Abortion Incidence

Abortion Incidence

How many abortions occur each year worldwide?

Answer

More than 40 million abortions are performed worldwide each year. More than 85% of all abortions occur in developing countries.[30]

Are women in developed countries more likely to have an abortion than women in developing countries?

Answer

A woman’s likelihood of having an abortion is similar whether she lives in a developed or developing country. Each year, there are 24 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 in developed countries, compared with 29 per 1,000 in developing countries.[30] At the regional level, the lowest abortion rate in the world is in Western Europe (12 per 1,000), and the highest is in Eastern Europe (43 per 1,000).

How many abortions occur each year in the United States?

Answer

There were roughly 1.2 million abortions performed in 2008, and the abortion rate was 20 per 1,000 women aged 15–44.[31] Put differently, about 2% of American women aged 15–44 had an abortion that year.

How does the U.S. rate of abortion compare with the worldwide rate?

Answer

Worldwide, there are about 28 abortions for every 1,000 women of childbearing age (15–44).[30] In the United States, there are about 20 abortions per 1,000 women.[31]

How likely is it that a U.S. woman will obtain an abortion in her lifetime?

Answer

Barring any changes in the U.S. abortion rate (as of 2008), 30% of women will have an abortion by age 45; 25% of women will have an abortion by age 30; and 8% by age 20.[32]

Is abortion becoming more or less common in the United States?

Answer

Less common. The overall U.S. abortion rate declined steadily between 1980 and 2005.[31] However, between 2005 and 2008 that overall decline stagnated, while rates increased among poor women.[32]

How many abortions occurred before the procedure became legal throughout the United States in 1973?

Answer

Estimates of the annual number of illegal abortions in the 1950s and 1960s range from 200,000 to 1.2 million.[33] Because the procedure was illegal under most circumstances in most states, women had few options aside from a dangerous, clandestine procedure. As late as 1965, illegal abortions accounted for an estimated 201 deaths in the United States—17% of all officially reported pregnancy-related deaths that year.[34]