How patients view mandatory waiting periods for abortion

Abstract

In recent years, various legislatures have enacted laws and ordinances mandating a waiting period for women seeking to obtain abortions. Legal challenges to such statutes have been successful, except in one instance (Akron, Ohio), and a federal judge in Tennessee recently struck down a waiting period statute. As part of the appeal against the Tennessee law, two surveys were made of some 400 women who experienced such a delay to probe their opinions about the benefits and drawbacks of the mandated waiting period. More than seven in 10 women were unable to name a single benefit to be derived form waiting, and six in 10 pointed to one or more problems they had experienced, including extra expense, missed work or school, experiencing some discomfort and entering the second trimester of pregnancy, among others. About +7,6000 in extra expenses were incurred by about 200 of the women (with a median of +24 per woman), adding about 48 percent to the costs for the typical low-income woman and 14 percent for the typical higher income woman. The cost of the second visit increased in direct proportion to the distance a woman lived from the family planning clinic and to the number of hours she was employed per week. The typical woman was found to hold a negative view of the statute. Women who were surveyed before and after the waiting period said that they actually realized fewer benefits and experienced more problems from the waiting period than they had anticipated.

PIP: Despite generally successful legal challenges, state legislatures have continued to enact laws mandating waiting periods for women seeking to obtain abortions. Women in Tennessee, where there was such a law, were surveyed before and after undergoing the required rate. Their experience was instrumental in getting the statute struck down by a federal court. The survey showed that 6 in 10 women had experienced problems such as increased cost (a 48% increase for the typical low income woman), missed work or school, physical discomfort and delay of the abortion from 1st to 2nd trimester of pregnancy (increasing both cost and risk of the procedure). Generally, women disapproved of the waiting period, and those interviewed after the wait said they realized fewer benefits and more problems than they had anticipated.