Legal Abortion Ratios in the United States, 1973–2009
Updated May 8, 2019 |
Infoplease Staff
Find the latest data on legal abortion ratios by selected characteristics.
| Characteristic | Abortions per 100 live births1 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 1975 | 1980 | 1985 | 1990 | 1995 | 19994 | 20005 | 2009 | |
| Total | 19.6 | 27.2 | 35.9 | 35.4 | 34.4 | 31.1 | 25.6 | 24.5 | 22.7 |
| Age | |||||||||
| Under 15 years | 123.7 | 119.3 | 139.7 | 137.6 | 81.8 | 66.4 | 70.9 | 70.8 | 83.8 |
| 15–19 years | 53.9 | 54.2 | 71.4 | 68.8 | 51.1 | 39.9 | 37.5 | 36.1 | 33.3 |
| 20–24 years | 29.4 | 28.9 | 39.5 | 38.6 | 37.8 | 34.8 | 31.6 | 30.0 | 28.6 |
| 25–29 years | 20.7 | 19.2 | 23.7 | 21.7 | 21.8 | 22.0 | 20.8 | 19.8 | 18.5 |
| 30–34 years | 28.0 | 25.0 | 23.7 | 19.9 | 19.0 | 16.4 | 15.2 | 14.5 | 13.8 |
| 35–39 years | 45.1 | 42.2 | 41.0 | 33.6 | 27.3 | 22.3 | 19.3 | 18.1 | 17.2 |
| 40 years and over | 68.4 | 66.8 | 80.7 | 62.3 | 50.6 | 38.5 | 32.9 | 30.1 | 27.4 |
| Race | |||||||||
| White2 | 32.6 | 27.7 | 33.2 | 27.7 | 25.8 | 20.3 | 17.7 | 16.7 | 13.1 |
| Black3 | 42.0 | 47.6 | 54.3 | 47.2 | 53.7 | 53.1 | 52.9 | 50.3 | 40.5 |
| Marital status | |||||||||
| Married | 7.6 | 9.6 | 10.5 | 8.0 | 8.7 | 7.6 | 7.0 | 6.5 | n.a. |
| Unmarried | 139.8 | 161.0 | 147.6 | 117.4 | 86.3 | 64.5 | 60.4 | 57.0 | n.a. |
NOTE: Data are based on reporting by state health departments and by hospitals and other medical facilities.
1. For calculation of ratios according to each characteristic, abortions with the characteristic unknown have been distributed in proportion to abortions with the characteristic known.
2. For 1989 and later years, white race includes women of Hispanic ethnicity.
3. Before 1989 black race includes races other than white.
4. In 1989 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.
5. In 2000, 2001, and 2002, Alaska, California, and New Hampshire did not report abortion date to CDC.
6. In 2003, California, New Hampshire, and West Virginia did not report abortion data to CDC.
Source: Health, United States, 2007; Abortion Surveillance, United States, 2009 Surveillance Summaries, November 23, 2012, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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