Abortion Facts and Statistics: What You Need to Know
Medically reviewed by Peter Weiss, MD
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were 629,898 abortions performed in 2019. There are many reasons why a person may end a pregnancy, such as not lacking financial preparation, issues with a partner, needing to focus on other children, and health-related reasons among others. This article will highlight key facts and statistics about abortion.
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Abortion Overview
There are two types of abortions: medication abortions and in-clinic or surgical abortions. The choice of process or procedure will depend on how far along the pregnancy is, preference, and access to abortion care services.
Medication Abortion
Takeaway
The availability of mifepristone in the United States has been the subject of recent legal challenges. In April 2023, a federal judge in Texas issued a ruling to suspend mifepristone's FDA approval. Shortly after, the Supreme Court ruled to allow mifepristone to remain available and returned the case to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. In August 2023, that court ruled to maintain mifepristone's approval, but with restrictions on when it can be taken and where it can be made available.
The Supreme Court is expected to hear the case again, and until then, mifepristone remains available without the recent court-ordered restrictions.
Medication abortion involves taking two different types of medicine: Mifeprex (mifepristone) and Cytotec (misoprostol). The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved mifepristone, used together with misoprostol, for abortions for up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy (70 days or less since the first day of the last menstrual period).
The medication can be taken at home, and the process of passing the pregnancy tissue can take between four and five hours. This type of abortion is between 87% and 98% effective. Checking in with a healthcare provider afterward to confirm that the abortion was successful can include an ultrasound or a pregnancy test.
Mifepristone has a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) program, and is only available from certified prescribers in clinics, medical offices, and hospitals or from certified pharmacies, with a prescription from a certified prescriber.
Misoprostol, on the other hand, has a little more flexibility. Your healthcare provider can give you misoprostol tablets or send a prescription to your retail pharmacy.
In-Clinic or Surgical Abortion
There are a few different types of abortion procedures performed in a clinic. The procedures typically use suction to remove pregnancy tissue from the uterus. A vacuum aspiration procedure can be performed up to 14–16 weeks after your last menstrual period.
If it's been longer than 16 weeks since your last period, a dilation and evacuation (D&E) procedure is performed. Either procedure can be performed as early as five or six weeks after your last menstrual period. In-clinic abortions are more than 99% effective.
How Common Are Abortions?
Abortions are very common. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) reports that 25% of all women will have an abortion before they turn 45 years old.
Though 40.2% of those who had an abortion in 2019 had not previously birthed a child, nearly 60% of all people who had gotten an abortion in that year previously had at least one live birth.
In terms of the point at which most abortions are performed, nearly 80% of abortions performed in 2019 were at or before the ninth week of pregnancy. In the same year, over 90% of abortions performed were before or by the 13th week of pregnancy.
Abortions by Race and Ethnicity
Abortion rates differ by a number of factors, including race and ethnicity. Of all the abortions reported in 2019, Hispanic women accounted for about 21% and non-Hispanic women accounted for just over 7%. Among non-Hispanic women, White and Black women comprised 33.4% and 38.4%, respectively.
Though the percentages were similar, the abortion rate among non-Hispanic White women is 6.6 per 1,000 women and the rate for non-Hispanic Black women is 23.8 per 1,000 women.
Abortions by Age and Gender
People of different ages and genders seek out abortion care. In terms of age specifically, abortion rates have been decreasing among all age groups in recent years. Those who identified as women in their 20s accounted for the highest percentage of abortions among all legally induced abortions in the United States in 2019.
Women between the ages of 20 and 24 years old accounted for 27.6% of all abortions. Just over 29% of all abortions were to women between the ages of 25 and 29. The lowest percentages were found among women under the age of 15 and over the age of 40.
Those who identify as women seek out abortions, but so do transgender and gender-non-binary people. The Guttmacher Institute's Abortion Provider Census for 2017 reported that between 462 and 530 transgender and non-binary people had abortions in the United States.
Abortion Risks and Complications
Abortion procedures are considered safe and common. However, just like any medical procedure, there is the possibility of some risks and complications. These may include:
An incomplete abortion: This occurs when the contents of the pregnancy in the uterus are not completely removed. It is more likely to occur during a medication abortion. Follow-up care is necessary in this case.
Infection following procedure: Your healthcare provider may prescribe antibiotics to prevent an infection or to treat one following the procedure.
Atypical or heavy bleeding: Though some bleeding is normal after either type of abortion, heavy bleeding or hemorrhage is not typical and requires immediate medical care.
Organ damage: It is possible during an in-clinic abortion procedure to experience damage to your uterus or other nearby organs. Surgical procedures may be necessary to address any damage.
There is no evidence to suggest that abortions impact the risk of cancer, depression, or infertility in the future.
Early Detection of Pregnancy
Some people may suspect they could be pregnant due to having sex without using birth control, using it incorrectly, or using birth control that failed to work properly. Others may suspect they're pregnant due to symptoms often experienced early in a pregnancy, such as:
A missed menstrual period
Feeling bloated
Having to pee frequently
Mood swings
Feeling nauseous
Fatigue
Tender or sore breasts
Tests can indicate whether you are pregnant (by detecting human chorionic gonadotropin, also known as hCG) within days after conception (when sperm fertilizes an egg). There are two types of pregnancy tests: an at-home urine test and a blood test.
The urine test taken at home can typically detect hCG as early as 10 days after conception. They are 99% accurate when taken as directed. A blood test taken at a healthcare provider's office can also detect it between nine and 12 days after conception.
Related: How Soon Can You Take a Pregnancy Test?
Summary
Abortions in the United States are safe and very common. People of different ages, genders, races, and ethnicities seek out abortion care. There are two types of abortions: medication abortions and in-clinic/surgical abortions. How far along a pregnancy is, preference, and access to healthcare are all factors that influence which abortion process or procedure to use.
Though abortions are considered very safe, risks and complications are as possible as they are with any medical procedure. Taking note of any common early pregnancy symptoms and confirming pregnancy with an at-home or blood test can help detect pregnancy in the early weeks.
