Historical abortion statistics, United States
compiled by Wm. Robert Johnston
last updated 4 March 2006
| year | live births,
registered | live births,
estimated | abortions,
legal | abortions,
legal reported | abortions,
abroad | miscarriages | abortion ratio | abortion % |
|---|
| 1926 | | | (2) | | | | | |
| 1927 | | | (2) | | | | | |
| 1928 | | | (2) | | | | | |
| 1929 | | | (2) | | | | | |
| 1930 | | | (2) | | | | | |
| 1931 | | | (47) | | | | | |
| 1932 | | | (67) | | | | | |
| 1933 | 2,081,232 | | (67) | | | | 0.03 | 0.003 |
| 1934 | 2,167,636 | | (67) | | | | 0.03 | 0.003 |
| 1935 | 2,155,105 | | (87) | | | | 0.04 | 0.004 |
| 1936 | 2,144,790 | | (85) | | | | 0.04 | 0.004 |
| 1937 | 2,203,337 | | (85) | | | | 0.04 | 0.004 |
| 1938 | 2,286,962 | | (85) | | | | 0.04 | 0.004 |
| 1939 | 2,265,588 | 2,466,000 | (85) | | | | 0.03 | 0.003 |
| 1940 | 2,360,399 | 2,558,647 | (70) | | | | 0.03 | 0.003 |
| 1941 | 2,513,427 | 2,703,000 | (48) | | | | 0.02 | 0.002 |
| 1942 | 2,808,996 | 2,989,000 | (57) | | | | 0.02 | 0.002 |
| 1943 | 2,934,860 | 3,104,000 | 697 | | | | 0.2 | 0.02 |
| 1944 | 2,794,800 | 2,939,000 | 706 | | | | 0.2 | 0.02 |
| 1945 | 2,735,456 | 2,858,000 | 704 | | | | 0.2 | 0.02 |
| 1946 | 3,288,672 | 3,411,000 | 819 | | | | 0.2 | 0.02 |
| 1947 | 3,699,940 | 3,817,000 | 749 | | | | 0.2 | 0.02 |
| 1948 | 3,535,068 | 3,637,000 | (16) | | | | 0.04 | 0.004 |
| 1949 | 3,559,529 | 3,649,000 | 675 | | | | 0.2 | 0.02 |
| 1950 | 3,554,149 | 3,631,512 | (7) | | | | 0.002 | 0.0002 |
| 1951 | 3,750,850 | 3,823,000 | 679 | | | | 0.2 | 0.02 |
| 1952 | 3,846,986 | 3,913,000 | 551 | | | | 0.1 | 0.01 |
| 1953 | 3,902,120 | 3,965,000 | 490 | | | | 0.1 | 0.01 |
| 1954 | 4,017,362 | 4,078,000 | 440 | | | | 0.1 | 0.01 |
| 1955 | 4,047,295 | 4,104,112 | 328 | | | | 0.1 | 0.01 |
| 1956 | 4,163,090 | 4,218,035 | 337 | | | | 0.1 | 0.01 |
| 1957 | 4,254,784 | 4,308,000 | 336 | | | | 0.1 | 0.01 |
| 1958 | 4,203,812 | 4,255,000 | | | | | | |
| 1959 | 4,244,796 | 4,295,000 | 12 | | | | 0.003 | 0.0003 |
| 1960 | 4,257,850 | | (340) | | | | 0.1 | 0.01 |
| 1961 | 4,268,326 | | (340) | | | | 0.1 | 0.01 |
| 1962 | 4,167,362 | | (340) | | | | 0.1 | 0.01 |
| 1963 | 4,098,020 | | 5,000 | | | | 1.2 | 0.1 |
| 1964 | 4,027,490 | | 9,000 | | | | 2.2 | 0.2 |
| 1965 | 3,760,358 | | 7,000 | | | | 1.9 | 0.2 |
| 1966 | 3,606,274 | | 6,000 | | | | 1.7 | 0.2 |
| 1967 | 3,520,959 | | 9,000 | | | | 2.6 | 0.3 |
| 1968 | 3,501,564 | | 18,000 | | | | 5.1 | 0.5 |
| 1969 | 3,600,206 | | | (20,800) | 1,600 | | 5.8 | 0.6 |
| 1970 | 3,731,386 | | | 193,491 | 1,600 | | 51.9 | 4.9 |
| 1971 | 3,555,970 | | | 485,816 | 6,309 | | 136.6 | 12.0 |
| 1972 | 3,258,411 | | | 586,760 | 6,573 | | 180.1 | 15.3 |
| 1973 | 3,136,965 | | 744,600 | 615,831 | 5,501 | | 237.4 | 19.2 |
| 1974 | 3,159,958 | | 898,600 | 763,476 | 4,299 | | 284.4 | 22.1 |
