113 Abortion Statistics 2024 (Abortion Rate Per Year In The US)

Abortion Statistics - Abortion In The US - Abortion Rates - Abortions By Year - Abortions Per Day In The US - Abortion Rates By Age

What are the abortion statistics for the abortion rate per year in the US?

Some things you’ll learn in this article are:

  • men’s opinion on when is too late to have an abortion
  • how many babies are aborted per day
  • how few Republicans think abortions should be legal
  • which states will ban abortions post Roe v. Wade turnover
  • how Black women are 3.6x more likely to have an abortion
  • how much taxpayer dollars are going towards abortion
  • which state has the highest abortion rates

And so much more.

Let’s dig in.

Table Of Contents

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Key Abortion Statistics

  • Last year, there were 629,898 legally induced abortions reported.
  • 1,725 babies are aborted per day in the U.S.
  • The abortion rate is 11.4 abortions per 1,000 women.
  • The abortion ratio is 195 abortions per 1,000 live births.
  • 19% of pregnancies end in abortion.
  • 61.8% of raped women get an abortion.
  • Raped abortions account for 3% of all abortions.
  • 20.4% of women get abortions because they can’t afford a baby.
  • Black women are 3.6x more likely to have an abortion than white women.
  • 37.1% of all abortions are performed on Black women.
  • 47% of women getting an abortion have had at least one previous abortion.
  • 54% of women getting an abortion used contraceptive methods when they got pregnant.
  • The US has higher abortion rates than 185 countries in the world.
  • The US is #10 in the world for abortion rates.
  • In the last decade, the number of abortions has decreased by 18%.
  • In the last decade, the rate of abortions has decreased by 21%.
  • In the last decade, the ratio of abortions to live births has decreased by 13%.
  • 62% of abortions are by people with religious affiliations.
  • 40% of minors report that their parents didn’t know about their abortion.
  • Women in their 20s accounted for 56.9% of abortions.
  • 86% of abortions are unmarried women.
  • 25% of abortions were unmarried women living with their partner.
  • 92.7% of abortions were performed at ≤13 weeks’ gestation.
  • 6.2% of abortions were performed at 4–20 weeks’ gestation.
  • 80% of Democrats believe abortion should be legal.
  • 38% of Republicans say abortion should be legal.
  • The average cost of abortion is $522.
  • 56% of abortions in California get paid for by tax payer’s dollars.
  • New York has the highest abortion rate at 31%.
  • 47% of abortions in New York get paid for by tax payer’s dollars.

Abortion Rates In The United States

Let’s go over some abortion statistics for the abortion rates in the United States.

How Many Abortions Are Performed Each Year In The United States?

This chart shows how many abortions are performed each year in the United States.

Abortion Rates In The United States - Number Of Abortions In The US - US Abortions Per Year

As we can see, the number of abortions by years are declining.

Abortions Per Day In The US

There were 629,898 legally induced abortions last year.

This means there’s an average of 1,725 abortions per day in the US.

Abortion Rates By Age

Abortion Rates By Age - Teenage Abortion Statistics

The abortion rates by age are:

  • 15 to 19 – 9%
  • 20-29 – 57%
  • 30-39 – 31%
  • 40+ – 4%

Women in their 20s have 57% of the abortions in the US.

Each year, 2% of women aged 15-44 have an abortion.

47% of them have previously had an abortion.

Teenage Abortion Statistics

  • 40% of minors report that their parents didn’t know about their abortion.
  • The abortion rate for teenagers is 15.4 per 1,000 women aged 15-19.
  • 15% of live births were the teenager’s second child.

Number Of Abortions By Gestational Age

Number Of Abortions By Gestational Age - Late Term Abortion Statistics - US Abortion Statistics

Per the CDC, this is the number of abortions by gestational age last year:

  • 6 weeks or earlier – 211,179
  • 7 to 9 weeks – 178,985
  • 10 to 13 weeks – 65,739
  • 14 to 15 weeks – 14,471
  • 16 to 17 weeks – 11,267
  • 18 to 20 weeks – 8,064
  • 21+ weeks – 4,882

79% of abortions happen before 10 weeks of gestation.

93% of abortions happen before 14 weeks of gestation.

How Many Late Term Abortions Per Year

92.7% of abortions happen in the first trimester of pregnancy.

The ACOG defines a late-term pregnancy as 41 weeks+.

Fewer than 1% of abortions are late-term abortions.

Most states don’t allow abortion after viability.

Reasons For Late Term Abortions Statistics

Reasons For Late Term Abortions Statistics - How Many Late Term Abortions Per Year

Here are the reasons for late-term abortion statistics.

