South Carolina Abortion Facts

State abortion stats by rate, rank, total, age, gestation, and procedure type.

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State abortion statistics are collected privately by The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI) and federally by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Because of reporting lag, the most recent data available is generally a few years old. It should be noted that four states (California, Delaware, Maryland, and New Hampshire) did not provide abortion data to the federal government for the last reporting period, and AGI (the research arm of Planned Parenthood) openly advocates abortion.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ABORTION, VISIT: Prenatal Development, Abortion Procedures or Abortion Pictures

IF YOU ARE PREGNANT AND NEED HELP, VISIT: OptionLine.org

CDC DATA (South Carolina)

Total Abortions (2009): 6,911

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that 6,911 abortions took place in South Carolina during 2009. The table below compares South Carolina abortion totals by year.

2009	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004	2003	2002
6,911	7,187	7,544	7,005	6,716	6,565	6,573	6,657

Total Abortions Rank (2009): #26

Out of the 46 states* (+ Washington DC) that reported to the CDC, South Carolina's 2008 abortion total places it at #26 on the list (#1 on the list is the state or district with the most abortions and #47 is the state or district with the fewest).
*California, Delaware, Maryland, and New Hampshire did not report data.

Abortion Rate* (2009): 7.6

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that the 2009 abortion rate for South Carolina was 7.6. The 2009 abortion rate across the 46 reporting states** (+ Washington DC) was 15.1. The table below compares South Carolina abortion rates by year.
*The abortion rate is the number of abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44 years.
**California, Delaware, Maryland, and New Hampshire did not report data.

2009	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004	2003	2002
7.6	7.9	8.4	7.8	8	7	7	8

Abortion Rate Rank (2009): #38

Out of the 46 states* (+ Washington DC) that reported to the CDC, South Carolina's 2008 abortion rate places it at #38 on the list (#1 on the list is the state or district with the highest abortion rate and #47 is the state or district with the lowest).
*California, Delaware, Maryland, and New Hampshire did not report data.

Out-of-State Abortion Percentage (2009): 4.3%

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that 4.3% of the 7,187 abortions that took place in South Carolina were performed on out-of-state residents.

Percentage of Reported Abortions by Known Age (2009):

	<15 yrs	15-19	20-24	25-29	30-34	35-39	≥40 yrs
South Carolina	0.5%	17.4%	32.7%	23.9%	14.5%	8.1%	2.9%
United States	0.5%	15.5%	32.7%	24.4%	14.7%	8.8%	3.3%

Percentage of Reported Abortions by Weeks of Gestation* (2009):

	≤8 wks*	9-13 wks*	14-15 wks*	16-17 wks*	18-20 wks*	≥21 wks*
South Carolina	73.3%	25.9%	0.4%	NR	NR	0.2%
United States	64.0%	27.7%	3.4%	1.9%	1.8%	1.3%

*Gestational weeks are measured from the first day of the woman's last menstruation and not from the day of conception. Though it does not provide an accurate fetal age (which is roughly 2 weeks less than the gestational age), it is the simplest way for an OB/GYN to age a pregnancy since the day of conception is often not known. Hence, if an abortion occurs at 8 weeks gestation, it is actually aborting a 6 week embryo. The images on our Prenatal Development and Abortion Pictures pages are more precisely captioned with fetal ages in accordance with standard teaching texts on prenatal development.

Percentage of Reported Abortions by Procedure Type* (2008):

	Curettage	Medical	Intrauterine Instillation	Other
South Carolina	61.6%	38.4%	NR	NR
United States	82.4%	16.2%	0%	1.6%

*To learn more about how various abortion procedures are performed, visit our Abortion Techniques page.

SOURCE: Abortion Surveillance --- United States, 2009

AGI DATA (South Carolina)

Total Abortions (2008): 7,300

The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI) reports that 7,300 abortions took place in South Carolina during 2008. In 2005, there were 7,080 abortions reported.

**Total Abortions Rank (2008): #29**

Out of the 50 states (+ Washington DC) that AGI lists data for, South Carolina's 2008 abortion total places it at number 29 on the list (#1 on the list is the state or district with the most abortions and #51 is the state or district with the fewest).

**Abortion Rate* (2008): 8.1**

The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI) reports that the 2008 abortion rate for South Carolina was 8.1. In 2005, the abortion rate in South Carolina was 7.9. It was 9.3 in 2000. The 2008 abortion rate across the entire United States was 19.6.
*The abortion rate is the number of abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44 years.

**Abortion Rate Rank (2008): #42**

Out of the 50 states (+ Washington DC) that AGI lists data for, South Carolina's 2008 abortion rate places it at number 42 on the list (#1 on the list is the state or district with the highest abortion rate and #51 is the state or district with the lowest).

Percentage of Pregnancies Ending in Abortion (2008): 9%

In 2008, 83,700 women in South Carolina became pregnant. 75% of these pregnancies resulted in live births and 9% in induced abortions

Total Abortion Facilities (2008): 6

In 2008, the Alan Guttmacher Institute reports that there were 6 abortion providers in South Carolina. There were 6 providers in 2005 and 10 providers in 2000.

Abortion Restrictions (2011):

The parent of a minor must consent before an abortion is provided.
A woman must receive state-directed counseling that includes information designed to discourage her from having an abortion and then wait one hour before the procedure is provided.
Public funding is available for abortion only in cases of life endangerment, rape or incest.

SOURCE: http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/sfaa/south_carolina.html

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