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Objective: The focus of this paper is to study, on a national basis, how the event of an inducedabortion modifies the transition to first birth for Danish women aged 20-39 years in the period1982-2001, taking into account also educational level, family situation, and urbanisation.Data and methods: The data are obtained by linking several national public registers in Denmark,using the unique personal identification number. Initially, a logistic regression analysis is employedin order to model the first birth probability in a given year. Secondly, the long-term effect of aninduced abortion is examined by cumulative first birth probabilities, derived from a life tableanalysis.Main findings and conclusion: Previous abortions increased the first birth probability, though thiseffect was almost entirely confined to single women. For cohabiting and married women, previousabortions had a minimal or no effect on the first birth probability.

Hvorfor får kvinder med indvandrerbaggrund dobbelt så mange provokerede aborter som andre kvinder i Danmark? Det var udgangsspørgsmålet for det forskningsprojekt, denne artikel er baseret på. Artiklens argument er, at når nogle grupper af minoritetskvinder får flere aborter end andre kvinder i Danmark, skal årsagen ikke primært søges i deres anderledes kulturelle baggrund, men har snarere med social sårbarhed at gøre. Kvalitativt set kommer denne sårbarhed især til udtryk i følelser af manglende personlige ressourcer og i oplevelser af at stå alene med ansvaret for sine (potentielle) børn. Der, hvor kulturel baggrund alligevel kommer ind i billedet, er i etniske minoritetskvinders blik på det danske samfund: minoritetskvinderne i vores undersøgelse forholdt sig med større undren end de fleste majoritetskvinder til hverdagslivets betingelser i Danmark og til måderne, man forventes at klare sig selv og sit eget.

Rapporten belyser abortudviklingen i Danmark i perioden 1981-2001, bevæggrunde for valg af abort samt baggrunden for den øgede abortforekomst blandt nogle indvandrerkvinder. Undersøgelsen har udgangspunkt i en metodetriangulering baseret på henholdsvis registerundersøgelse, spørgeskemaundersøgelse og etnografiske interviews. Den registerbaserede undersøgelse belyser abortudviklingen i Danmark fra 1981 til og med 2001 i henhold til kvindernes alder, oprindelsesland og familieforhold. Spørgeskemaundersøgelsen blev gennemført i perioden september 2002 - april 2003 og omfatter et udvalg af kvinder, der enten fik foretaget provokeret abort eller havde valgt at føde og bidrager med mere specifik information omkring hvordan socioøkonomiske forhold samt kvindernes viden om, holdning til og brug af prævention influerer på valget af abort. Den etnografiske del af undersøgelsen omfatter en gruppe indvandrerkvinder og en gruppe kvinder med dansk baggrund, der fik foretaget abort i perioden september 2002 - april 2003. Denne del af undersøgelsen bidrager med information omkring selve beslutningsprocessen i forbindelse med valget af provokeret abort samt de mekanismer som har ført til graviditetens opståen og kvindernes motiver for evt. ikke at have anvendt prævention. The Study elucidates the development of legally induced abortion in Denmark 1981-2001, reasons for the choice of abortion and the grounds for the higher occurence of abortion among some immigrant groups of women. The study uses a triangulation of methods - a register based analysis, a hospital based questionaire study and in-depth qualitative interviews. The register based analysis elucidates the development in the abortion rates in Denmark from 1981 to 2001 in relation to the women's age, their country of origin and their family situation. The questionaire study was conducted from September 2002 to April 2003 and includes women, who either had an induced abortion or had chosen to give birth. This part of the investigation contributes with more specific information on the influence of socio-economic conditions and the women's knowledge of and use of contraceptives on the choice of abortion. The qualitative interviews includes 20 immigrant women and 20 women of Danish origin, who had induced abortion between September 2002 to April 2003. This part of the investigation contributes with information on the decision making process in relation to the choice of induced abortion, how the pregnancy occured and whether the women have or have not used any contraceptive.