The facts on abortion


INCIDENCE OF ABORTION
 ¥ Nearly half of pregnancies among American women are unintended, and four in 10 of these are terminated by abortion.[1] Twenty-two percent of all pregnancies (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion.[2]
 ¥ Forty percent of pregnancies among white women, 69% among blacks and 54% among Hispanics are unintended.
 ¥ In 2005, 1.21 million abortions were performed, down from 1.31 million in 2000. From 1973 through 2005, more than 45 million legal abortions occurred.[2]
 ¥ Each year, about two percent of women aged 15-44 have an abortion; 47% of them have had at least one previous abortion.[3] 
 ¥ At least half of American women will experience an unintended pregnancy by age 45[4], and, at current rates, about one-third will have had an abortion.[5,6] 

WHO HAS ABORTIONS?
 ¥ Fifty percent of U.S. women obtaining abortions are younger than 25: Women aged 20Ð24 obtain 33% of all abortions, and teenagers obtain 17%.[7] 
 ¥ Thirty-seven percent of abortions occur to black women, 34% to non-Hispanic white women, 22% to Hispanic women and 8% to women of other races.**
 ¥ Forty-three percent of women obtaining abortions identify themselves as Protestant, and 27% as Catholic.[3]
 ¥ Women who have never married obtain two-thirds of all abortions.[3]
 ¥ About 60% of abortions are obtained by women who have one or more children.[7]
 ¥ The abortion rate among women living below the federal poverty level ($9,570 for a single woman with no children) is more than four times that of women above 300% of the poverty level (44 vs. 10 abortions per 1,000 women). This is partly because the rate of unintended pregnancies among poor women (below 100% of poverty) is nearly four times that of women above 200% of poverty* (112 vs. 29 per 1,000 women[3,1]
 ¥ The reasons women give for having an abortion underscore their understanding of the responsibilities of parenthood and family life. Three-fourths of women cite concern for or responsibility to other individuals; three-fourths say they cannot afford a child; three-fourths say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or the ability to care for dependents; and half say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner.[8]

CONTRACEPTIVE USE
 ¥ Fifty-four percent of women who have abortions had used a contraceptive method (usually the condom or the pill) during the month they became pregnant. Among those women, 76% of pill users and 49% of condom users report having used their method inconsistently, while 13% of pill users and 14% of condom users report correct use.[9]
 ¥ Forty-six percent of women who have abortions had not used a contraceptive method during the month they became pregnant. Of these women, 33% had perceived themselves to be at low risk for pregnancy, 32% had had concerns about contraceptive methods, 26% had had unexpected sex and 1% had been forced to have sex.[9]
 ¥ Eight percent of women who have abortions have never used a method of birth control; nonuse is greatest among those who are young, poor, black, Hispanic or less educated.[9]
 ¥ About half of unintended pregnancies occur among the 11% of women who are at risk for unintended pregnancy but are not using contraceptives. Most of these women have practiced contraception in the past.[1,10]

source:
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html
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 Child Maltreatment 2006
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Characteristics of Perpetrators
 For FFY 2006, 57.9 percent of the perpetrators were women and 42.1 percent were men.2
 Women typically were younger than men. The median age of women was 31 years and 34 years for men. Of the women who were perpetrators, more than 40 percent (45.3%) were younger than 30 years of age, compared with one-third of the men (35.1%) (figure 5-1).
 The racial distribution of perpetrators was similar to the race of their victims. During FFY 2006, more than one-half (53.7%) of perpetrators were White and one-fifth (20.7%) were African-American. Approximately 20 percent (19.5%) of perpetrators were Hispanic.3
 Nearly 80 percent (79.9%) of perpetrators were parents.4 Other relatives accounted for an additional 6.7 percent. Unmarried partners of parents accounted for 3.8 percent (figure 5-2). Of the parents who were perpetrators, more than 90 percent (91.5%) were biological parents, 4.2 percent were stepparents, and 0.7 percent were adoptive parents.5 

