U.S. Abortion Statistics

The Guttmacher Institute has the following statistics about abortion:

• “Nearly half of pregnancies among American women are unintended, and four in 10 of these are terminated by abortion.”
• The number of abortions in the U.S. had decreased during George W. Bush’s presidency. In fact, abortions have declined in the U.S. since the early 1980’s.
• “At least half of American women will experience an unintended pregnancy by age 45”
• At current rates, about one-third of American women will have had an abortion
• “The abortion rate among women living below the federal poverty level ($9,570 for a single woman with no children) is more than four times that of women above 300% of the poverty level (44 vs. 10 abortions per 1,000 women).”
• “Fifty-four percent of women who have abortions had used a contraceptive method (usually the condom or the pill) during the month they became pregnant.”
• “Eighty-seven percent of all U.S. counties lacked an abortion provider in 2005; 35% of women live in those counties.”
• “Fewer than 0.3% of abortion patients experience a complication that requires hospitalization.”
• “Fifty-eight percent of abortion patients say they would have liked to have had their abortion earlier.”
• “Nearly 60% of women who experienced a delay in obtaining an abortion cite the time it took to make arrangements and raise money.”

To read additional information, click on Guttmacher Institute.