There are many reasons women consider and/or have an abortion when they experience an unplanned pregnancy. Family, finances, health, education, and career are factors that affect a woman’s decision between carrying to term and aborting.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, the research arm of Planned Parenthood, more than half of women in the United States who had an abortion in 2014 were in their 20s, and about 75 percent were assessed as poor or low-income. Concern for the ability to care for a baby is a major reason women gave for having an abortion. According to the Guttmacher study, the three most common reasons for having an abortion were:
- the inability to afford raising a child
- the belief that having a baby would interfere with work, school or the ability to care for dependents
- concern for or responsibility to other individuals.
Half of the survey respondents said they did not want to be a single parent or were having problems with their husband or partner.
Help for Those Concerns
There are many resources and options for women who experience an unplanned pregnancy and are considering abortion as their only option. Online classes, for example, can be an option for high school and college education during and/or after a pregnancy. Temporary job placement agencies, such as Kelly Services or Addecco Staffing, can help a person find work if permanent and/or fulltime jobs are limited. Caring for other children or aging parents can be a struggle when juggling life; however, finding ways to help others facing similar circumstances, such as trading babysitting with other moms, can be a way to both save money and care for your loved ones.
True Care Can Help Women Experiencing an Unplanned Pregnancy
Oftentimes, women don’t realize the resources available to them during what they deem as a crisis. That’s where True Care Women’s Resource Center can assist. We not only provide free pregnancy testing, but our professionally-trained nurses also offer ultrasound to help a woman know how far along she is; they also provide std testing. Whether a pregnant woman decides to carry to term or to abort her pregnancy, she needs to make sure she doesn’t have an active std infection for if she undergoes an abortion or goes through the pregnancy with an untreated std, she can affect, even impair, her future fertility; in other words, that untreated std may prevent her from having future children. True Care offers all three medical services – pregnancy testing, ultrasound for women with positive pregnancy tests, and std testing and treatment.
Women are also provided a community resource list, which gives referrals regarding housing, career training, educational options, rental and utility assistance, and physicians. Our Resource Coordinator assists with Medicaid applications so our patients can know if they qualify and she can also give information about stop-smoking programs, alcohol and drug addiction recovery options, and counseling services. All of these services are provided at no charge and can help a woman who thinks she has no choice but to abort to see her options in a new light. Whether a woman chooses to abort or not, she will find no judgement and no pressure by the staff and volunteers at True Care. Our goal is to make sure you are informed and educated on all three of your pregnancy options; we provide informational pamphlets on a woman’s choices: abortion, adoption, and parenting.
If you think you might be pregnant, please contact True Care’s Scheduling Line to request your free appointment. Call or text 307-215-9684.