Delayed abortion among teenagers: can a population at risk be identified?

Although only a small proportion of abortions performed in the United States are second-trimester abortions, teenagers obtain a large percentage of them. Yet the literature on abortion seekers is remarkably lacking in a discussion of who the pregnant teenagers who seek abortions are, particularly those who seek second-trimester abortions. We report a study of 97 adolescents who turned for help to a public abortion clinic in Missouri during 1989. We examined the impact of demographic variables, social-behavioral variables, and pregnancy-related variables (pregnancy, contraception, and abortion histories and attitudes toward abortion) on the stage of pregnancy at which the teens arrived at the clinic. Only contraceptive use and a positive attitude toward abortion were predictive of late arrival at the abortion clinic.