Abortion Facts
There have been 52,008,665 total abortions since 1973.[1]
Each year, two percent of women aged 15-44 have an abortion;[2] one-half have had at least one previous abortion.[3]
88% of women who have abortions live in a metropolitan area.[4]
Three-fourths of women cite either economic, career or education-oriented reasons for having an abortion.[5]
In the United States abortion is legal all nine months of pregnancy.[6]
1. Abortion Statistics United States Data and Trends, http://www.nrlc.org/Factsheets/FS03_AbortionInTheUS.pdf, accessed October 1, 2010.
2. Jones RK et al., Abortion in the United States: incidence and access to services, 2005, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2008, 40(1):6–16.
3. Jones RK, Finer LB and Singh S, Characteristics of U.S. Abortion Patients, 2008, New York: Guttmacher Institute, 2010.
4. An Overview of Abortion in the United States, http://www.guttmacher.org/media/presskits/2005/06/28/abortionoverview.html, accessed September 21, 2010.
5. Finer LB et al., Reasons U.S. women have abortions: quantitative and qualitative perspectives, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2005, 37(3):110–118.
6. Section IV, Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179 (1973).













