In the late 1960s when those in favor of abortion began to push to legalize the procedure, they argued, in part, that abortion would be a rare choice, an option for women in life-threatening or other desperate circumstances. Very quickly after legalization, however, abortion became anything but rare.
Today, the number of unborn babies who die from abortion dwarves the number of victims from our bloodiest wars or from our deadliest diseases. Each year, thousands of abortions are done on babies big enough to cradle in your arms. Almost half of the women walking into abortion clinics have already had at least one previous abortion.
Where do these statistics come from? For the most part, two organizations compile national data on abortions: the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI). The more detailed, but definitely not unbiased, source is the AGI. The AGI is a “special affiliate” of Planned Parenthood, which, in turn, is the country’s largest provider of abortion and its most vocal advocate.
Even though the CDC collects data annually, the reason the AGI’s figures are more useful is that the AGI actively solicits numbers from all possible abortion providers; there were 3,156 on its list in 1993. The CDC, on the other hand, relies on state health departments and other agencies to voluntarily send in abortion data. Thus, because of the essentially passive way the CDC collects data, it generally reports 200,000 to 300,000 fewer abortions than does the AGI. Another advantage is that the AGI occasionally provides detailed demographic information on abortion patients.
The AGI usually publishes its statistics in its journal, Family Planning Perspectives. However it often goes years without reporting data on abortion; thus when it does its statistics are already two or more years out of date.
Despite these drawbacks, the following statistical information still shows us just how thoroughly abortion has permeated our culture.
Did You Know?
From 1973 through 1997 more than 35 million unborn babies have been aborted in the United States
Did You Know?
Abortion deaths each year outnumber American casualties in all our wars combined.
- More than a million abortions every year is a staggeringly high figure, especially when one considers that the number of unborn babies who die every year from abortion is higher than all American casualties from the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War I & 11, the Korean War, Vietnam, and Persian Gulf Wars combined.
- Abortions 1.5 million/year
- Gulf War less than 200
- Vietnam War 58,151
- Korean War 54,246
- WW II 407,316
- WW I 116,708
- Civil War 498,332
- Revol. War 25,324
- Total War Deaths 1,043,569
Did You Know?
Abortion is a leading cause of death
The number of unborn babies who die every year from abortion (1.3 million) is more than eleven times greater than the combined total of Americans who die annually from:
- Accidental falls (12,000)
- Drownings (4,000)
- Poisonings (6,000)
- Car accidents (40,000)
- Suicides (30,000)
- Homicides (25,000)
Numbers cited by James K. Glassman in The Washington Post,
May 21, 1996, p. A19.
The number of unborn babies who die every year from abortion is higher than the number of Americans who die annually from cancer (550,000) and from heart disease (700,000) combined. ( Daniel S. Greenberg in The Washington Post, May 8, 1996, p. A25.)
Did You Know?
The United States has one of the highest abortion rates among developed countries — 26 abortions in 1992 for every 1,000 women aged 15 – 44. (Facts in Brief, The Alan Guttmacher Institute, September, 1995)
Did You Know?
The reasons why almost all abortions are done…
Nearly all of the 1.3 million abortions a year are done because the woman did not want to be pregnant at that particular time (although 70% say they intend to have children in the future). The majority of women undergoing an abortion give one or more of the following reasons:
- a baby would interfere with work, school, or other responsibilities (75%)
- cannot afford to have a child (66%)
- do not want to be a single parent or have problems in the relationship with their husband or partner (50%)
- Only 1% of women aborting say they have been advised that their unborn baby has a defect, and only I% say they became pregnant by rape or incest. (Facts in Brief, The Alan Guttmacher Institute, September 1995)
… are not the reasons the majority of Americans believe abortion should be legal
Significantly, the majority of Americans do not believe abortion should be legal for such “social” reasons. Only 12% of the public believes abortion should be legal for any reason at any time during the woman’s pregnancy’ – which is this country’s current abortion policy as mandated by the Supreme Court. The majority of the public – – 57% believes abortion should not be legal at all or legal only to save the life of the mother or when the woman is pregnant as a result of rape or incest. (CNN/TIME, May 1996)
Not surprisingly, then, supporters of abortion always downplay the reasons for the obscene yearly number of abortions, arguing that all that matters is that the woman has the right to choose an abortion, not why she is choosing one.
