Reasons Given %
Inadequate Finances21%
Not ready for responsibility21%
Woman’s life would be changed too much16%
Problems with relationship; unmarried12%
Too young; not mature enough11%
Children are grown; woman has all she want8%
Fetus has possible health problem3%
Woman has health problem3%
Pregnancy caused by rape, incest1%
Other4%
Average number of reasons given3.7%

Source: PRCH & Guttmacher 

While women list a variety of reasons why they choose abortion, what has not been adequately raised in the public square is the fact that coercion is often involved in the decision making.

  • 64% of women reported feeling pressured to abort.
  • While a majority reported feeling rushed or uncertain, 67% reported that they were not counseled. 
  • 79% weren’t told of available resources.
  • 84% weren’t sufficiently informed before abortion.

These are devastating statistics. Consider that studies have shown that:

  • Pressure to abort can escalate to violence.
  • Homicide is the leading killer of pregnant women. 
  • Clinics fail to screen for coercion.
  • Women are nearly 4 times more likely to die after abortion. 
  • Suicide rates are 6 times higher after abortion.
  • Fully 65% of women suffer trauma symptoms after abortion.

Source: http://www.theunchoice.com/pdf/FactSheets/ForcedAbortions.pdf

A 2017 study published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons found that 73.8% of post-abortive women admitted that their decision was not “free from even subtle pressure from others to abort.”

  • 58.3% of the women reported aborting to make others happy 
  • 28.4% aborted out of fear of losing their partner if they did not abort 
  • 49.2% reported believing the fetus was a human being at the time of the abortion
  • 66% said they knew in their hearts that they were making a mistake when they underwent the abortion
  • 67.5% revealed that the abortion decision was one of the hardest decisions of their lives
  • 33.2% felt emotionally connected to their unborn child before the abortion

Source: https://aapsonline.org/womens-subjective-post-abortion-experiences-surveyed/

Source:  https://www.jpands.org/vol22no4/coleman.pdf

In a 2019 Public Square poll, commissioned by LifeCanada, 92% of Canadians believe that women under pressure to abort should be given more support to help them carry their pregnancies to term.