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Abortion Statistics: What’s In A Number?
from:Considering the moral and legal arguments of abortion, statistics show that the numbers of women having abortions are very great. It would seem that even though many countries have made, or are trying to make abortion illegal, women will still seek out alternatives, sometimes at the risk of their own lives. Abortion statistics tell us a lot about the effectiveness of making abortion illegal.
According to abortion statistics, every year 46 million women have an abortion. Of these 46 million women, 26 million will have their procedures in a country where abortion is illegal. But the other 20 million women seek out abortions in countries where abortion is illegal. In the entire world, 26% of pregnancies are terminated by induced abortion. For example, in the Netherlands, 10.6% of pregnancies are aborted. This is a relatively low number compared to Russia, where 62.6% of all pregnancies are terminated.
By using abortion statistics, we can also learn about when abortions are commonly performed. In the United States, for example, most abortions – about 86.7% - are performed in the first trimester, or the first 12 weeks of gestation. 9.9% of abortions are done between 13 and 20 weeks, and only 1.4% of all abortions in the US are done at 21 weeks or later. In England and in Wales, 87.6% of all abortions performed were done in the first trimester. 10.7% were done between 13 and 19 weeks. Only 1.5% of abortions occurred at or after the 20 week mark.
Abortion statistics also provide us with information about how abortions are performed. In the United States, 91.3% of abortions were performed by vacuum aspiration procedures like Manual Vacuum Aspiration, Electric Vacuum Aspiration, Dilation and Curettage, and Dilation and Evacuation. 5.2% were done by using mifepristone, a chemical abortion method. 0.8% were done by intrauterine instillation, and 1.5% by hysterectomy or hysterotomy. In the United States in 2000, there were 2200 Intact Dilation and Extraction abortions performed; these made up approximately 0.17% of all abortions performed that year in the US. In England and Wales, the methods varied slightly. 76% used vacuum aspiration methods like Manual Vacuum Aspiration and Electric Vacuum Aspiration. 4% used Dilation and Evacuation. Chemical abortions made up 19% of abortions, and 1% were done by feticide. Feticide is defined as an intentional kick or puncture to the abdomen to produce a miscarriage.
These numbers are obviously only meant to represent the reported pregnancies and abortions done in the countries listed above. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to know how many women yearly seek alternative means of abortion like back-alley abortions and herbal abortions.
Abortion Rights Specific links
Abortion Rights News
Letters: Doctors disobeying abortion laws could backfire - USA TODAY
 USA TODAY | Letters: Doctors disobeying abortion laws could backfire USA TODAY Kelley Cox, AP Kelley Cox, AP Physicians who deliberately flout the law risk losing their license to practice medicine and, in some cases, a jail sentence. They and their families could become targets for harassment and violence from anti-abortion ... Ivy League Profs Calls Docs to Civil Disobedience over Pro-Life Laws |
Rights Group Petition President Over Abortion - AllAfrica.com
Rights Group Petition President Over Abortion AllAfrica.com By Maria Kaitesi, 20 May 2012 The Solidarity for African Women's Rights Coalition (SOAWR), a pan African coalition of 40 organizations in 20 countries, has appealed to President Paul Kagame on safe abortion law reform in Rwanda. |
Where Romney, Sen. Brown stand on various issues - The Associated Press
Where Romney, Sen. Brown stand on various issues The Associated Press Romney opposes abortion rights and says the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion should be reversed so states can be free to craft their own abortion laws. Brown opposes federal funding for abortions, but thinks women should have ... |
Why Chen fights, and why US abortion rights supporters should care - Washington Post (blog)
 First Things (blog) | Why Chen fights, and why US abortion rights supporters should care Washington Post (blog) By Melinda Henneberger The day of Mei Shunping's fifth forced abortion in China was “the saddest day of my life,'' she told a congressional subcommittee this week. The cause that human rights activist Chen Guangcheng has so long championed is often ... Washington Post columnist asks why “abortion rights supporters” are silent on Chen Anti Forced Abortion Activist Chen Guangchen Released by Chinese Tyrants Chris Smith Holds More Hearings to Free Chinese Human Rights Hero Chen Guangcheng |
20 years after the Supreme Court's Historic Casey Decision Americans United ... - MarketWatch (press release)
20 years after the Supreme Court's Historic Casey Decision Americans United ... MarketWatch (press release) JD Senior Counsel for Americans United for Life, author, Abuse of Discretion: The Inside Story of the Supreme Court's Creation of the Right to Abortion (forthcoming 2013). William Saunders. JD Senior Vice President of Legal Affairs and Senior Counsel ... Abortion still beyond reach for many Churches shift positions on abortion |