Repeat Abortions

According to recent report of the Guttmacher Institute, about half of all U.S. women having an abortion have had a previous abortion.  The report also notes that the decline in the number of U.S. abortions has stalled and that "at the current rate, about one-third of all U.S. women will have had an abortion by age 45."  The characteristics of women having first-time and repeat abortions is fairly similar (including the fact that most were using some form of contraception at the time), except that women having a repeat abortion are generally older and more likely to already have had a child.  The report concludes that the key to reducing unintended pregnancies and fewer abortions is more effective contraceptive use.  (10 Guttmacher Policy Review 8 (2007)).