title: Pregnancy-resolution decisions. What if abortions were banned?
abstract: This study addressed two related questions: (1) what sets of psychosocial characteristics distinguish women who have had an abortion from those who have not? (2) What sets of characteristics distinguish women who, given their present situations, predict they would terminate an unplanned pregnancy from those who predict they would carry such a pregnancy to term? Fifteen variables associated with pregnancy-resolution decisions were tested in multiple logistic regression analyses. Only number of children was strongly (and positively) predictive of having had an abortion. Four variables predicted expectation that an unplanned pregnancy would be terminated. These results suggest that a ban on abortions would affect virtually all women in the study cohort and that the pregnancies affected would be those that occur when the women are least able to care for a (or another) child and when they feel somewhat positive about their potential for self-improvement.
mesh_terms: D000023:Abortion Applicants / Q000523:psychology*; D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000523:psychology*; D000029:Abortion, Legal; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D037841:Pregnant People; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States