Ethnic Group and Welfare Status of Women Sterilized in Federally Funded Family Planning Programs, 1972

THE NATIONAL REPORTING SYSTEM FOR FAMILY PLANNING SERVICES (NRSFPS) DATA WERE USED TO INVESTIGATE IF WOMEN FROM MINORITY GROUPS & WOMEN RECEIVING PUBLIC ASSISTANCE WERE MORE LIKELY TO BE STERILIZED THAN OTHER WOMEN IN FEDERALLY ASSISTED FAMILY PLANNING PROJECTS COVERED BY NRSFPS. CONTROLLING FOR AGE & PARITY DIFFERENCES BY MINORITY & WELFARE STATUS THE DATA FROM PROJECTS WHICH REPORTED AT LEAST 20 STERILIZATION PATIENTS OF EITHER SEX DURING 1972--A TOTAL OF 101 FAMILY PLANNING PROJECTS COVERING APPROXIMATELY 550,000 WOMEN--ARE EXAMINED. ANGLO WOMEN TENDED TO EXPERIENCE HIGHER STERILIZATION RATES THAN BLACK WOMEN OR THOSE OF LATIN AMERICAN DESCENT. WHEN AGE & PARITY ARE NOT TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT, THE OPPOSITE APPEARED TO BE TRUE. CONTROLLING FOR AGE & PARITY REMOVED ABOUT 80% OF THE DISPARITY BETWEEN RATES OF STERILIZATION FOR WELFARE RECIPIENTS & NONRECIPIENTS. FOR WHITES, THIS CONTROLLING SHOWED RECEIPT OF PUBLIC ASSISTANCE RELATED TO SLIGHTLY LOWER RATES. FOR NONWHITES OF SIMILAR AGE & PARITY, RECIPIENT RATES REMAINED HIGHER THAN NONRECIPIENT RATES. NONWHITE RECIPIENT RATES WERE NEARLY 2 TIMES HIGHER WHEN AGE & PARITY WERE NOT TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT BUT ONLY 35% HIGHER WHEN CONTROLLED. RATES FOR WHITES MAY DISGUISE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ANGLOS & WOMEN OF LATIN AMERICAN DESCENT; THE NONWHITE RATE IS GENERALLY REPRESENTATIVE OF THE RATE FOR BLACKS. MOST OF THE REMAINING DIFFERENTIAL BETWEEN NONWHITE WELFARE RECIPIENT RATES & THOSE OF NONWHITE NONRECIPIENTS OCCURRED AMONG WOMEN OF PARA 3 OR MORE. 66% OF STERILIZATIONS OF NONWHITE WELFARE RECIPIENTS OF THIS PARITY GROUP OCCURRED IN JUST 2 STATES. DEMOGRAPHIC DATA OF THE TYPE GENERATED BY THE NRSFPS CANNOT BE USED TO ESTABLISH THAT ANY IMPLICIT OR EXPLICIT COERCION WAS USED IN STUDY PROJECTS IN THESE OR ANY OTHER STATES. MODIFIED AA.