Guttmacher study finds most women pay for their abortions
A recent study released by Guttmacher about abortion rates has sparked some attention. Here are a few highlights from the study:
From the Wall Street Journal:
About a third of the women surveyed were uninsured, a third were on Medicaid, and a third had private coverage. Overall, 57% of the women paid for their own abortions, while 13% got financial assistance such as help from a nonprofit, and 20% had procedures paid for by Medicaid, which covers abortion using state dollars in some states. According to previous Guttmacher research, the average amount paid for an abortion at 10 weeks' gestation, the point by which most are performed, was $413 in 2006, though they can cost more if they come later in the pregnancy.
Of the women that did have private insurance coverage, 63% still paid for their own abortions, possibly reflecting that some plans didn't cover the procedure. Rachel Jones, a senior research associate at Guttmacher, suggested that some women might have chose to pay themselves so the abortion wouldn't be in their insurance records, or they mightn't know their plans covered abortion.
This fact is important. Not because it means that we shouldn't be fighting for health care coverage of abortion, but that our existing systems already fall short in the abortion care arena.
~snip~
More myth-busting facts at link:
http://www.feministing.com/archives/021063.html
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