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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.