REPEAT ABORTIONS IN CANADA, 1975-1993

In Canada, 20% of women who obtained an abortion between 1975 and 1993 had had at least one previous abortion. An analysis of data on 1.2 mi llion abortions shows that the proportion of abortion patients undergo ing repeat procedures increased from 9% to 29% over the 19-year period . The proportion was above average (22-28% for all years combined) amo ng women who were in common-law marriages, those aged 25-39 and those who had previously had children. In 1993, 27 women per 1,000 who had e ver had an abortion underwent another one, while 13 women per 1,000 wh o had never had an abortion obtained their first one; among teenagers, the repeat rate was four times the rate of first abortions (81 per 1, 000 vs. 19 per 1, 000). During the study period, the repeat rate rose sharply among women younger than 25 but fell among those aged 30 and o lder. In 1993, fewer than 2% of abortions were obtained by women who h ad had three or more previous procedures, suggesting that abortion is not widely used as a primary method of birth control.