Younger women, blacks and women with a high number of recent life disruptions are more likely than their counterparts to get second-trimester abortions, a new study finds

Of all women surveyed, 10.3% had abortions after the first trimester. These women were more likely to be young, black, less educated and living in poverty than women who had earlier abortions. They were also more likely to have experienced violence at the hands of the man who got them pregnant and to have dealt with at least three serious life events in the last year. Compared with the 10.3% overall number, 14% of patients under age 18 had second-trimester abortions, as did 13.8% of adolescents ages 18 to 19. Among all ages, 13.4% of black abortion patients had second-trimester procedures, compared with 8.5% of white abortion patients and 9.9% of Hispanic abortion patients. For women who got abortions after 16 weeks of pregnancy, later in the second term, age and education were not factors. Black women, however, were still more likely than other races to get abortions this late.