Background: Since 2010, many US states have passed laws restricting abortion providers' ability to provide care. Such legislation has no demonstrated health benefits and creates inequitable barriers for patients.
Methods: To examine how Kentucky's abortion policies coincided with facility closures and abortion utilisation, we conducted a review of state abortion policies from 2010 to 2019 using newspapers and websites. We calculated abortion rates (abortions per 1000 women ages 15-44) by state of residence and provision for Kentucky, the South, and the US using data from the CDC and Kentucky Department of Health. We calculated percentages leaving and from out-of-state, and analysed abortions by race, pregnancy duration, and method.
Findings: Of 17 policies passed between 2010 and 2019, ten were enacted, including 20-week and telemedicine bans. One of Kentucky's two abortion facilities closed in 2017. The pooled average abortion rate in Kentucky (4.1) and for Kentuckians (5.8) was lower than national averages (11.8 and 11.1). An average of 38% of Kentuckians left their state for care, compared to 7% nationally. In 2019, the abortion rate in Kentucky was 5.8 times higher for Black patients than White patients (compared to 4.8 times nationally). The majority (62%) of abortions in Kentucky took place at 7-13 weeks' gestation.
Interpretation: Abortions in Kentucky were less frequent than in the South and US. The larger Black-White abortion rate gap reflects race- and class-based structural inequities in healthcare. Without federal protections, abortion access in Kentucky will continue waning.
Funding: This study was supported by a philanthropic foundation that makes grants anonymously.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9958464 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lana.2023.100441 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Impact of State Abortion Policies on Family Medicine Practice and Training After .
Ann Fam Med
November 2024
Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky.
Purpose: The (Dobbs) Supreme Court decision revoked the constitutional right to abortion. Now, restrictive state abortion laws may contribute to the shortage and strain already felt in primary care practice, especially related to the provision of reproductive health care. The purpose of this study is to evaluate perceived impacts of state abortion legislation on family medicine clinicians' practice and medical education regarding reproductive health care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnderstanding abortion legality and trimester of abortion care in Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky, three abortion-restrictive states.
Perspect Sex Reprod Health
December 2024
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Introduction: In the era of Dobbs, legality of abortion care in the United States depends upon state law. Even before Dobbs, while abortion remained legal mounting restrictions and debate surrounding legal abortion could have led to confusion about abortion legality and discouraged patients from accessing legal abortion. We hypothesized an association between believing abortion is illegal or uncertainty about legality with later timing of abortion care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGrief intensity following adolescent miscarriage or abortion: A descriptive study of recollections of adult women.
Heliyon
July 2024
College of Nursing, University of Kentucky, KY, USA.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine women's recollected lifespan perceptions of the effect of grief intensity following adolescent perinatal death.
Participants: Nineteen adult women who had experienced either a miscarriage or an abortion during adolescence. The study involved the recollection of events surrounding the experience which had occurred between three and 28 years previously.
Evaluation of Non-Invasive Sampling Techniques for the Molecular Surveillance of Equid Herpesviruses in Yearling Horses.
Viruses
July 2024
Department of Veterinary Science, Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA.
Background: Equid alphaherpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) is a highly contagious respiratory tract pathogen of horses, and infection may be followed by myeloencephalopathy or abortion. Surveillance and early detection have focused on PCR assays using less tolerated nasal swabs. Here, we assess non-invasive non-contact sampling techniques as surveillance tools in naturally equid gammaherpesvirus 2-shedding horses as surrogates for EHV-1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSelf-Determination of Eligibility for Medication Abortion Without Ultrasonography Using a History-Based Tool: LMP-SURE.
Obstet Gynecol
October 2024
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio; the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Women's Health, University of Hawai'i, Honolulu, Hawai'i; the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California; Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai'i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, Seattle, Washington; and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Objective: To evaluate a self-screening eligibility tool for medication abortion without an ultrasonogram.
Methods: We designed a patient-administered, five-question screening tool (LMP-SURE) that assesses gestational age plus factors associated with misdating or ectopic pregnancy. We recruited participants without prior ultrasonograms from family planning clinics in Alaska, Hawai'i, Idaho, and Utah to complete a brief survey including LMP-SURE and then obtained ultrasound dating by chart review.
Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!