 30 and older had greatly elevated odds of citing their own health compared with the youngest age-group (odds ratio, 21.9), but we found no significant association with parity. In addition, women living at or above 150% of the federal poverty level were less likely to mention their own health than were women living in poverty (0.3–0.6).
Women who felt that their fetus's health had been compromised cited concerns such as a lack of prenatal care, the risk of birth defects due to advanced maternal age, a history of miscarriages, maternal cocaine use and fetal exposure to prescription medications. Concerns about personal health included chronic and life-threatening conditions such as depression, advanced maternal age and toxemia. More commonly, however, women cited feeling too ill during the pregnancy to work or take care of their children.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the decision to have an abortion is motivated by different, connected reasons. Nearly 75% of patients indicated that they could not afford to have a child now, and a large quantity mentioned responsibilities to children, partner issues and not being ready to parent. The interviews revealed that these reasons are from complicated life situations. For example, financial difficulties are often the result of lack of support from one's partner, or lack of a partner altogether; and the financial and emotional responsibility to provide for existing children without adequate resources makes it too hard for some women to care for another child.
Most women in every age, relationship, race, income and education category showed concern for or responsibility to deoendents as a factor in their decision to have an abortion. In contrast to the perception (voiced by politicians and laypeople across the ideological spectrum) that women who choose abortion for reasons other than rape, incest and life endangerment do so for "convenience,"13 our data suggest that after carefully assessing their individual situations, women base their decisions largely on their ability to maintain economic stability and to care for the children they already have.