Contraceptive Practice in the Context of a Nonrestrictive Abortion Law: Age-Specific Pregnancy rates in New York City, 1971-1973.

Abstract

On July 1, 1970-two-and-one-half years before the Supreme Court's 1973 abortion decisions-the nation's most liberal state abortion law took effect in New York State. The New York law permits termination of pregnancy by a doctor at the woman's request during the first 24 weeks of gestation. In New York City this law was implemented by the public and private medical services in a nonrestrictive manner, so that legal abortion has been made widely available and accessible to all socioeconomic and ethnic segments of the metropolitan population. In an earlier report' we tried to establish that about 70 percent of the legal abortions obtained by New York City residents during the first two years under the liberalized abortion law replaced illegal abortions; while 30 percent replaced unintended births. Some persons have expressed concern that abortion law liberalization would cause many couples to abandon contraception for abortion or, at least, to become negligent in their contraceptive practice, thus increasing the total number of unintended pregnancies. Abortion is generally regarded as a backup method of birth control, to be used when contraception has failed. Disapproval in this country of abortion as a primary birth control method in part reflects a moral judgment, but also stems from concern that repeated abortions, even legal abortions in medical settings, may be detrimental to the woman's health, especially to her future capability to conceive and carry pregnancy to term.2 While such adverse effects have not been established, the possibility cannot be excluded that they may occur.3 Retrospective studies have not provided satisfactory answers to this question because,