Abortion in the United States, 1978-1979

Abstract

The total number of legal abortions in the US continues to rise; it was 1.5 million in 1979. Since 1967 when the 1st abortion reform laws were passed, some 7.4 million women have obtained legal abortions -- about 15% of all US women of reproductive age. Nevertheless, some 641 thousand women in need of abortion services in 1979 were unable to obtain them and went on to have unintended births. Large proportions of these women were poor, very young, rural and members of minority groups. 1 of the major reasons for the large unmet need for abortion services is the continuing inaccessibility of abortion services: 8 out of 10 counties have no facility in which abortions are performed. The scarcity is particularly notable in rural counties: only 5% of abortions are performed outside of metropolitan areas. Although only 8% of women who obtained abortions in 1978 had to cross state lines to do so, a much larger proportion had to travel, often considerable distances, outside their home communities. In addition to geographic inaccessibility, the withdrawal of public funds for abortion services as a result of the Hyde Amendment and its state counterparts has placed new financial obstacles in the way of poor women who want to obtain abortions. Only 1/4 of all abortions are performed in hospitals, where most other surgery takes place. Each year, a smaller proportion of abortions are performed in hospitals and a larger proportion performed in free standing clinics. This trend is largely attributable to the much higher costs of hospital procedures, as well as to the unwillingness of many hospitals to provide abortions: only 18% of public hospitals and 36% of private and voluntary hospitals reported any abortions in 1978. The failure of hospitals -- especially public hospitals -- to offer abortion services has contributed to the inaccessibility of abortion services.