Are there any statistics on which women have abortions?

[Dawgs]

I'm specifically looking for the number of Democrats versus the number of Republicans. My guess is that this number does not exist.

My reason for asking is based on the new talking point I've been hearing lately. It usually starts out, "There would be millions more Democrats if they wouldn't have had all of those abortions".

I'm just wondering if there is any proof to show that Democrats are the only ones having abortions. I really doubt it, considering all of the anti-gay republicans that are found out to be gay themselves.

I for one, know of a former Miss Ohio that had many abortions. She is now so full of guilt that she has completely gone off the deep end, and is super religious right.

Is there any way to find out?

[CornField]

1. Doubtful.

While some basic demographic information is collected, I've never heard of political affiliation being one of those.

At a clinic close to me the patients are asked their age, religious affiliation (if any), marital status, and education level. Of course, no one has to answer such questions. It's purely voluntary.

[Richardo]

2. I've heard that too. The implication is that poor women...

...(and women of color) have the preponderance the abortions and are predominantly Democrats. I've heard the same ignorant statement regarding felony voting ("They'd all vote Democrat!")

Morons.

[shadowknows69]

3. I don't know about recent stats

but when I was in college a sociology professor I had did a segment on abortion and other controversial laws and he quoted some stat stating that the percentage of women getting abortions per capita didn't change significantly from the time before to the time after Roe V Wade. Keep it legal, safe and rare says I.

[eallen]

4. There are interesting articles on anti-choice women who have abortions.

Their case is always the exception. Some go right back to the picket line from which they came. I don't know if Democrats have more abortions than Republicans. It might be interesting if things work the other way around: if some Republicans start to question their assumptions when they need an abortion.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

10. Phyllis Schlafley, their poster girl had one

[Bunny]

5. self-delete

Sorry, I was confused about something.
:blush:

[Cleita]

6. Maybe Planned Parenthood, NOW or other such

organizations may have statistics on this.

[demnan]

7. A lot of women have abortions

and I hope political affiliation is a question people are never asked.

[ArkDem]

8. I saw some statistics that showed that a very large number of

the women getting abortions were pregnant.

[bleedingheart]

11. snort

[shadowknows69]

12. do you have proof??

:spray:

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

9. No but there are indeed statistics on the number of men who have

Which is why I have a big problem with them making this decision for women. :D

[Cleita]

14. ROFL

:rofl:

[LeftyMom]

13. It's none of our business

There probably isn't a party breakdown stat for appendectomies or shingles outbreaks either, because most other medical care isn't politicized.

That should be our stand: abortion is a health issue between a woman and her doctor. It is not a political issue.

[Dawgs]

20. I'm not sure why it matters that we know the party affiliation...

I'm looking for stats, not names and addresses.

Your stand,
"That should be our stand: abortion is a health issue between a woman and her doctor. It is not a political issue.", won't change anyones minds, but educating others that all types of women get abortions for various reasons will. If the Repubicans think the only people getting abortions are Democrats then are fight will be difficult.

If nothing else, we should at least point out that NO ONE knows if Democrats are the only ones getting abortions. That argument is ignorant and not based on fact.

[elehhhhna]

15. Some stats :

Who's having abortions (religion)?
Women identifying themselves as Protestants obtain 37.4% of all abortions in the U.S.; Catholic women account for 31.3%, Jewish women account for 1.3%, and women with no religious affiliation obtain 23.7% of all abortions. 18% of all abortions are performed on women who identify themselves as "Born-again/Evangelical".

Who's having abortions (income)?
Women with family incomes less than $15,000 obtain 28.7% of all abortions; Women with family incomes between $15,000 and $29,999 obtain 19.5%; Women with family incomes between $30,000 and $59,999 obtain 38.0%; Women with family incomes over $60,000 obtain 13.8%.

http://www.abortionno.org/Resources/fastfacts.html

More:
Race - 63% of abortion patients are white, however, black women are more than 3 times as likely to have an abortion, and Hispanic women are 2.5 times as likely.
Religion - 43% of women getting an abortion claimed they were Protestant, while 27% claimed they were Catholic.

http://womensissues.about.com/cs/abortionstats/a/aaabortionstats.htm

[SoCalDem]

16. Women who are pregnant and don't want to be, have abortions

Women who have no insurance (poor ones)or women on assistance (really poor ones) lose the privacy aspect of this operation.

All others have "options"..

Even though it's a legal procedure (for now), this is not like having an appendectomy, so most would prefer a little confidentiality.

Rich women (with or without insurance) can easily afford a discreet trip somewhere and no one's the wiser.

It's only the poor and really poor ones who become the object of derision because they have no choice but to ask for financial help. It's the MONEY that makes it public..

Probably most women contemplating this decision would prefer that a handful(or less) people even KNOW about their predicament. Money buys privacy and peace of mind..

[Ganja Ninja]

17. Here's a link.

I have no idea what it's worth.
http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/policy/abortion/statesabrate.html

[etherealtruth]

18. More stats ...

...but I don't think there's a repuke / dem breakdown:
http://womensissues.about.com/cs/abortionstats/index.htm
http://womensissues.about.com/cs/abortionstats/a/aaabortionstats.htm

[kerry-is-my-prez]

19. When I was in college - there were a ton of women who had had abortions.

It was surprising. It seemed that everyone i spoke to had had one.

[CTyankee]

21. The Alan Guttmacher Institute

has excellent stats and info (however, I doubt that the party breakdown was studied by them). Go to www.agi.org.