| 1975 | 3,144,198 | | 1,034,200 | 854,853 | 4,394 | | 328.9 | 24.8 |
| 1976 | 3,167,788 | | 1,179,300 | 988,267 | 4,234 | 655,000 | 372.3 | 27.1 |
| 1977 | 3,326,632 | | 1,316,700 | 1,079,430 | 2,300 | 687,000 | 395.8 | 28.4 |
| 1978 | 3,333,279 | | 1,409,600 | 1,157,776 | 1,802 | 690,000 | 422.9 | 29.7 |
| 1979 | 3,494,398 | | 1,497,700 | 1,251,921 | 1,073 | 722,000 | 428.6 | 30.0 |
| 1980 | 3,612,258 | | 1,553,900 | 1,297,606 | 1,644 | 746,000 | 430.2 | 30.1 |
| 1981 | 3,629,238 | | 1,577,300 | 1,300,760 | 2,651 | 751,000 | 434.6 | 30.3 |
| 1982 | 3,680,537 | | 1,573,920 | 1,303,980 | 4,311 | 769,000 | 427.6 | 30.0 |
| 1983 | 3,638,933 | | 1,575,000 | 1,268,987 | 3,983 | 763,000 | 432.8 | 30.2 |
| 1984 | 3,669,141 | | 1,577,180 | 1,333,521 | 3,631 | 773,000 | 429.8 | 30.1 |
| 1985 | 3,760,561 | | 1,588,550 | 1,328,570 | 2,798 | 795,000 | 422.4 | 29.7 |
| 1986 | 3,756,547 | | 1,574,000 | 1,328,112 | 2,612 | 798,000 | 419.0 | 29.5 |
| 1987 | 3,809,394 | | 1,559,100 | 1,353,671 | 2,757 | 815,000 | 407.2 | 28.9 |
| 1988 | 3,909,510 | | 1,590,750 | 1,371,285 | 1,939 | 893,000 | 406.5 | 28.9 |
| 1989 | 4,040,958 | | 1,566,900 | 1,396,658 | 1,551 | 919,000 | 387.8 | 27.9 |
| 1990 | 4,158,212 | | 1,608,600 | 1,429,247 | 1,573 | 1,011,000 | 386.8 | 27.9 |
| 1991 | 4,110,907 | | 1,556,510 | 1,388,937 | 1,439 | 1,007,000 | 378.6 | 27.5 |
| 1992 | 4,065,014 | | 1,528,930 | 1,359,145 | 1,700 | 1,002,000 | 376.1 | 27.3 |
| 1993 | 4,000,240 | | 1,495,000 | 1,330,414 | 1,700 | 993,000 | 375.0 | 27.3 |
| 1994 | 3,952,767 | | 1,423,000 | 1,267,415 | 1,500 | 989,000 | 362.0 | 26.6 |
| 1995 | 3,899,589 | | 1,359,400 | 1,210,883 | 1,000 | 982,000 | 349.7 | 25.9 |
| 1996 | 3,891,494 | | 1,360,200 | 1,225,937 | 1,000 | 983,000 | 349.5 | 25.9 |
| 1997 | 3,880,894 | | 1,335,000 | 1,186,039 | 1,000 | 983,000 | 344.0 | 25.6 |
| 1998 | 3,941,553 | | 1,319,000 | 884,273 | 17 | (1,020,000) | 335 | 25.1 |
| 1999 | 3,959,417 | | 1,314,800 | 861,789 | | 1,000,000 | 332 | 24.9 |
| 2000 | 4,058,814 | | 1,313,000 | 857,475 | 29 | | 323 | 24.4 |
| 2001 | 4,025,933 | | 1,303,000 | 853,485 | 35 | | 324 | 24.4 |
| 2002 | 4,021,726 | | 1,293,000 | 854,122 | 26 | | 322 | 24.3 |
| 2003 | 4,089,950 | | | 575,831 | | | | |
| 2004 | 4,121,000 | | | 285,677 | | | | |
| 2005 | | | | 1,754 | | | | |
| year | live births,
registered | live births,
estimated | abortions,
legal | abortions,
legal reported | abortions,
abroad | miscarriages | abortion ratio | abortion % |
|---|
Note: "Abortions, legal" from 1973 to 1997 are those reported to AGI. "Abortions, legal reported" from 1970 to 1998 are those reported to CDC, and from 1999 to 2004 are totals for reports by individual state agencies and/or Planned Parenthood. Reported abortion data for 2000-2004 is incomplete. Figures in parentheses are estimates. See Abortion Statistics page for other explanatory notes and sources.
