Fast Facts: U.S. Abortion Statistics

The following are some statistics about abortion in America:

Of the 1.6 million abortions performed in the U.S. each year, 91 percent are performed during the first trimester (12 or fewer weeks' gestation); 9 percent are performed in the second trimester (24 or fewer weeks' gestation); and only about 100 are performed in the third trimester (more than 24 weeks' gestation), approximately .01 percent of all abortions performed.

Approximately 1.5 million U.S. women with unwanted pregnancies choose abortion each year. Most are under 25 years old and unmarried. Women who are separated from their husbands and poor women are more likely to choose abortion than other women. More than two-thirds of the women who seek abortions have jobs. Nearly one-third are in school. More than two-thirds plan to have a child in the future.

Approximately 6 million women in the U.S. become pregnant every year. About half of those pregnancies are unintended. Either the woman or her partner did not use contraception or the contraceptive method failed.

Each year more than one million U.S. teenagers become pregnant — one in nine women aged 15-19 and one in five who are sexually active.

In 1988, the teenage pregnancy rate  was 113 per 1,000 women aged 15-19. The rate was 74 per 1,000 among those aged 15-17.

50 percent of teenage pregnancies conceived in 1987 resulted in a birth, 36 percent in an abortion, and an estimated 14 percent in miscarriage.

The number of abortions for every 100 live births showed a gradual decline since 1980 (35.9) to 1992 (33.5). The number of legal abortions increased slightly from 1995 (at 1,210,883) to 1996 (at 1,221,585). This is an increase of 0.89 percent. Since the national population increased by about 0.92 percent from mid-1995 to mid-1996, the abortion per-capita rate has decreased slightly.

CDC figures for 1995 show that 20 percent of women having abortions are in their teens; 33 percent are ages 20 to 24, and 47 percent are ages 25 or older.

Eighty percent of women having abortions are single; 60 percent are white; 35 percent are black.

Eighty-two percent of the women having abortions are unmarried or separated.

Almost half of American women (43 percent) will have an abortion sometime in their lifetime.

— Sources: Planned Parenthood, National Center for Health Statistics