These are the reasons women gave for having an abortion in the late-term.

They were able to select multiple reasons that applied to their situation.

  • 65% – affordability of the cost of abortion
  • 45% – did not know they were pregnant
  • 41% – getting insurance coverage
  • 40% – indecisive about getting an abortion
  • 38% – do not know where to get an abortion
  • 27% – not able to get to an abortion clinic
  • 20% – disagree with men about the abortion

Percentage of Abortions By Race

Percentage of Abortions By Race - US Abortions By Race - Abortion Statistics By Race - What Race Has The Most Abortions

Let’s look at the data for abortions by race.

  • 34% were White
  • 37% were Black
  • 22% were Hispanic
  • 8% were people of another ethnicity

Number Of Abortions By Race

Number Of Abortions By Race - What Race Has The Most Abortions - US Abortions By Race

This is the number of abortions by race per 1,000 people according to the CDC:

  • White – 6.6 per 1,000
  • Black – 23.8 per 1,000
  • Hispanic – 11.7 per 1,000
  • Other Ethnicity – 13 per 1,000

What Percentage Of Abortions Are Black?

Black women are 3.6x more likely to have an abortion than white women.

37.1% of all abortions are performed on Black women.

What Race Has The Most Abortions?

Black women have the most abortions.

Black women made up 233,062 abortions last year.

When Did Abortion Become Legal?

The United States legalized abortion nationwide in 1973.

This was the result of the Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade.

This was because data showed restrictive abortion laws did not reduce unsafe abortions.

Unsafe abortions increased because women had limited access to medical abortions.

This was taking a major toll on the public health of lower-income women.

Who were having higher rates of unsafe abortions for unintended pregnancies (DOI).

Along with higher pregnancy rates compared to higher-income women.

Because they could not afford safe abortion care.

The morbidity rates of women’s self-inducing abortions were very high.

When abortions became legal in 1973, the health statistics improve drastically.

Pregnancy-related deaths and hospitalization from unsafe abortions effectively ended.

Federal Abortion Laws

Federal abortion laws were updated in 1973.

When the Supreme Court decided the outcome of Roe v. Wade.

This gave healthcare providers the ability to perform medical abortions for everyone.

That way, more women have access to safe abortions.

Where Is Abortion Legal?

Where Is Abortion Legal - Is Abortion Legal In All States - Is Abortion Legal In The US - Abortion Laws By State Map

Is Abortion Legal In All States?

Under Federal abortion laws, abortion is legal in all states.

But, abortion laws vary by state as well.

Abortions are illegal in Oklahoma.

Most of the states in the Southeast severely restrict abortion for people.

Some states that severely restrict health services for safe abortions are:

  • Georgia
  • Tennessee
  • Alabama
  • Florida

States With The Highest Abortion Rates

States With The Highest Abortion Rates - Number Of Abortions In The US - Abortion Statistics In The US
  1. New York – 20.3 per 1,000
  2. Illinois – 18.6 per 1,000
  3. Florida – 18.5 per 1,000
  4. Georgia – 16.9 per 1,000
  5. Michigan – 14.6 per 1,000
  6. Nevada – 14 per 1,000
  7. North Carolina – 13.8 per 1,000
  8. Connecticut – 13.7 per 1,000
  9. Massachusetts – 13.3 per 1,000
  10. New Jersey – 13.2 per 1,000

Why Abortion Should Be Illegal

The majority of adults believe that abortion should be legal.

  • 61% of adults think that abortion should be legal in all cases.
  • 37% of adults believe that abortion should be illegal in all cases.

Are Abortions Illegal?

Abortions are only illegal in Oklahoma.

Federal abortion laws state that abortion is legal in the United States.

Oklahoma is the only state where abortions are illegal.

The remaining states where abortion is legal are:

  • severely restrictive states in the United States
  • allow abortion with few restrictions

Abortion Poll By Gender

Abortion Poll By Gender​ - Abortion Statistics - Against Abortion

An abortion poll by gender shows that women believe:

  • 21% – it should be legal in all cases
  • 42% – it should be legal with some exceptions
  • 26% – it should be illegal with some exceptions
  • 9% – it should be illegal in all cases

An abortion poll by gender shows that men believe:

  • 17% – it should be legal in all cases
  • 41% – it should be legal with some exceptions
  • 33% – it should be illegal with some exceptions
  • 8% – it should be illegal in all cases

What Percentage Of Abortions Are From Rape?

Rape occurs in 5% of women of reproductive ages.

An estimated 32,101 women of reproductive ages are raped per year.