Sources:
- Alliance Action Inc., "Abortions in Canada," 22 Nov. 1997
- Centers for Disease Control, "Births: Final Data for 2000," 12 Feb. 2002, National Vital Statistics Reports (50:5), on line, CDC [http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr50/nvsr50_05.pdf].
- Centers for Disease Control, "Births: Final Data for 2001," 18 Dec. 2002, National Vital Statistics Reports (50:5), on line, CDC [http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/].
- Centers for Disease Control, "Births, Marriages, Divorces, and Deaths: Provisional Data for 2001," 11 Sept. 2002, National Vital Statistics Reports (50:14), on line, CDC [http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr50/nvsr50_14.pdf].
- Centers for Disease Control, "Live Births by Age of Mother and Race: United States, 1933-98," on line, CDC [http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/natality/mage33tr.pdf].
- Elam-Evans, Laurie D., Lilo T. Strauss, Joy Herndon, Wilda Y. Parker, Sara Whitehead, and Cynthia J. Berg, 29 Nov. 2002, "Abortion Surveillance--United States, 1999", MMWR (51:SS-9), on line, CDC [http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/SS/SS5109.pdf].
- Finer, Lawrence B., and Stanley K. Henshaw, "Abortion Incidence and Services in the United States in 2000," Jan./Feb. 2003, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health (35:1), on line, AGI [http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/].
- Finer, Lawrence B., and Stanley K. Henshaw, "Estimates of U.S. abortion incidence in 2001 and 2002," 18 May 2005, on line, Alan Guttmacher Institute [http://www.guttmacher.org/pub/2005/05/18/ab_incidence.pdf].
- Henshaw, Stanley K., "Abortion Incidence and Services in the United States, 1995-1996," Nov./Dec. 1998, Family Planning Perspectives (30:6), on line, AGI [http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3026398.html].
- Herndon, Joy, Lilo T. Strauss, Sara Whitehead, Wilda Y. Parker, Linda Bartlett, and Suzanne Zane, "Abortion Surveillance--United States, 1998," 7 June 2002, Centers for Disease Control, on line [http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5103a1.htm].
- Jones, Rachel K., Jacqueline E. Darroch, and Stanley K. Henshaw, "Patterns in the Socioeconomic Characteristics of Women Obtaining Abortions in 2000-2001," Sept./Oct. 2002, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health (34:5), on line, AGI [http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/].
- LifeSiteNews, "Planned Parenthood Alone Responsible for Nearly 250,000 US Abortions Last Year," 15 Dec. 2004, LifeSiteNews, on line [http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/dec/041215.html].
- Luker, Kristin, 1984, Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood, Univ. of California Press (Berkeley, CA).
