Abortion experiences among New Zealand women

In May 1976 the incidence of abortion among New Zealand women was surveyed over a national random probability sample of 1200 women aged 15 years and over. Of the respondents who had ever been pregnant, 16.6 percent had at some stage considered terminating their pregnancy, and one-third of them subsequently attempted to obtain an abortion with 84 percent success. Single women and/or women in the 15-24 year age group were more likely than married or older women to have considered abortion when pregnant, and were more likely to have followed through with an abortion attempt after considering abortion. Prior to 1974, 62 percent of the abortion attempts involved an unqualified operator, in contrast to only 5 percent of those attempted or obtained from 1974-1976. Women with abortion experiences shifted from a low incidence of contraception and reliance on inadequate methods prior to the abortion attempt, to a higher incidence and use of more adequate methods subsequent to the abortion attempt. Extrapolation from the survey data yielded a median estimated incidence of 8000 abortions per annum on New Zealand women.