Abortion Facts | CBRinfo.org

The following is a list of useful abortion statistics. All abortion numbers are derived from pro-abortion sources courtesy of The Guttmacher Institute’s Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.

The full study upon which much of the fact sheet is based is: “Abortion in the United States: Incidence and Access to Services, 2005”

89% of all abortions in the United States are performed in the first trimester of pregnancy:

10 Week Abortion Image

11% of all abortions in the United States are performed in the second and third trimester of pregnancy:

24 Week Abortion Image

WORLDWIDE

Number of abortions per year: Approximately 42 Million
Number of abortions per day: Approximately 115,000

Where abortions occur:
83% of all abortions are obtained in developing countries and 17% occur in developed countries.

UNITED STATES

Number of abortions per year: 1.21 Million (2005)
Number of abortions per day: Approximately 3,315

Who’s having abortions (age)?
50% of women obtaining abortions in the U.S. are younger than 25: Women aged 20-24 obtain 33% of all abortions; Teenagers obtain 17% and girls under 15 account for 1.2%.

Who’s having abortions (race)?
While white women obtain 60% of all abortions, their abortion rate is well below that of minority women. Black women are more than 3 times as likely as white women to have an abortion, and Hispanic women are roughly 2 times as likely.

Who’s having abortions (marital status)?
66% of all abortions are performed on never-married women; Married women account for 18.4% of all abortions and divorced women obtain 9.4%.

Who’s having abortions (religion)?
Women identifying themselves as Protestants obtain 43% of all abortions in the U.S.; Catholic women account for 27%, Jewish women account for 1.3%, and women with no religious affiliation obtain 23.7% of all abortions. 18% of all abortions are performed on women who identify themselves as “Born-again/Evangelical”.

Who’s having abortions (income)?
Women with family incomes less than $15,000 obtain 28.7% of all abortions; Women with family incomes between $15,000 and $29,999 obtain 19.5%; Women with family incomes between $30,000 and $59,999 obtain 38.0%; Women with family incomes over $60,000 obtain 13.8%.

Why women have abortions
1% of all abortions occur because of rape or incest; 6% of abortions occur because of potential health problems regarding either the mother or child, and 93% of all abortions occur for social reasons (i.e. the child is unwanted or inconvenient).

At what gestational ages are abortions performed:

Abortion Pie Chart
61.3% of all abortions occur before the 9th week of pregnancy, 17.8% happen between the 9th & 10th week, 9.6% happen between the 11th and 12th week, 6.7% happen between the 13th & 15th week, 3.5% happen between the 16th & 20th week, and 1.1% of all abortions (16,450/yr.) happen after the 20th week of pregnancy.

Abortion Photos depicting the age range sited above can be viewed here: CBR Abortion Photos

Likelihood of abortion:
An estimated 35% of all women will have at least 1 abortion by the time they are 45 years old. 47% of all abortions are performed on women who have had at least one previous abortion.

Abortion coverage:
67% of all abortion facilities offer at least some abortion services after the 12th week of pregnancy. 9 in 10 managed care plans routinely cover abortion or provide limited coverage. About 14% of all abortions in the United States are paid for with public funds, virtually all of which are state funds. 16 states (CA, CT, HI, ED, IL, MA , MD, MD, MN, MT, NJ, NM, NY, OR, VT, WA and WV) pay for abortions for some poor women.

© Copyright 1998, The Guttmacher Institute. (http://www.agi-usa.org)
© Copyright 1997, The Guttmacher Institute. (http://www.agi-usa.org)
© Copyright 1995, Family Planning Perspectives
© Copyright 1988, Family Planning Perspectives