Young women frequently cite concerns about the impact of unplanned pregnancy on their educational and financial future as reasons for seeking abortion. New research legitimizes that concern, finding that young women who become pregnant before age 21 and seek abortion have significantly better educational outcomes than those who become pregnant before age 21 but do not seek an abortion. "Abortion Among Young Women and Subsequent Life Outcomes," by David M. Fergusson et al., published in the March 2007 issue of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, uses longitudinal data from the Christchurch Health and Development Study in New Zealand to examine the extent to which the decision to have an abortion has advantages for a woman.

Fergusson and his colleagues looked at three mutually exclusive groups-women who had an abortion before age 21, those who had a pregnancy but not an abortion and those who had never become pregnant-and a number of outcomes at ages 21-25, including education, income, welfare dependence and domestic violence. After adjusting for family, social and educational characteristics that were present before the pregnancy, the study finds that abortion allowed women to pursue their educational goals. However, similar advantages did not extend to income, welfare dependence or partnership outcomes. The authors suggest that further research is needed to determine more clearly the risks and benefits associated with abortion so that women can make fully informed decisions about whether to terminate early pregnancies.

Also in this issue:

"Identifying Barriers to Emergency Contraception Use Among Young Women from Various Sociocultural Groups in British Columbia, Canada," by Jean Shoveller et al.;

"Pregnancy and STD Prevention Counseling Using an Adaptation of Motivational Interviewing: A Randomized Controlled Trial," by Ruth Petersen et al.;

"Multipartnered Fertility Among Young Women with a Nonmarital First Birth: Prevalence and Risk Factors," by Karen Benjamin Guzzo and Frank F. Furstenberg, Jr.;

"Social Ecological Predictors of Repeat Adolescent Pregnancy," by Leslie G. Raneri and Constance M. Wiemann; and

"U.S. Women’s One-Year Contraceptive Use Patterns, 2004," by Jennifer Frost et al.