Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2020 Mar;24(3):299-309.
doi: 10.1007/s10995-019-02863-9.

Comparison of Women from Georgia and Contiguous States Who Obtained Abortions in Georgia, 1994-2016

Rachel Shapiro  1 , Blake Erhardt-Ohren  2 , Roger Rochat  2
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Comparison of Women from Georgia and Contiguous States Who Obtained Abortions in Georgia, 1994-2016

Rachel Shapiro et al. Matern Child Health J. 2020 Mar.

Abstract

Objectives: To determine trends for Georgia and contiguous state residents seeking abortions in Georgia between 1994 and 2016.

Methods: We analyzed aggregate vital statistics data, collected in Georgia, on Georgia residents (n = 675,995) and contiguous state residents (Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee) (n = 76,232) obtaining abortion and delivery services in Georgia between 1994 and 2016. We examined demographic, pregnancy, and abortion characteristics using counts, ratios, and χ2 tests of proportion.

Results: Of the data analyzed, 10.1% of all abortions were for contiguous state residents. The number of abortions in Georgia for contiguous state residents increased 35.3% from 1994 to 2016 (from n = 3115 to n = 4216) while it decreased for Georgia residents by 11.1% (from n = 32,934 to n = 29,264). Contiguous state residents exhibited a higher abortion ratio (1115) compared to Georgia women (224). These populations exhibited statistically significant differences across all variables and time points. Both populations demonstrated similar trends in ethnicity, race, education, marital status, and age. However, contiguous state residents were more likely to obtain an abortion at ≥ 20 weeks gestational age (13.8%) and obtained a lower proportion of suction curettage abortions (60.0%) and a higher proportion of dilation and evacuation procedures (31.9%). They were also less likely to be primigravid.

Conclusions for practice: Women from neighboring states seek abortions in Georgia later in gestation and may therefore lack affordable, safe, early abortion care in their home states. Understanding trends in travel for abortion can allow providers and policymakers to better respond to the needs of patients.

Keywords: Abortion; Medical travel; Reproductive health; US southeast.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Percent distribution of contiguous state residents’ abortions in Georgia, by State, 1994–2016
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Abortion to live birth ratio (ALB) for Georgia residents, residents of individual contiguous states, and contiguous state residents combined, 1994–2016
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Proportion of abortions at a gestational age of ≥ 20 weeks for contiguous state residents, combined and individually, 1994–2016
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Trends in abortion methods for Georgia residents in Georgia, 1994–2016
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Trends in abortion methods for contiguous state residents in Georgia, 1994–2016
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. An Overview of Abortion Laws. (2019). Guttmacher Institute. Retrieved from https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/overview-abortion-laws.
    1. Barr-Walker J, Jayaweera R, Ramirez A, Gerdts C. Experiences of women who travel for abortion: A mixed methods systematic review. PLoS ONE. 2019;14(4):e0209991. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0209991. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bearak JM, Lagrasse B, Jones J. Disparities and change over time in distance women would need to travel to have an abortion in the USA: A spatial analysis. Lancet Public Health. 2017;2:e493–500. doi: 10.1016/S2468-2667(17)30158-5. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cartwright A, Karunaratne M, Barr-Walker J, Johns N, Upadhyay U. Identifying national availability of abortion care and distance from major US cities: Systematic online search. J Med Internet Res. 2018;20(5):3186. doi: 10.2196/jmir.9717. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Centers for Disease Control. (2015). Abortions distributed by state of maternal residence and state of clinical service. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/data_stats/excel/Abortions-Distri....

Publication types