- Martin, Joyce A., Brady E. Hamilton, Paul D. Sutton, Stephanie J. Ventura, Fay Menacker, and Martha L. Munson, "Births: Final Data for 2002," 17 Dec. 2003, National Vital Statistics Reports (52, 10), on line, Centers for Disease Control [http://www.cdc.gov/].
- "Number of nonresidents obtaining legal abortions in England and Wales, by area of residence: Selected areas and years," in Readings on Induced Abortion, Vol. 2: A World Review 2000, ed. by Stanley Henshaw et ali., 2001, Alan Guttmacher Institute.
- Office of National Statistics, Abortion Statistics: Legal abortions carried out under the 1967 Abortion Act in England and Wales, 1995, 1996, Office of National Statistics, on line [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/].
- Office of National Statistics, Abortion Statistics: Legal abortions carried out under the 1967 Abortion Act in England and Wales, 1996, 1997, Office of National Statistics, on line [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/].
- Office of National Statistics, Abortion Statistics: Legal abortions carried out under the 1967 Abortion Act in England and Wales, 1997, 1998, Office of National Statistics, on line [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/].
- Office of National Statistics, Abortion Statistics: Legal abortions carried out under the 1967 Abortion Act in England and Wales, 1998, 1999, Office of National Statistics, on line [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/].
- Office of National Statistics, Abortion Statistics: Legal abortions carried out under the 1967 Abortion Act in England and Wales, 2000, 2001, Office of National Statistics, on line [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/AB27/AB_No27_V1.pdf].
- Office of National Statistics, Abortion Statistics: Legal abortions carried out under the 1967 Abortion Act in England and Wales, 2001, 2002, Office of National Statistics, on line [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/].
- Office of National Statistics, Abortion Statistics: Legal abortions carried out under the 1967 Abortion Act in England and Wales, 2002, 2003, Office of National Statistics, on line [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/].
- Strauss, Lilo T., Joy Herndon, Jeani Chang, Wilda Y. Parker, Sonya V. Bowens, Suzanne B. Zane, Cynthia J. Berg, 26 Nov. 2004, "Abortion Surveillance-United States, 2001," MMWR Surveillance Summaries (53:SS-9), on line, Centers for Disease Control [http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/SS/SS5309.pdf]
- Strauss, Lilo T., Joy Herndon, Jeani Chang, Wilda Y. Parker, Sonya V. Bowens, Cynthia J. Berg, 25 Nov. 2005, "Abortion Surveillance-United States, 2002," MMWR Surveillance Summaries (54:SS-7), on line, Centers for Disease Control [http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/SS/SS5407.pdf]
- Tietze, Christopher, Induced Abortion: 1979 (3rd ed.), 1979, Population Council (New York, NY).
- Tietze, Christopher, "Some Facts about Legal Abortion," 1963, in Human Fertility and Population Problems, ed. by Roy O. Greep, Schenkman Publ. Co. (Cambridge, MA).
- U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States, various editions.
- Ventura, Stephanie J., Joyce C. Abma, William D. Mosher, Stanley Henshaw, "Revised Pregnancy Rates, 1990-97, and New Rates for 1998-99: United States," 31 Oct. 2003, National Vital Statistics Reports (52, 7), on line, Centers for Disease Control [http://www.cdc.gov/].
- Ventura, Stephanie J., William D. Mosher, Sally C. Curtin, Joyce C. Abma, and Stanley Henshaw, "Highlights of Trends in Pregnancies and Pregnancy Rates by Outcome: Estimates for the United States, 1976-96," 15 Dec. 1999, National Vital Statistics Reports, 47:29, CDC, on line [http://www.cdc.org].
- Ventura, Stephanie J., William D. Mosher, Sally C. Curtin, Joyce C. Abma, and Stanley Henshaw, "Trends in Pregnancy Rates for the United States, 1976-96: An Update," 6 June 2001, National Vital Statistics Reports, 49:4, CDC, on line [http://www.cdc.org].
- (supplemented by data from individual states; see accompanying pages for these sources)
© 2000-2005, 2006 by Wm. Robert Johnston.
Last modified 4 March 2006.
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