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Black and Latina Women are having more Abortions than White Women

19:43 H | Topics: Health - Women

More Latinas and black women are having abortions than white women, says the latest survey conducted by the Guttmacher Institute. According to the survey:

Statistically one in three U.S. women will have an abortion in her lifetime, the study found, but that risk does not apply to all women equally. Women who choose abortion are more likely to be in their 20s or 30s than in their teens or 40s; they're more likely to have children already; and they're also more likely to be black or Hispanic than white. The abortion rates in 2004 were 50 abortions per 1,000 black women and 28 abortions per 1,000 Hispanic women, compared with 11 out of every 1,000 white women.

I noticed two interesting things about this passage. First, since when was getting an abortion considered something that women were "at risk of"? And similarly, if having an abortion is 'risky' then why isn't what causes so many abortions (poverty, abuse at home, lack of resources, etc) considered 'risky'? Why isn't it considered a national health crisis that so many women in the U.S. are suffering through conditions that make 'risky' behaviors like abortion a necessity?

Second, the 'experts' quoted in the article just couldn't seem to figure out why it is that there is such a racial disparity between black/Latina women and white women. Maybe, say the experts, it's lack of education on family planning?

I personally wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that black/Latina women make less money that white women do (on average) and are always hit first during economic crisis (like the one we're in now) and may actually desperately want the the pregnancies that they experience, but can't afford to carry it through?

Could having a baby, in these cases, be privilege that black and Latina and all women of color, simply aren't entitled to because of draconian back to work laws and the racism that puts them on the lowest rung of the economic ladder?

via/TIME

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