Objectives: To identify characteristics of women seeking termination o
f pregnancy, their reasons for having a termination, and whether they
intended to submit a Medicare claim for the procedure. Design: Survey
by self-administered questionnaire. Subjects and setting: All women wh
o attended 11 private clinics in New South Wales (NSW) over a six-week
period in 1992. Results: 2249 completed questionnaires were received
(94% response rate). Terminations were frequent at all ages, but women
in their 20s accounted for more than half the terminations (54%) and
teenagers accounted for only 17%. Respondents were generally well educ
ated and from various ethnic and religious backgrounds; 56% were singl
e and 41% had had one or more previous terminations. Fifteen per cent
of respondents could not or did not intend to make a Medicare claim. T
he most frequently cited factors contributing to the decision to seek
a termination were concerns about finances, change in lifestyle, singl
e parenthood and being too young. Conclusions: Private clinics, where
most terminations are performed, clearly meet a major demand, but it i
s likely that terminations in NSW as recorded by Health Insurance Comm
ission claims are under-reported by at least 15%.