Did You Know?
Who has abortions?
The majority of women undergoing an abortion are:
- young: 55% are under 25; 21% are teenagers. The abortion rate – – the number of abortions for every 1,000 women of childbearing age – is highest for 18 to 19-year-olds: 56 per 1,000 compared to 26 per 1,000 for all women ages 15-44 in 1992.
- unmarried: more than half (51%) of women who are pregnant and not married will abort their unborn baby. Unmarried women are 6 times more likely than are married women to have an abortion.
- white: 63% of abortion patients are white. However, the abortion rate for non-white women is more than double that of white women (54 vs. 20 per 1,000).
Did You Know?
The number of repeat abortions continues to rise:
- Almost half of the women undergoing an abortion – – 46% – – have already had at least one previous abortion,’ a percentage which has tripled since 1974. In 1983, 39% of abortion patients reported having 1, 2, 3, or more abortions; in 1974 the percentage was 15. (Facts in Brief, Alan Guttmacher Institute, September 1995.)
- Now, at least 15% of the women have had 2 or more abortions. The Alan Guttmacher Institute has not published a breakdown on repeat abortions recently, but in 1987 26.9% of abortion patients reported I previous abortion, 10.7 had 2, and 5.3 reported 3 or more earlier abortions. (“Characteristics of U.S. Women Having Abortions, 1982-1983,” Family Planning Perspectives, January/February 1987, p. 3.)
- Given the reluctance of many women to disclose having had even one abortion, one can assume the published figures on repeat abortions are a minimum. (“Characteristics and Prior Contraceptive Use of U.S. Abortion Patients,” Family Planning Perspectives, July/August 1988, p. 159.
Did You Know?
Abortion providers have inner conflicts about their work:
- “But some [abortion counselors] are uncomfortable when ‘repeat abortions’ seem to become a habit. A counselor from Connecticut told of a 31-year-old woman who came to her clinic for her 14th abortion. Then there was the Colorado woman who became pregnant every time she ‘fell in love,’ hoping it would lead to marriage. She has had seven abortions. “
- “A Seattle nurse talked about watching her first late-term abortion, done by the dilation and evacuation method [where the abortionist slices up the unborn baby while he or she is still in the womb and removes the baby’s body piece by piece]: ‘I was watching the doctor struggle with the cannula [abortion tool], trying to pull it out,’ she said. ‘I didn’t understand what the resistance was all about. And I was very alarmed and all of a sudden the doctor pulled the cannula out and there, as I was at the woman’s side, I looked down at the cannula and there was a foot sticking out. ‘I will never forget the feeling I had in my chest as the doctor pulled that cannula out. And it almost took the breath out of me. Because the reality of this was very hard for me.'” (“Abortion providers share inner conflicts,” American Medical News, July 12, 1993, p. 3.)
Did You Know?
At a minimum, more than 165,000 abortions are done each year to unborn babies who are in the second and third trimester.
Given the large amount of abortions done each year, the actual number of abortions done after the first twelve weeks of pregnancy is quite large, even though it is a small percentage of the 1.3 million abortions done annually.
Number of abortions Weeks of pregnancy
90,000 13-15 weeks
60,000 16-20 weeks 15,000 21 or more weeks
600 after 26 weeks*
*(after the unborn child is 6 months old)
Did You Know?
The Centers for Disease Control reports over 17,000 abortions in 1993 done at 21 weeks or later.
The above figures were published by the Alan Guttmacher Institute in Facts in Brief, September 1995. Information from abortionists, clinic employees, and other sources, however, suggests that the figures for later-term abortions are too low. For example:
- In 1984, then-Surgeon General C. Everett Koop estimated that about 4,000 “third trimester” (after 26 weeks) abortions occur each year in the United States, and that “less than five percent of that number have induced abortion because of a known defect in the fetus.”
- Dr. Martin Haskell, who specializes in partial-birth abortions which are done on late-term babies, reported that he had performed over 1,000 of these abortions himself. The late Dr. James McMahon admitted performing over 2,000.
- An employee of Kansas abortionist George Tiller wrote in 1991, “I saw the medical records of every abortion patient for a period of over six months. At least (conservatively) an average of ten (24-30-week gestation) late-term abortions were done each week” in that facility alone – – which would be over 500 a year.
