Abortion Facts and Figures

• Between 1973 and 1996, over 35 million babies were legally killed in the United States through abortion. About 1.5 million babies are killed every year; about 4,200 every day; and one baby is killed every 20 seconds in the United States. (Alan Guttmacher Institute, USA Today, August 14, 1996, p. A17)
• The World Health Organization estimates that there are about 50 million abortions around the world each year. 34 countries have legalized abortion, 45 countries have heavy restrictions on abortion, and 41 countries have laws making abortion illegal. All other countries have no major laws either direction. (Population Action International, "Reproductive Risk," Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1995)
• Arkansas reported having 5,889 abortions performed in 1997. This is compared to 36,450 live births. (Vital Statistics State Summary: Arkansas 1997. "Births, Fetal Deaths, Abortions." Center for Health Statistics, Arkansas Department of Health.)
• In 1996, there were 3,914,953 births in the U.S. compared to 1,435,000 abortions. One baby was killed through an abortion for every 2.73 babies born in the United States. (Ventura, Stephanie, "Births and Deaths: United States, 1996," Monthly Vital Statistics, 11 Sep. 1997, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics.)
• In 1996, there were 2,321,991 deaths, not including abortion, in the United States. There was one abortion for every other 1.62 deaths. After abortion, the leading causes of death were heart disease and cancer, with 736,844 and 541,123 respectively. Combined, these deaths are about 1.2 million, less than the annual number of abortions. If abortions are added to the number of deaths, then they would account for about 40% of all deaths in the United States. (Peters, Kimberly, "Births and Deaths: United States, July 1995-June 1996," Monthly Vital Statistics Report, 30 April 1997, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics.)
• If you take all the abortions that occur in the U.S., separate them out by gestational age, and apply the average cost for abortions at those gestational ages, the result comes out to approximately $64,000 per hour or 560 million dollars per year. (Crutcher, Mark. "Access: the key to pro-life victory." Life Dynamics Incorporated, Denton, Texas, p. 20.)
• In the United States in 1992, there were 26 abortions for every 1,000 women ages 15 to 44. (Facts in Brief, Alan Guttmacher Institute, September, 1995.)
• Women having abortions gave the following reasons as their motivation: 75% said that it would interfere with work, school, or other responsibilities; 66% said that they could not afford a baby; 50% said that they did not want to be a single parent; 1% said that it was because the baby had a birth defect; and 1% said that it was because the baby was a product of rape or incest. 98% of the women reported that they were having an abortion for convenience. (Facts in Brief, Alan Guttmacher Institute, September, 1995.)
• In 1972, the year before abortion was made legal, there were 39 maternal deaths from illegal, "back alley" abortions in the United States. In 1982, ten years after it was legalized, there were 24 maternal deaths from legal abortions. Legalizing abortions has not made it a "safe" procedure. (Center for Disease Control)
• Nationally, there are 4 abortion providers for every 100,000 women ages 15 to 44. (Alan Guttmacher Institute, Family Planning Perspectives, May/June 1994.)
•Studies shows that 40% to 60% of women in the United States have had or will have an abortion some time in their lives.(Crutcher, Mark. "Access: the key to pro-life victory." Life Dynamics Incorporated, Denton, Texas, p. 21.)
• One study has shown a major link between induced abortions and breast cancer. The study did not show the same link between spontaneous miscarriages and breast cancer. (Brind, Joel, "Abortion and Breast Cancer: More Scientific Evidence," Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.)
• A woman who has had multiple abortions in her lifetime has a 2 to 3.3 fold increase in premature births and complicated labor in future wanted pregnancies. (Erhard, Peter. "Test Your Knowledge on Abortion," 1983.)
• Of the women studied who have had an abortion, 73% reporting having flashbacks of their abortion experience, 81% reported having a preoccupation with their aborted children, and 96% reported that in retrospect they regarded their abortion as the taking of human life. (Speckhard, Anne. "Psycho-Social Stress Following Abortion," Sheed & Ward, Kansas City, 1987.)
• Reports of child abuse and neglect in the U.S. more than tripled since the legalization of abortion in 1973. There were 669,000 reported in 1976 and 2.1 million cases reported in 1986, just ten years later. This shows that "preventing unwanted pregnancies" has not lowered the child abuse rates as predicted by abortion advocates. (National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect.)
• 1 in 6 women getting an abortion claim to be Born Again Christians. (Alan Guttmacher Institute)
• PBS reported in their show "Media Matters" that partial-birth abortions number in the thousands a year with the majority performed on healthy mothers in the later parts of pregnancy.
• Dr. Martin Haskell, an Ohio abortionist, reports that 80% of partial-birth abortions are purely elective and 67% of the time the fetus is still alive when the brain is suctioned out. Haskell was the first to introduce the partial-birth abortion at the "Risk Management" Seminar of the Abortion Federation on September 13, 1992. (Leo, John. "Abortion brutality goes beyond rights debate," Universal Press, 1995.)
• More than 4 out of 10 teenage girls become pregnant every year which totals almost one million a year. Eighty percent of these pregnancy are unwanted and to unmarried girls. (Analysis of Henshaw, S.K., U.S. Teenage Pregnant Statistics, New York: Alan Guttmacher Institute, May, 1996.)
• The parental notification laws, passed in many states including Arkansas, has reduced teen pregnancy by 20% and teen abortions by 27%. (Cunningham, Paige Comstock. "Should We Surrender Public Policy to Pro-Abortion Forces?" AUL Forum, February 1994.)
• 32% of abortions are among women ages 20 to 24. Teenagers account for another 20%. ("Statistics on Abortion in America; Roe v. Wade: 25 Years Later." USA Today, January 22, 1998.)
• 70% of women getting abortions are unmarried. Half have never had a child; 55% have never had an abortion.(Ibid.)
• 88% of abortions occur within the first three months of pregnancy. About 1.4% occur after five months' gestation. (Ibid.)
• In 1994, 48% of all reproductive-age women had had at least one unplanned pregnancy, and 30% had had at least one abortion. (Ibid.)
• Studies show abortion providers are becoming scarce: 84% of U.S. counties have no provider; 24% of women travel at least 50 miles for an abortion; less than half of providers will perform an abortion at 13 weeks gestation, and just 13% will at 21 weeks. (Ibid.)

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