Facts

• 22 percent of pregnancies in the United States end in abortion
  40 percent of unintended pregnancies end in abortion
• 18 percent of women having an abortion in the United States are teenagers
• More than half of U.S. abortions are performed on women in their 20s
• In the United States, 1.21 million abortions are performed annually

Since 1973, the year that the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalized abortion, about 50million abortions have been performed in the United States

Of abortion providers in the U.S.:

• 95 percent offer abortions from eight weeks after the first missed menstrual period
• 64 percent offer second-trimester abortions (abortions after 13 weeks)
• 23 percent offer abortions at 20 weeks
• 11 percent offer abortions at 24 weeks

The number of abortions has trended down over the past 20 years:

• In 1973, there were 16.3 abortions per 1,000 U.S. women age 15 to 44
• The number peaked in 1983 at 29.3 abortions per 1,000 women
• In 2008, the number is 19.6 per 1,000 women

Total abortions are down as well:

• In 2000, there were 1.31 million U.S abortions.
• In 2008, there were 1.21 million U.S. abortions

SOURCE: The Alan Guttmacher Institute  http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html

 

Public Opinion on Abortion

The Gallup polling organization has charted public opinion on abortion since 1996. At that time:

• 56 percent of respondents identified as pro-choice
• 33 percent of respondents identified as pro-life

In the 2011 survey:

• 47 percent identified as pro-choice.
• 47 percent identified as pro-life.

SOURCE: Gallup, http://www.gallup.com/poll/1576/abortion.aspx