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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Most people in states across the U.S. wanted to get pregnant when they did or even sooner, according to a new report published today by the Guttmacher Institute.
The study also finds that across U.S. states, pregnancies that occurred when people didn’t want to get pregnant declined between 2012 and 2017 – a time period that coincides with a significant decline in the U.S. abortion rate. This new data further reinforce evidence that pregnancy declines – and not abortion restrictions – were the main drivers of recent declines in abortion.
The new Guttmacher report – which provides state-specific estimates and overall trends across the states – is the next phase in a body of work that traditionally categorized pregnancies as “intended” or “unintended.” By framing this research in terms of how people felt about their pregnancy, rather than their intention, we are seeking to improve understanding of pregnancy experiences in the United States.
Key study findings:
- In 2017, pregnancies happening at the right time or being wanted sooner than they happened comprised the largest share of pregnancies in nearly all states.
- There was relatively wide variation across states in the proportion of pregnancies wanted then or sooner, which ranged from 41% in Louisiana and Tennessee to 62% in Utah.
- The highest proportions of pregnancies wanted then or sooner occurred in the West and Midwest.
- Previous Guttmacher research has shown that the vast majority of abortions in the United States are among individuals who became pregnant when they had not wanted to be – at that time, or ever.
- From 2012 to 2017, the rate of pregnancies that were wanted later or were unwanted fell in at least 30 states.
- Other research shows that over roughly the same time, the national abortion rate (the number of abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44) fell by 20%, from 16.9 in 2011 to 13.5 in 2017.
- There were particularly steep declines in the rates of pregnancies wanted later or unwanted in Delaware (–28%), Hawaii (–31%) and West Virginia (–30%). Previous research has shown that over roughly the same time, the abortion rate declined in Delaware (–37%), Hawaii (–14%) and West Virginia (–26%).
- The proportion of pregnancies that occurred when people did not want to get pregnant was higher in the South and Northeast, and the proportion of pregnancies that occurred when they did or later than people wanted was higher in the West and Midwest.
Statement from Guttmacher Institute Director of Domestic Research Kathryn Kost:
“Our new study looks at pregnancies across the states and finds that most were wanted when they occurred or even sooner, while pregnancies that happened when people didn’t want to get pregnant declined in almost every state.
“We also found wide geographic variation in people’s desire for pregnancy across the United States. For instance, the proportion of pregnancies that happened when people didn’t want to be pregnant was higher among states in the South and Northeast.
Our study also has implications for the U.S. abortion debate, further bolstering evidence that restrictions, while incredibly harmful at the individual level, were not the main driver of recent abortion declines. The evidence is now even stronger that declines in pregnancy, and especially declines in pregnancies people did not want, were a significant factor.
“Restricting abortion is a clear violation of basic human rights and reproductive freedom. As we’re seeing in Texas, states in the South have some of the nation’s most restrictive abortion laws, making it difficult for people to manage pregnancies they do not want to have.
“Everyone, everywhere in the United States should be able to decide if and when they want to be pregnant. Policymakers must protect and expand people’s access to all pregnancy-related care and services, including maternal health care, abortion and birth control.”
Full analysis: Pregnancies and Pregnancy Desires at the State Level: Estimates for 2017 and Trends Since 2012
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