U.S. Abortion Statistics

Facts and figures relating to the frequency of abortion in the United States.

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National abortion statistics in the U.S. are available from two sources, privately from The Guttmacher Institute (AGI) and federally from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). In 2007 (the most recent year for which CDC data is available), California, Maryland, and New Hampshire did not provide abortion reports to the federal government. Since California has not complied with CDC requests for abortion data in many years, and since California accounts for more abortions than any other state in the U.S, CDC totals are routinely incomplete. AGI, on the other hand, is the research arm of Planned Parenthood, the world's largest abortion provider. While their data is helpful, they are a much less neutral source. The following information has been gleaned from both sources to provide an overview of the frequency and demography of abortion.

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ANNUAL ABORTION STATISTICS

In 2008, approximately 1.21 million abortions took place in the U.S., down from an estimated 1.29 million in 2002, 1.31 million in 2000 and 1.36 million in 1996. From 1973 through 2008, nearly 50 million legal abortions have occurred in the U.S. (AGI).
In 2007, the highest number of reported legal induced abortions occurred in Florida (91,954), NYC (90,870), and Texas (80,886); the fewest occurred in Wyoming (9), South Dakota (707), and North Dakota (1,235) (CDC).
The 2007 abortion ratios by state ranged from a low of 58 abortions per 1,000 live births in Idaho and South Dakota (Wyoming had too few abortions for reliable tabulation) to a high of 737 abortions per 1,000 live births in NYC (CDC).
The annual number of legal induced abortions in the United States doubled between 1973 and 1979, and peaked in 1990. There was a slow but steady decline through the 1990's. The number of annual abortions decreased by 2% between 2000 and 2007, with a slight spike in 2006. (CDC)
In 1998, the last year for which estimates were made, more than 23% of legal induced abortions were performed in California (CDC).
In 2005, the abortion rate in the United States was higher than recent rates reported for Canada and Western European countries and lower than rates reported for China, Cuba, the majority of Eastern European countries, and certain Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union (CDC).
Nearly half of pregnancies among American women are unintended; about 4 in 10 of these are terminated by abortion. Twenty-two percent of all U.S. pregnancies end in abortion. (AGI).

WHO HAS ABORTIONS?

In 2007, 84% of all abortions were performed on unmarried women (CDC).
Women between the ages of 20-24 obtained 33% of all abortions; women between 25-29 obtained 24% (CDC).
50% of U.S. women obtaining abortions are younger than 25; women aged 20-24 obtain 33% of all U.S. abortions and teenagers obtain 17% (AGI).
In 2007, adolescents under 15 years obtained .05% of all abortions, but had the highest abortion ratio, 768 abortions for every 1,000 live births (CDC).
47% of women who have abortions had at least one previous abortion (AGI).
Black women are more than 4.8 times more likely than non-Hispanic white women to have an abortion, and Hispanic women are 2.7 times as likely (AGI).
37% of women obtaining abortions identify themselves as Protestant, and 28% identify themselves as Catholic (AGI).
At current rates, nearly one-third of American women will have an abortion (AGI).

WHY ARE ABORTIONS PERFORMED?

On average, women give at least 3 reasons for choosing abortion: 3/4 say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or other responsibilities; about 3/4 say they cannot afford a child; and 1/2 say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner (AGI).

WHEN DO ABORTIONS OCCUR?

88-92% of all abortions happen during the first trimester, prior to the 13th week of gestation (AGI/CDC).

HOW ARE ABORTIONS PERFORMED?

In 2007, 86% of abortions were performed by curettage (which includes dilatation and evacuation [D&E]). Most curettage abortions are suction procedures (CDC).
Medical abortions made up approximately 12% of all abortions reported (CDC).

WHO IS PERFORMING ABORTIONS?

The number of abortion providers declined by 11% between 1996 and 2000 (from 2,042 to 1,819). It declined another 2% between 2000 and 2005 (from 1,819 to 1,787) It has remained stable between 2005 and 2008 (1,787 to 1,793). (AGI).
Forty-two percent of providers offer very early abortions (during the first four weeks’ gestation) and 95% offer abortion at eight weeks. Sixty-four percent of providers offer at least some second-trimester abortion services (13 weeks or later), and 20% offer abortion after 20 weeks. Eleven percent of all abortion providers offer abortions past 24 weeks (AGI).

ABORTION FATALITY

In 2007, 6 women died as a result of complications from known legal induced abortion (CDC).
The number of deaths attributable to legal induced abortion was highest before the 1980s (CDC).
In 1972 (the year before abortion was federally legalized), a total of 24 women died from causes known to be associated with legal abortions, and 39 died as a result of known illegal abortions (CDC).

THE COST OF ABORTION

In 2009, the average cost of a nonhospital abortion with local anesthesia at 10 weeks of gestation was $451 (AGI).

MEDICAL ABORTION

In 2005, 57% of abortion providers, or 1,026 facilities, provided one or more types of medical abortions, a 70% increase from the first half of 2001. At least 10% of nonhospital abortion providers offer only medication abortion services (AGI).
In 2005, an estimated 161,100 early medication abortions were performed in nonhospital facilities (AGI).
Medication abortion accounted for 17% of all abortions in 2008 (AGI).

ABORTION AND CONTRACEPTION

Induced abortions usually result from unintended pregnancies, which often occur despite the use of contraception (CDC).
54% of women having abortions used a contraceptive method during the month they became pregnant. Among those women, 76% of pill users and 49% of condom users reported using the methods inconsistently, while 13% of pill users and 14% of condom users reported correct use (AGI).
8% of women having abortions have never used a method of birth control (AGI).
9 in 10 women at risk of unintended pregnancy are using a contraceptive method (AGI).

ABORTION AND MINORS

40% of minors having an abortion report that neither of their parents knew about the abortion (AGI).
35 states currently enforce parental consent or notification laws for minors seeking an abortion: AL, AR, AZ, CO, DE, FL, GA, IA, ID, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI , MN, MO, MS, NC, ND, NE, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WI, WV, and WY. The Supreme Court ruled that minors must have the alternative of seeking a court order authorizing the procedure (AGI).

ABORTION AND PUBLIC FUNDS

The U.S. Congress has barred the use of federal Medicaid funds to pay for abortions, except when the woman's life would be endangered by a full-term pregnancy or in cases of rape or incest (AGI).
17 states (AK, AZ, CA, CT, HI, IL, MA, MD, MN, MT, NJ, NM, NY, OR, VT, WA and WV) do use public funds to pay for abortions for some poor women. About 14% of all abortions in the United States are paid for with public funds (virtually all from the state) (AGI).

NEXT PAGE: Canadian Abortion Statistics

FOR FURTHER STUDY:

State Abortion Facts : Comparative state abortion stats by rank, total, percentage, and clinics.

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5 Comments on U.S. Abortion Statistics

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (Apr 21, 2011 / 13:09 CST)

I’m sorry bhcc, but you are comparing a genocide of a group of people based on culture / religion / beliefs. These people had lives, families, thoughts. Having an abortion is an “unknown”. Your confusing killing a person with possibly killing a potential person. Huge difference.
Coin Operated Laundry Equipment

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (Apr 18, 2011 / 06:01 CST)

The statistics are high, however as immoral as it is. Lets not forget about choice. Tax dollars SHOULD NOT be used for immoral practices. However, it’s the individual. Landscape Lights

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (Apr 19, 2010 / 16:18 CST)

Approx. six million Jews were murdered during & before WWII in Nazi Germany. From 1973-2005, Approx. 45 million innocent babies were murdered in the United States. Are we any better????

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