More than one-half (60.4%) of all perpetrators were found to have neglected children.6 Slightly more than 10 percent (10.3%) of perpetrators physically abused children, and 7.0 percent sexually abused children. More than 11 percent (11.5%) of all perpetrators were associated with more than one type of maltreatment.
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source:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm06/chapter5.htm#character
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Living Arrangement of Victims
 Data are incomplete for the living arrangement of victims. Slightly more than one-half of the States (28) reported on the living arrangement of victims during the alleged abuse or neglect. Among these 28 States, nearly 40.0 percent (37.3%) of the victims had unknown or missing data on living arrangement and were excluded from the analysis. Approximately 27 percent (26.7%) of victims were living with a single mother. Nearly 20 percent (19.7%) of victims were living with married parents, while approximately 22 percent of victims (21.6%) were living with both parents but the marital status was unknown. It is hoped that the reporting of this data element will improve in the coming years.
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Victims by Relationship to Perpetrators
 Nearly 83 percent (82.4%) of victims were abused by a parent acting alone or with another person. Approximately, 40 percent (39.9%) of child victims were maltreated by their mothers acting alone; another 17.6 percent were maltreated by their fathers acting alone; and 17.8 percent were abused by both parents.19 Victims abused by nonparental perpetrators accounted for 10.0 percent (figure 3-5). A nonparental perpetrator is defined as a caregiver who is not a parent and can include foster parent, child daycare staff, unmarried partner of parent, legal guardian, and residential facility staff.
 The data for victims of specific maltreatment types were analyzed in terms of perpetrator relationship to the victim. Of the victims who experienced neglect, 86.7 percent were neglected by a parent. Of the victims who were sexually abused, 26.2 percent were abused by a parent and 29.1 percent were abused by a relative other than a parent.20
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Number of Child Fatalities
 During FFY 2006, an estimated 1,530 children (compared to 1,460 children for FFY 2005) died from abuse or neglectÑat a rate of 2.04 deaths per 100,000 children.3 The national estimate was based on data from State child welfare information systems, as well as other data sources available to the States. The rate of 2.04 is an increase from the rate for FFY 2005 of 1.96 per 100,000 children.4 This increase can be attributed to better reporting practices and is not necessarily an increase in the number of fatalities.
 While most fatality data were obtained from State child welfare agencies, many agencies also received data from additional sources. For FFY 2006, nearly one-fifth (17.6%) of fatalities were reported through the Agency File, which includes fatalities reported by health departments and fatality review boards. The coordination of data collection with other agencies contributes to a fuller understanding of the size of the phenomenon, as well as to better estimation.

Age and Sex of Child Fatalities
 More than three-quarters (78.0%) of children who were killed were younger than 4 years of age, 11.9 percent were 4Ð7 years of age, 4.8 percent were 8Ð11 years of age, and 5.4 percent were 12Ð17 years of age (figure 4-1).
 The youngest children experienced the highest rates of fatalities. Infant boys (younger than 1 year) had a fatality rate of 18.5 deaths per 100,000 boys of the same age.5 Infant girls (younger than 1 year) had a fatality rate of 14.7 deaths per 100,000 girls of the same age. In general, fatality rates for both boys and girls decreased with age.

Race and Ethnicity of Child Fatalities
 Nearly one-half (43.0%) of all fatalities were White children.6 More than one-quarter (29.4%) were African-American children, and nearly one-fifth (17.0%) were Hispanic children. Children of American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Pacific Islander, "other," and multiple race categories collectively accounted for 10.7 percent of fatalities.

Perpetrator Relationships of Child Fatalities
 Three-quarters (75.9%) of child fatalities were caused by one or more parents (figure 4-2).7 More than one-quarter (27.4%) of fatalities were perpetrated by the mother acting alone.8 Nonparental perpetrators (e.g., other relative, foster parent, residential facility staff, "other," and legal guardian) were responsible for 14.7 percent of fatalities.
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source:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm06/chapter4.htm#status
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source: Ê
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cvvoatv.pdf
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Safe Haven - a new chance at life

Afraid and alone, a teenage girl gives birth to an unplanned and unwanted baby. Out of desperation, she wraps the newborn in a blanket and drives to a nearby trash dump, where she leaves the crying child among piles of plastic bags filled with household garbage. A few days later, the tiny, lifeless body is found.

As hard as it is to believe, dozens of newborns are abandoned by their mothers every year in the United States. Within days of birth, they are left in hazardous places like trash dumps, ditches, toilets and rivers by the people who are supposed to protect them. The stories make the evening news on a regular basis. When we hear them, we shake our heads in disbelief, wondering what - if anything - can be done to prevent these tragedies.

As a mother, I cannot fathom how someone could abandon a defenseless baby. For me, nothing can compare to the joy of bringing a precious new life into the world. Nurturing and caring for a baby are things that should come naturally to a new mother. In fact, sometimes we mothers go too far in trying to protect our children from harm, and become overprotective.

That is not the case with many desperate young women who find themselves alone, with no one to offer advice and counseling. Women who give birth to unwanted babies have already passed the biggest hurdle: deciding to have the child instead of having an abortion. If they are unable or unwilling to care for the child, the next step should be an unselfish one: giving the child a chance at life.

State legislatures across the country have come to the aid of these women and their babies. As I write this, 46 states have passed so-called Safe Haven laws, allowing mothers to leave unwanted newborns in hospitals, police stations and firehouses. No questions are asked of the mother, and no charges are filed. The only concern is that a life has been saved. The laws allow desperate women or other family members to safely and anonymously turn over custody of their newborns.

Safe Haven laws are making a difference. There have been hundreds of cases where women have dropped off their newborns, who can then be adopted by loving families -- many of whom cannot have children of their own - who offer these babies a bright future. Without Safe Haven laws, those children would likely have turned up dead, another statistic and yet another report on the evening news - and another shake of the head, asking how a tragedy like that could have occurred.

In cities like Los Angeles, Houston, New York and Miami, there are hot lines - in many cases, run by volunteer organizations - that offer counseling and advice to desperate women who are pregnant and might consider abandoning their babies in what might be a hazardous situation. In Los Angeles, the hot line is run by 60 professionals who offer counseling in 160 different languages.
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 Maria Elena Salinas is anchor of ÓNoticiero Univision.Ò

source: Ê
http://www.santamariatimes.com/articles/2005/10/09/sections/opinion/100905c.txt