by their parents, one-fifth by their partners, and one-fourth by Medicaid. One-tenth shared the cost with parents or partner, and only 1 in 25 paid alone. COMPLICATIONSIt is well documented that the risk of dying from complications related to childbirth is about 7 times the risk from having an abortion, combining all weeks of gestation.Recent research suggests that teenagers have an even lower risk of death from abortion than women aged 20 years or older and have no higher risk of experiencing most of the complications associated with abortion, including fever of three or more days duration, transfusion, and unintended surgery. Cervical injury is the only complication for which teenagers have a higher risk. From 1972 to 1978, the crude death-to-case rate for teenagers was 1.3 per 100,000 procedures. In contrast, the rate was 2.9 for women 30 and older. Death-to-case rates generally increased with the womans age within each gestation period. Although abortions performed on teenagers are generally safer than those on older women, the finding of 5.5 cervical injuries per 1,00 procedures prompted researchers to suggest that more gradual dilation of the cervix may help reduce the rate of cervical injury. THE MALE ADOLESCENTThere is an increasing interest in the rights and responsibilities of the male partner regarding the outcome of pregnancy. Little is known about the effects an abortion has on the young male involved. There appears to be significant differences in attitudes toward abortion between black and white adolescent males. There was a reported study of more than 1,000 males, finding that the large majority of blacks were opposed to abortion on moral grounds and would not want their partner to have an abortion. On the other hand white males expressed the opposite attitude on both issues. The attitudes, desires, and reactions of the male partner are largely unknown to researchers and healthcare providers, but there seem...
