Legal Abortions and Legal Abortion Ratios in the U.S.
Updated February 12, 2020 |
Infoplease Staff
According to Selected Characteristics, 1973–2009
| Characteristic | 1973 | 1975 | 1980 | 1985 | 1990 | 1995 | 19981 | 19991 | 20002 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of legal abortions reported in thousands | ||||||||||
| Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | 616 | 855 | 1,298 | 1,329 | 1,429 | 1,211 | 884 | 862 | 857 | 785 |
| Alan Guttmacher Institute3 | 745 | 1,034 | 1,554 | 1,589 | 1,609 | 1,359 | 1,319 | 1,315 | 1,313 | n.a. |
| Abortions per 100 live births4 | ||||||||||
| Total | 19.6 | 27.2 | 35.9 | 35.4 | 34.4 | 31.1 | 26.4 | 25.6 | 24.5 | 22.7 |
| Age | ||||||||||
| Under 15 years | 123.7 | 119.3 | 139.7 | 137.6 | 81.8 | 66.4 | 75.0 | 70.9 | 70.8 | 83.8 |
| 15–19 years | 53.9 | 54.2 | 71.4 | 68.8 | 51.1 | 39.9 | 39.1 | 37.5 | 36.1 | 33.3 |
| 20–24 years | 29.4 | 28.9 | 39.5 | 38.6 | 37.8 | 34.8 | 32.9 | 31.6 | 30.0 | 28.6 |
| 25–29 years | 20.7 | 19.2 | 23.7 | 21.7 | 21.8 | 22.0 | 21.6 | 20.8 | 19.8 | 18.5 |
| 30–34 years | 28.0 | 25.0 | 23.7 | 19.9 | 19.0 | 16.4 | 15.7 | 15.2 | 14.5 | 13.8 |
| 35–39 years | 45.1 | 42.2 | 41.0 | 33.6 | 27.3 | 22.3 | 20.0 | 19.3 | 18.1 | 17.2 |
| 40 years and over | 68.4 | 66.8 | 80.7 | 62.3 | 50.6 | 38.5 | 33.8 | 32.9 | 30.1 | 27.4 |
| Race | ||||||||||
| White5 | 32.6 | 27.7 | 33.2 | 27.7 | 25.8 | 20.3 | 18.9 | 17.7 | 16.7 | 13.1 |
| Black or African American6 | 42.0 | 47.6 | 54.3 | 47.2 | 53.7 | 53.1 | 51.2 | 52.9 | 50.3 | 40.5 |
| Hispanic origin7 | ||||||||||
| Hispanic or Latino | — | — | — | — | — | 27.1 | 27.3 | 26.1 | 22.5 | 20.6 |
| Not Hispanic or Latino | — | — | — | — | — | 27.9 | 27.1 | 25.2 | 23.3 | 17.0 |
| Marital status | ||||||||||
| Married | 7.6 | 9.6 | 10.5 | 8.0 | 8.7 | 7.6 | 7.1 | 7.0 | 6.5 | 15.011 |
| Unmarried | 139.8 | 161.0 | 147.6 | 117.4 | 86.3 | 64.5 | 62.7 | 60.4 | 57.0 | >85.011 |
| Previous live births8 | ||||||||||
| 0 | 43.7 | 38.4 | 45.7 | 45.1 | 36.0 | 28.6 | 25.5 | 24.3 | 22.6 | 40.2 |
| 1 | 23.5 | 22.0 | 20.2 | 21.6 | 22.7 | 22.0 | 21.4 | 20.6 | 19.4 | 26.6 |
| 2 | 36.8 | 36.8 | 29.5 | 29.9 | 31.5 | 30.6 | 30.0 | 29.0 | 27.4 | 19.7 |
| 3 | 46.9 | 47.7 | 29.8 | 18.2 | 30.1 | 30.7 | 30.5 | 29.8 | 28.5 | 8.6 |
| 4 or more9 | 44.7 | 43.5 | 24.3 | 21.5 | 26.6 | 23.7 | 24.3 | 24.2 | 23.7 | 5.0 |
| Percent distribution10 | ||||||||||
| Period of gestation | ||||||||||
| Under 9 weeks | 36.1% | 44.6% | 51.7% | 50.3% | 51.6% | 54.0% | 55.7% | 57.6% | 58.1% | 64%12 |
| 9–10 weeks | 29.4 | 28.4 | 26.2 | 26.6 | 25.3 | 23.1 | 21.5 | 20.2 | 19.8 | 27.712 |
| 11–12 weeks | 17.9 | 14.9 | 12.2 | 12.5 | 11.7 | 10.9 | 10.9 | 10.2 | 10.2 | 3.412 |
| 13–15 weeks | 6.9 | 5.0 | 5.1 | 5.9 | 6.4 | 6.3 | 6.4 | 6.2 | 6.2 | 1.812 |
| 16–20 weeks | 8.0 | 6.1 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 4.0 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 1.812 |
| 21 weeks and over | 1.7 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.3 |
| Previous induced abortions | ||||||||||
| 0 | — | 81.9 | 67.6 | 60.1 | 57.1 | 55.1 | 53.8 | 53.7 | 54.7 | 55.3 |
| 1 | — | 14.9 | 23.5 | 25.7 | 26.9 | 26.9 | 27.0 | 27.1 | 26.4 | 25.2 |
| 2 | — | 2.5 | 6.6 | 9.8 | 10.1 | 10.9 | 11.4 | 11.5 | 11.3 | 11.4 |
| 3 or more | — | 0.7 | 2.3 | 4.4 | 5.9 | 7.1 | 7.8 | 7.7 | 7.6 | 8.1 |
(—) = Data not available. NOTE: Latest data available.
1. In 1998 and 1999 Alaska, California, New Hampshire, and Oklahoma did not report abortion data to CDC. For comparison, in 1997 the 48 corresponding reporting areas reported about 900,000 legal abortions.
2. In 2000, Alaska, California, and New Hampshire did not report abortion data to CDC.
3. No surveys were conducted in 1983, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998. Data for these years were estimated by interpolation.
4. For calculation of ratios by each characteristic, abortions with characteristic unknown were distributed in proportion to abortions with characteristic known.
5. For 1989 and later years, white race includes women of Hispanic ethnicity.
6. Before 1989 black race includes races other than white.
7. Reporting area increased from 20–22 States, the District of Columbia (DC), and New York City (NYC) in 1991–95 to 31 States and NYC in 2002. California, Florida, Illinois, and Arizona, states with large Hispanic populations, do not report Hispanic ethnicity.
8. For calculation of percent distribution by each characteristic, abortions with characteristic unknown were excluded.
9. For 1975, data refer to four previous live births, not four or more. For five or more previous live births, the ratio is 47.3.
10. For calculation of percent distribution by each characteristic, abortions with characteristic unknown were excluded.
11. For 2009, data on marital status were reported as a percentage, not a ratio.
12. For 2009, gestational age categories were different from prior years: less than or equal to 8; 9–13; 14–5; 16–17; 18–20.
Source: Health, United States, 2005; Abortion Surveillance, United States, 2009 Surveillance Summaries, November 23, 2012. Web: www.cdc.gov .
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