Title: Abortion Rates Highest Among Black Teens, Study Shows, But Accuracy May Be Hard To Measure | HuffPost
Headings: Abortion Rates Highest Among Black Teens, Study Shows, But Accuracy May Be Hard To Measure
Abortion Rates Highest Among Black Teens, Study Shows, But Accuracy May Be Hard To Measure
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Content: Anderson does point to the Guttmacher Institute, however, where efforts to collect more-complete data include approaching every known abortion facility nationwide while also taking governmental tallies into consideration. But in places where abortion is illegal, obtaining accurate figures remains a challenge, Anderson goes on to say. In the U.S., all but one state has layered on restrictions to 1973’s Roe vs. Wade decision, ultimately limiting access to abortions for many women. That said, there has not been a study that has found the direct cause for the high abortion rate among black teenagers. Some abortion rights opponents, like the National Black Pro-Life Coalition, an organization seeking to reduce the number of abortions among black teenagers, claim easy access to abortions is the culprit and that abortion providers like Planned Parenthood deliberately place their abortion facilities in areas with large minority populations. Others, like Rachel Jones, a senior research associate at the Guttmacher Institute, say the cause may be far simpler. She noted that poverty and a lack of attention given to teenagers at high risk for teen pregnancy could be potential causes for the high abortion rates among African-American teens. “There’s no definitive research that’s actually been able to answer that question. We just do know that African-American women, including African-American teenagers, just have more pregnancies,” Jones told The Daily Caller. Cheryl L. Somers, associate professor and director of the School & Community Psychology program at Wayne State University agrees, and argues that data on abortion rates cannot be counted unless it factors in teen pregnancy rates as a whole.