FACTS for a Post-Roe World…
…in which probability, geography & luck will be part of the strategy
--
Notwithstanding the fact that hundreds of millions of us have been relegated to status as livestock — no longer in control of our own reproductive choices and here primarily to replenish the “dwindling supply of domestic infants” — I’d like to focus on the unplanned pregnancy piece of this puzzle which has been little discussed in the past week.
Republicans are already strategizing to go after birth-control and sex-education next. So, now is the time to — in the words of Mark Watney (The Martian) — science the shit out of this.
So let’s look at some RAW DATA, shall we?
As I discussed in an earlier article, if you were to guess the percentage of pregnancies that are terminated in the United States, you’d probably guess a low number, right? My guess was less than 1%.
My guess was oh so very, VERY WRONG.
The number of pregnancies that are terminated hovers around 19%.
Yes, you read that right, nineteen. That’s nearly one in five.
And believe it or not, these numbers are historically low.
Turns out, when you provide access to family planning options, birth control and sex-education, the number of unwanted pregnancies drop, so naturally, demand for abortion drops.
But even with these things, two facts remain: 1) birth control is fallible, and 2) sex is a healthy part of being human (focusing on the sperm-meets-egg variety of sex here for obvious medical reasons).
Here’s where probability comes in…
Let’s look at some more (sobering!) numbers. According to the Guttmacher Institute:
- 45% of all pregnancies are unintended. And about four in ten of these unintended pregnancies are terminated.
- 24% of women will terminate a pregnancy by the age of 45. That’s almost 1 out of every 4 women. Trust me, you know these women.
- 59% of women obtaining abortions are already mothers.
- 90% of abortions take place in the first trimester.
