Unwed pregnancy decisions: some background factors.

A survey was conducted among 109 single, never married, white females in Virginia, Maryland, and Louisiana, to determine factors influencing the decision as to whether to abort or carry to term an unwanted pregnancy. Girls choosing to have the baby were younger, less well educated, and more religious than girls choosing an abortion. Girls carrying the pregnancy to term tended to be lower or middle class and tended not to have friends who had had abortions. The abortion group had a higher satisfaction rate with their decision than the group who continued the pregnancy. Aborters had little guilt regarding their decision. The have-the-baby group felt anxiety, conflict, and discomfort. Girls who continued the pregnancy more often developed a negative relationship with the putative father. Efforts to identify sociological factors associated with teenage pregnancy isolated few significant variables.