A new report from the Centers for Disease Control finds that the number of abortions performed in the U.S. rose slightly from 2017 to 2018.
The CDC’s annual Abortion Surveillance Report was released Nov. 27 and includes data from 2018. Among the 49 reporting areas that voluntarily provided data, a total of 619,591 abortions were reported. Those areas include 47 states, the District of Columbia, and New York City, but do not include California, Maryland, and New Hampshire.
Reporting abortion data to the CDC is not mandatory, so year-to-year totals are hard to compare.
Among 48 reporting areas with data each year during 2009–2018, a total of 614,820 abortions were performed in 2018, according to the CDC, a 1% increase from the 2017 reported number of 609,095. Nationwide, the abortion ratio, the number of abortions per 1,000 live births, was 189 in 2018, a slight increase from the abortion ratio of 185 in 2017. The abortion rate increased 1% from 11.2 to 11.3 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44 years old.
Among the 48 areas that reported abortion numbers by women’s age for 2018, women in their 20s accounted for the majority (57.7%) of abortions and had the highest abortion rates (19.1 and 18.5 abortions per 1,000 women aged 20–24 and 25–29 years, respectively). Women in the youngest ( under 15 years old) and oldest (more than 40 years old) age groups accounted for the smallest percentages of abortions (0.2% and 3.6%, respectively) and had the lowest abortion rates. Abortion ratios in 2018 were lowest among women aged 25–39 years (126–189 per 1,000 live births).
Teen births, abortions declining
The CDC also found that abortions among teenagers continue to decline, as do births among this population. From 2009 to 2018, national birth data indicate that the birth rate for adolescents aged 15–19 years decreased 54% and CDC data indicate that the abortion rate for the same age group decreased 55%.
“These findings highlight that decreases in adolescent births in the United States have been accompanied by large decreases in adolescent abortions,” the CDC report states.
The analysis of data found that abortion rates were higher among non-Hispanic black women and Hispanic women.
Another finding of the survey is that in 2018, the majority of abortions occurred early in gestation, at less than 9 weeks into pregnancy. For the past 10 years, the CDC says, approximately three-fourths of abortions were performed at less than 9 weeks’ gestation. The percentage of abortions performed at less than 6 weeks’ gestation increased from 33.6% in 2009 to 36.2% in 2018.
Download the full CDC report by clicking here. (TAB)
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