B elow is a breakdown of various statistics relating to abortions performed in the United States since the U. S. Supreme Court ruled (7-2) that a woman was entitled to terminate an unwanted pregnancy in the 1973 landmark case Roe v. Wade.
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ANNUAL ABORTION STATISTICS
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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).
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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).
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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)
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In 1998, the last year for which estimates were made, more than 23% of legal induced abortions were performed in California (CDC).
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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).
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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?
- 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).
- 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?
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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?
WHO IS PERFORMING ABORTIONS?
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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).
ABORTION FATALITY
- 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
MEDICAL ABORTION
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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).
ABORTION AND CONTRACEPTION
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Induced abortions usually result from unintended pregnancies, which often occur despite the use of contraception (CDC).
- 8% of women having abortions have never used a method of birth control (AGI).
ABORTION AND MINORS
- 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).
Source: Abort73.com
Abortions by State (2005-2009)
Alabama-Mississippi
State |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
Alabama |
9,707 |
9,542 |
9,403 |
9,737 |
9,392 |
Alaska |
1,956 |
1,923 |
1,701 |
1,759 |
1,938 |
Arizona |
10,446 |
10,506 |
10,486 |
10,396 |
10,045 |
Arkansas |
4,122 |
5,037 |
4,866 |
4,869 |
n/a |
California |
208,430 |
215,500 |
223,180 |
n/a |
n/a |
Colorado |
10,541 |
11,002 |
10,483 |
10,680 |
n/a |
Connecticut |
16,780 |
14,351 |
17,390 |
17,030 |
n/a |
Delaware |
11,603 |
11,898 |
12,097 |
12,016 |
n/a |
DC |
2,518 |
2,692 |
4,160 |
4,450 |
n/a |
Florida |
92,513 |
95,575 |
91,954 |
86,757 |
82,038 |
Georgia |
28,015 |
27,642 |
29,415 |
30,066 |
30,330 |
Hawaii |
3,831 |
3,990 |
3,756 |
3,273 |
3,342 |
Idaho |
1,827 |
1,919 |
2,160 |
2,132 |
2,348 |
Illinois |
43,409 |
46,467 |
45,298 |
47,717 |
41,307 |
Indiana |
10,224 |
10,092 |
10,382 |
10,469 |
n/a |
Iowa |
5,881 |
6,728 |
6,649 |
6,486 |
5,829 |
Kansas |
10,543 |
11,271 |
10,841 |
10,642 |
9,484 |
Kentucky |
3,870 |
3,912 |
4,550 |
4,430 |
n/a |
Louisiana |
8,860 |
6,204 |
6,833 |
6,817 |
8,167 |
Maine |
2,514 |
2,586 |
2,611 |
2,589 |
n/a |
Maryland |
37,590 |
n/a |
34,380 |
34,290 |
n/a |
Massachusetts |
27,270 |
24,246 |
25,790 |
24,900 |
n/a |
Michigan |
25,209 |
25,636 |
24,683 |
25,970 |
22,357 |
Minnesota |
13,365 |
14,065 |
13,843 |
11,896 |
12,388 |
Mississippi |
2,956 |
2,874 |
2,870 |
2,697 |
2,374 |
Abortions by State (2005-2009)
Missouri-Wyoming
State |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
Missouri |
11,619 |
11,833 |
11,470 |
11,508 |
10,518 |
Montana |
2,155 |
2,119 |
2,238 |
2,125 |
2,223 |
Nebraska |
3,173 |
2,927 |
2,481 |
2,813 |
2,551 |
Nevada |
10,565 |
11,471 |
10,646 |
9,983 |
n/a |
NewHampshire |
n/a |
3,200 |
3,200 |
n/a |
n/a |
New Jersey |
31,230 |
30,986 |
26,668 |
28,480 |
n/a |
New Mexico |
5,934 |
6,087 |
6,036 |
6,150 |
n/a |
New York |
117,944 |
121,278 |
120,554 |
118,381 |
115,008 |
North Carolina |
27,674 |
29,430 |
28,545 |
27,234 |
26,123 |
North Dakota |
919 |
777 |
795 |
918 |
831 |
Ohio |
34,128 |
32,936 |
30,859 |
29,613 |
28,721 |
Oklahoma |
6,322 |
6,595 |
6,319 |
6,124 |
6,029 |
Oregon |
11,602 |
12,246 |
11,883 |
10,610 |
10,801 |
Pennsylvania |
34,909 |
36,731 |
36,663 |
38,807 |
37,284 |
Rhode Island |
3,918 |
3,690 |
4,820 |
4,134 |
n/a |
South Carolina |
11,919 |
13,114 |
12,838 |
10,917 |
11,656 |
South Dakota |
805 |
748 |
707 |
848 |
769 |
Tennessee |
13,154 |
14,615 |
14,789 |
14,241 |
13,638 |
Texas |
77,374 |
82,056 |
81,079 |
81,591 |
77,850 |
Utah |
3,556 |
3,753 |
3,932 |
3,911 |
3,665 |
Vermont |
1,620 |
1,611 |
1,583 |
1,494 |
n/a |
Virginia |
25,822 |
27,024 |
27,292 |
27,410 |
26,356 |
Washington |
24,161 |
24,790 |
24,735 |
24,279 |
22,642 |
West Virginia |
1,674 |
2,037 |
1,853 |
1,744 |
n/a |
Wisconsin |
9,566 |
9,352 |
8,099 |
8,008 |
8,299 |
Wyoming |
904 |
275 |
839 |
275 |
129 |
Source: AGI, CDC
Abortions per 1,000 women
(Ages 15 and 44)
1973 –16.3
1977 - 26.4
1981 - 29.3
1985 - 28.0
1989 - 26.8
1993 - 25.0
1997 - 21.9
2001 - 21.1
2005 - 19.4
2008 - 19.6
An American Holocaust
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