The Turnaway Study

Used in 2 entries

For each citing entry, the verbatim excerpt and Likelier's calculation notes (how the source's number was converted to the lifetime-probability framing) are shown below. Click through to read the full claim ledger.

1. [1] Abortion decision Decision · inaction side

   Statistic

   By 5 years, 96% of women who were denied an abortion and carried to term said they were glad they kept the baby

   “"By five years after being denied an abortion, 96% of women turned away indicated they were glad they had kept their pregnancies."”

   Calculation notes

   The Turnaway Study's "turnaways" who carried to term form the inaction group. 96% glad implies ~4% not glad, used as the regret_rate. Note the smaller sample (n≈161 who gave birth) and the selection effect: women denied abortion who then chose adoption are excluded from this figure.
   

   Source date: 2022-06-15 · Accessed: 2026-04-25

2. [2] Adoption placement vs raising Decision · inaction side

   Statistic

   By 5 years after being denied an abortion, 96% of women who carried to term indicated they were glad they had kept their pregnancies (4% regret)

   “"By five years after being denied an abortion, 96% of women turned away indicated they were glad they had kept their pregnancies. One week after being turned away, 60% of the women expressed happiness over their pregnancies. Right after the baby was born, 88% of women no longer wished they had had an abortion."”

   Calculation notes

   The Turnaway Study followed ~1,000 women at 30 US facilities; the turnaway subgroup (~231 denied abortion) forms the relevant comparison. Only ~9% of turnaways pursued adoption; the majority parented. The 4% regret figure at 5 years is the lowest bound for the inaction side, but these women sought abortion — not adoption — so the comparator is imprecise. We cite Turnaway as a corroborating floor showing similarly low inaction regret and use the Piotrowski 7–8% as primary.
   

   Source date: 2022-06-15 · Accessed: 2026-05-02