Of those, 61.8% of raped women get an abortion.

11.8% have immediate abortions after finding out they are pregnant from the rape.

50% have a planned abortion after the rape incident.

When Is The Latest You Can Get An Abortion?

The latest that you can get an abortion depends on the abortion laws in your state.

For example, some states have abortion bans initiatives.

They believe even legal abortions are unsafe abortions regardless of weeks of gestation.

While others support safe abortion based on the weeks of gestation.

Most healthcare providers and health services cut abortions off at 12 weeks.

After that, you can’t have interventions during your pregnancy.

Even if it’s a legal abortion from health care providers.

In rare cases, you can get an abortion at 24 weeks of gestation.

That’s when a fetus is viable.

When Is A Fetus Viable?

A fetus is viable when it can live outside of the womb.

Healthcare providers say that a fetus is viable at 24 weeks of gestation.

What Is Gestational Age?

Gestational age means how old the fetus is based on the contraception date.

Gestational age gets used to describe how far along a pregnancy is.

When Is It Too Late To Have An Abortion?

Let’s look at data for when is it too late to have an abortion.

We’re going to look at three separate groups for this:

  • total number of people
  • men’s opinion on when is too late to have an abortion
  • women’s opinion on when is too late to have an abortion.

Gestational ages are important to people for when is it too late to have an abortion.

When Is It Too Late To Have An Abortion - US Abortion Statistics - Abortion In America

Here’s the data on when it is too late to get an abortion:

  • 19% – abortion should be legal regardless of gestational age
  • 56% – gestational age should matter
  • 14% – gestational age should not matter for getting an abortion
  • 8% – abortion should be illegal regardless of weeks of gestation

Men’s opinion on when is it too late to get an abortion:

  • 17% – abortion should be legal regardless of gestational age
  • 58% – gestational age should matter
  • 15% – gestational age should not matter for getting an abortion
  • 8% – abortion should be illegal regardless of weeks of gestation
Should Abortion Be Banned - Late Term Abortions - Abortion Time Limit In USA

Women’s opinion on when is it too late for abortion:

  • 21% – abortion should be legal regardless of gestational age
  • 55% – gestational age should matter
  • 12% – gestational age should not matter for getting an abortion
  • 9% – abortion should be illegal regardless of weeks of gestation

Top Reasons For Abortion

The Guttenmacher Institute surveyed 1,209 women post-abortion.

They asked them what their reasons for abortion were.

957 women gave their reasons for abortion.

The main reasons for abortion were:

  • 3% – fetal health issues
  • 4% – physical health issues
  • 4% – interference with education or career
  • 7% – not mature enough to raise a child
  • 8% – didn’t want to be a single mother
  • 19% – they were done having children
  • 23% – couldn’t afford a baby
  • 25% – not ready for a child
Reasons For Abortion - Reasons For Abortions Statistics

Florida records everyone’s reasons for abortion in their reporting areas.

Last year, they had 74,868 abortions.

And the reasons for abortion were:

  • 0.01% – incest relationship
  • 0.15% – rape victim
  • 0.20% – the mother’s life was endangered
  • 0.98% – fetal abnormality
  • 1.48% – the mother’s physical health was threatened
  • 1.88% – the mother’s mental health was threatened
  • 20.4% – the mother couldn’t afford the baby
  • 74.9% – selected “no reason”

Related: Who Cheats More Men Or Women?

Which Party Is Pro-Life?

Democrats are more pro-life than Republicans.

  • 80% of all Democrats believe that abortion should be legal.
  • 38% of all Republicans believe that abortion should be legal.

The disparities between these parties are substantial.

Democratic View On Abortion

Let’s look at the Democratic belief on abortion.

  • 80% of all Democrats believe that abortion should be legal.
  • 18% of Democrats believe that abortion should be illegal.

But, then there’s a difference between the two types of Democrats:

  • Conservative or Moderate Democrats
  • Liberal Democrats
Which Party Is Pro-Life - Democratic View On Abortion​ - Abortion Statistics In The US

The conservative Democrat stances on abortion are:

  • 20% – should be legal in all cases
  • 52% – should be legal with some exceptions
  • 21% – should be illegal with some exceptions
  • 5% – should be illegal in all cases

The moderate or liberal Democrat stances on abortion are:

  • 42% – should be legal in all cases
  • 49% – should be legal with some exceptions
  • 7% – should be illegal with some exceptions
  • 2% – should be illegal in all cases

Republican Stances On Abortion

Let’s look at the Republican belief on abortion.

  • 38% of all Republicans believe that abortion should be legal.
  • 60% of Republicans believe that abortion should be illegal.

