Abortion Statistics - U.S. (Compiled by The Alan Guttmacher Institute)

Approximately 1,370,000 elective abortions occur annually in the U.S.

·         88% of abortions occur during the first 6 to 12 weeks of pregnancy.

·         60% of abortions are performed on women who already have one or more children.

·         47% of abortions are performed on women who have already had one or more abortions.

·         43% of women will have had at least one abortion by the time they are 45 years old (this statistic includes miscarriages in the term "abortion"). 

Abortion Statistics - Demographics

·         Age - 52% of women getting an abortion are younger than 25 years old and 19% are teenagers. The abortion rate is highest for those women aged 18 to 19 (56 per 1,000 in 1992.)

·         Marriage - 51% of women who are unmarried when they become pregnant will receive an abortion. Unmarried women are 6 times more likely than married women to have an abortion. 67% of abortions are from women who have never been married.

·         Race - 63% of abortion patients are white. African-American women are more than 3 times as likely to have an abortion, and Hispanic women are 2.5 times as likely.

·         Religion - 43% of women getting an abortion identify as Protestant & 27% Catholic.

Abortion Statistics - Decisions to Have an Abortion (U.S.)

·         25.5% of women deciding to have an abortion want to postpone childbearing.

·         21.3% of women cannot afford a baby.

·         14.1% of women have a relationship issue or their partner does not want a child.

·         12.2% of women are too young (their parents or others object to the pregnancy.)

·         10.8% of women feel a child will disrupt their education or career.

·         7.9% of women want no (more) children.

·         3.3% of women have an abortion due to a risk to fetal health.

·         2.8% of women have an abortion due to a risk to maternal health.

Abortion Statistics - Using Contraception (U.S.)

• 54% of women having an abortion said they used some form of contraception during the month they became pregnant.

• 90% of women who are at risk for unplanned pregnancies are using contraception

• 8% of women having an abortion say they have never used contraception. 

• It is possible that up to 43% of the decline in abortion from 1994-2000 can be attributed to using emergency contraception.

Availability

• Approximately 86% of all U.S. counties had no abortion provider.

• Approximately 32% of women of reproductive age live in a county without an abortion provider.

Abortion Statistics - Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice

• According to a USA Today, CNN Gallup Poll in May, 1999 - 16% of Americans believe abortion should be legal for any reason at any time during pregnancy and 55% of American believe abortion should be legal only to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest.

• According to a Gallup Poll in January, 2001 - People who considered themselves to be pro-life rose from 33% to 43% in the past 5 years, and people who considered themselves to be pro-choice declined from 56% to 48%

Abortion Statistics - World

• In 54 countries (61% of the world population) abortions are legal. 

• In 97 countries (39% of the world population) abortions are illegal.