Worse & Best US State for Women with Unwanted Pregnancies
In order to compare which states are more tolerant to women with unwanted pregnancies, we created an evaluation system to rank all 50 states and Washington, DC. We found that the top 20 states were predominantly Republican states, while the bottom of the rankings were generally Democratic states.
To clarify, number one is the worst state and number fifty is the best!
The State living in | Flag | Rank |
Alaska |  | 1 |
Iowa |  | 2 |
Delaware |  | 3 |
South Dakota |  | 4 |
Wyoming |  | 5 |
Kansas |  | 6 |
Hawaii |  | 7 |
South Carolina |  | 8 |
Arkansas |  | 9 |
Maine |  | 10 |
Utah |  | 11 |
New Hampshire |  | 12 |
Mississippi |  | 13 |
Colorado |  | 14 |
Ohio |  | 15 |
Kentucky |  | 16 |
Alabama | | 17 |
Texas |  | 18 |
Georgia |  | 19 |
New Mexico |  | 20 |
Missouri |  | 21 |
Connecticut |  | 22 |
North Carolina |  | 23 |
New York |  | 24 |
Indiana |  | 25 |
Nevada |  | 26 |
Tennessee |  | 27 |
Arizona |  | 28 |
Oklahoma |  | 29 |
Maryland |  | 30 |
West Virginia |  | 31 |
Louisiana |  | 32 |
Virginia |  | 33 |
Michigan |  | 34 |
California |  | 35 |
Idaho |  | 36 |
Pennsylvania |  | 37 |
Washington |  | 38 |
Florida |  | 39 |
Illinois |  | 40 |
Vermont |  | 41 |
District Of Columbia | 42 | |
Minnesota |  | 43 |
North Dakota |  | 44 |
New Jersey |  | 45 |
Nebraska |  | 46 |
Wisconsin |  | 47 |
Massachusetts |  | 48 |
Rhode Island |  | 49 |
Oregon |  | 50 |
Montana | | 51 |
Description of the Evaluation System
The data collected varies greatly from state to state, with the largest number of women from Texas with 1,500 respondents, and the smallest number from Vermont at 15 respondents. As a result, comparing by numbers is not accurate.
In this evaluation system, the number of respondents for each question, are converted into percentages. Using statistical methodology, we assign different weights depending on the severity of the consequences women face. For example, under the category where women faced Pressure, Drugged, and Violence, we give a weight of 1 for Pressure, 4 for Drugged, and 6 for Violence.
In addition to the severity of the consequences women face as a result of their unwanted pregnancy, the evaluation system gives a heavier weight to factors that lead to unplanned pregnancy than potential negative consequence that women report. For example, the weight of violence is 6 because it is what women have reported as already happened to them. The weight of death threat is calculated at 4 as it is a potentiality that is possible but not necessarily going to happen.
Using this methodology, we add the weighted values and rank the final evaluation score to get the final comparison.
Limitations of Conclusion
There are some flaws in our evaluation system based on the premise that reported factual consequences for a woman are given greater weight than reported potential consequences which are more subjective.
The change in the ranking is subtle. While we can’t claim our results are completely accurate we believe our ranking system provides a meaningful picture of women facing unwanted pregnancy in the US.