But, then there’s a difference between the two types of Republicans:

  • Conservative Republicans
  • Moderate or Liberal Republicans
Which Party Is Pro-Life - Republican Stances On Abortion - Against Abortion

The conservative Republican stances on abortion are:

  • 4% – should be legal in all cases
  • 23% – should be legal with some exceptions
  • 54% – should be illegal with some exceptions
  • 17% – should be illegal in all cases
Which Party Is Pro-Life - Republican Stances On Abortion - Federal Abortion Law

The moderate or liberal Republican stances on abortion are:

  • 12% – should be legal in all cases
  • 48% – should be legal with some exceptions
  • 33% – should be illegal with some exceptions
  • 5% – should be illegal in all cases

Religion And Abortion

Let’s look at the religious viewpoints on abortion for the following religious categories:

  • Protestants
  • Catholics
  • Unaffiliated

62% of abortions are by religious people.

Religion View On Abortions

Religion And Abortion​ - Religious Beliefs Abortion - Abortion And Religion

The Protestants’ religious views on abortion are:

  • 11% – should be legal in all cases
  • 34% – should be legal with some exceptions
  • 39% – should be illegal with some exceptions
  • 13% – should be illegal in all cases

Protestants are the religion that’s most against abortion.

Religion And Abortion​ - Religious Against Abortion - Abortion And Religion

The Catholics’ religious beliefs on abortion are:

  • 13% – should be legal in all cases
  • 43% – should be legal with some exceptions
  • 32% – should be illegal with some exceptions
  • 10% – should be illegal in all cases
Abortion And Religion​ - Religious Against Abortion - Abortion And Religion

The Unaffiliated’s non-religious views on abortion are:

  • 34% – should be legal in all cases
  • 51% – should be legal with some exceptions
  • 13% – should be illegal with some exceptions
  • 2% – should be illegal in all cases

Should Abortion Be Banned?

Abortions should not get banned.

Women need access to affordable, timely, and safe abortions.

Access to abortion is important to women’s sexual and reproductive health.

Along with their physical and mental health.

Up to 13.2% of maternal deaths are due to unsafe abortions.

These self-induced abortions have health risks, like:

  • incomplete abortions
  • hemorrhaging
  • infections
  • uterine perforation
  • damage to internal organs

This can ruin a woman’s sexual and reproductive health.

It can cause miscarriages down the road.

And can increase morbidity and maternal deaths.

Self-induced abortions also led to worse recovery.

Women are out of work longer, heal slower, and have higher costs for health services.

Limited access to abortion does not reduce the number of unintended pregnancies.

It removes a woman’s access to public health services they need.

Providing legal abortions to citizens also allows us to collect better data.

The abortion statistics have a skewed number of abortions.

Especially for big research companies like:

  • the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
  • Guttmacher Institute

States That Ban Abortion After Roe v. Wade

Let’s say the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. adopts the draft by Samuel Alito.

Reversing the abortion laws would happen quickly for some states.

23 states have pre-Roe v. Wade abortion bans.

These abortion bans are still on the books.

And they have trigger laws that go into effect if Roe v. Wade gets overturned.

That means half of the United States would or could ban abortion.

These states are:

Should Abortion Be Banned - States That Ban Abortion After Roe v Wade - What Happens If Roe v Wade Is Overturned

What Happens If Roe v. Wade Is Overturned?

Let’s say that Roe v. Wade is overturned.

Abortion would become illegal in up to 23 states.

Meaning that states would ban abortion completely.

There is a challenge to Mississippi’s law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

This could overturn Roe v. Wade by a ruling from the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.

Currently, a woman’s right to an abortion is a constitutional right.

This federal law on abortion could get replaced by states that ban abortion.

Related: Divorce Statistics

The Number Of Abortions In The US - The Data

There are two main sources for the statistics on abortion in the United States.

They are the:

  • Guttmacher Institute
  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

The Guttmacher Institute publishes studies on abortion rates every 3 years.

They are a nonprofit organization that provides national health research.

They collect their abortion statistics from surveying health care providers of abortions.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention publishes their data annually.

They collect health statistics from public health centers for women’s health and family planning.

These centers are reporting areas that provide safe abortions for unintended pregnancies.

The hard part about the data is that the following states don’t publicize their data:

  • California
  • Maryland
  • New Hampshire

Another difficulty is the completeness of the data.

Only 59% of reporting areas responded to Guttmacher Institute’s survey.

For the Guttmacher Institute’s data, they used:

  • 59% of respondents
  • 19% from health department data
  • 22% from estimations
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