If you are writing a letter to the editor, doing a project for school, giving a presentation, speaking out at a community forum, or just having a friendly conversation with your neighbor, it is nice to have statistics to cite. Here are a few that

Iowa Abortion Statistics

 

 

•  The number of abortions are down slightly in Iowa from 6,728 in 2006 to 6,649 in 2007.  This is up from 5,888 abortions in 2005.

•  The three areas of the state with the highest number of abortions in 2007 were Polk County (Des Moines) - 1,244; Johnson/Iowa Counties (Iowa City)  - 512;  Linn County (Cedar Rapids) - 438.

•  The lowest number of abortions in a single month occurred in November (National Adoption Month!) of 2006, 2005, 2004, 2002 and 2001. And November was the second lowest month for abortions in 2007 and 2003.

 

•  Most abortions in Iowa are performed on white single women between the ages of 18 and 28.
•  The numbers increased among whites and blacks. Abortions are down among Asians and American Indians. The Iowa Department of Public Health does not have abortion statistics on Hispanics. 

•  Iowa statistics are not reported by county as in the rest of the country. There are designated “Maternal and Child Health Regions” which can be obtained from the Iowa Department of Public Health:  Link to Vital Statistics of Iowa

 

In 2007, 1,205 abortions were performed on married women in Iowa,  while 5,415 abortions were performed on single women in Iowa.  29 reported abortions were to people of unknown marital status.

 

The range from 18-22 accounted for 33% of the total abortions in Iowa in 2007.  Abortions on young women, age 17 and under, accounted for 7 percent of Iowa's total abortions.

 

Minorities make up 6.1% of Iowa's population and reportedly received 14.91% of the abortions in the state in 2007. Whites are 93.9% of Iowa's population and reportedly received 77.81% of the abortions in Iowa.

From 2002 to 2005, reported abortions among the white population of Iowa decreased from 5,034 to 4,684 but were back up to 5,174 in 2007. Reported abortions among the black population have been increasing steadily from 405 in 2000 to 753 in 2007.

(Source: Iowa Department of Public Health, Center for Statistics, "Iowa Termination of Pregnancy Reports, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004")

 

From the Centers for Disease Control: “Abortion Surveillance – 2003:”

·        Over 50% of the abortions in Iowa are performed on women in their 20s.

 

Abortions in Iowa by age of mother (2007)

 

For teens, abortion rates and numbers decline due to increasing abstinence and teens continuing their pregnancies.

(Source: Alan Guttmacher Institute, “Overview of Abortion in the U.S. – 2005”)

 

(Source: IDPH: Iowa Vital Statistics, 2007)
 

·        2/3 of all teen pregnancies occur among 18-19 year-olds. (AGI)The abortion rate has declined since 1980, most rapidly from 1990–1996.

 

 

 

•  Planned Parenthood is the number one abortion provider in the state of Iowa.

•  Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa aborts an average of 12 children per day in Iowa.

•  Over half the abortions in Iowa are performed by Planned Parenthood.

•  Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa performed 4,401 abortions in their fiscal year ending June 2008. Estimating the cost of an average abortion to be around $400, Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa could rake in more than $1.76 million annually in abortions.

•  The total number of abortions reported in Iowa has remained somewhat steady from 2000 to 2007, with 6,059 in 2000 to 6,649 in 2007. (Source: Iowa Department of Public Health, Center for Statistics, "Iowa Termination of Pregnancy Report, 2007")

•  But Planned Parenthood’s abortions have been increasing steadily from 2,898 in their fiscal year ending in 2002 to 4,401 I their fiscal year ending in 2008.

•  Planned Parenthood is the number one abortion provider in the United States, responsible for over 250,000 abortions annually.

•  Planned Parenthood is responsible for one in five abortions in the United States.

•  Planned Parenthood’s clinic income was over $345 million in 2006 – over a third is from abortions.

 

     

•  In 2006, 1.2 million pregnancies were terminated by abortion in the United States.

•  Each year, 2% of all women aged 15–44 had an abortion in 2005; 47 percent have had previous abortions.

•  54 percent of women who have unintended pregnancies were using a contraceptive method during the month they became pregnant.

(Source: Alan Guttmacher Institute, “Facts on Induced Abortion in the U.S. – 2005”)
 

 

•  Over 50 percent of abortion deaths are due to infection and hemorrhage.

•  The abortion rate in the United States is higher than rates in most other Western industrialized countries but lower than rates in eastern Europe and many developing areas.

(Source: Alan Guttmacher Institute, “Overview of Abortion in the U.S. – 2005”)

 

(from www.NRLC.org) 
 

After reaching a high of over 1.6 million in 1990, the number of abortions annually performed in the U.S. has dropped back to levels not seen since the late 1970s.

 

Two independent sources confirm this decline: the government’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI), Planned Parenthood’s special research affiliate monitoring trends in the abortion industry.

The CDC ordinarily develops its annual report on the basis of data received from 52 central health agencies (50 states plus New York City and the District of Columbia). AGI gets its numbers from direct surveys of abortionists.

 

Because of these different methods of data collection, AGI has consistently obtained higher counts than the CDC. CDC researchers have admitted it probably undercounts the total number of abortions because reporting laws vary from state to state and some abortionists probably do not report or under-report the abortions they perform. Nevertheless, because increases and decreases in CDC and AGI numbers have until recently roughly tracked each other, both sources are thought to provide useful information on abortion trends and statistics. The CDC stopped reporting estimates for some states in 1998, making the discrepancy larger.

 

Abortions from AK, CA, NH, and OK were not counted in 1998-99 CDC totals, and numbers for AK, CA, and NH were still missing from 2000-2002; CA NH and WV were excluded from 2003 and 2004. For those areas that did report, additional declines were seen between 1998 and 2001, and in 2003 and 2004. The CDC reported a slight increase in 2002, in contrast with the AGI numbers showing a slight decrease.

The AGI figures for 2001 -2003 are estimates based on abortion reports from over 40 states, and show a downward trend. AGI estimates that abortions decreased in 2003, to the lowest number since 1976.

 

Using AGI figures through 2005, estimating 1,206,200 abortions for 2006 and 2007, and factoring in the possible 3% undercount AGI estimates for its own figures, the total number of abortions performed in the U.S. since 1973 equals 49,551,703.

Based on numbers reported by the Alan Guttmacher Institute 1973-2005, with estimates of 1,206,200 for 2006-2007. AGI estimates a possible 3% under reporting rate, which is factored into the total.

 

  

Reasons Women Have Abortions (from NRLC.org)

Responses listed as primary reason:

Social Reasons (given as primary reason)
Feels unready for child/responsibility	25%
Feels she can’t afford baby	23%
Has all the children she wants / Other family responsibilities	19%
Relationship problem / Single motherhood	8%
Feels she isn’t mature enough	7%
Interference with education / career plans	4%
Parents / Partner wants abortion	<1%
Other reasons	<6.5%
TOTAL (approx.)	93%
Hard Cases (given as primary reason)
Mother’s health	4%
Baby may have a health problem	3%
Rape or Incest	<0.5%
TOTAL (approx.)	7%

Source: NRLC.org
Poll Fact:  An April 2004 Zogby poll found that 56% of Americans support legal abortion in only three or fewer circumstances:  when the pregnancy results from rape or incest or when it threatens the life of the mother.
*Source:  Lawrence Finer, et. al, "Reasons U.S. Women Have Abortions: Quantitative and Qualitative Perspectives"  Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, Vol. 37 No. 3 (Sept., 2005) p. 110.

 

Although there are no reported statistics on how many illegal abortions took place each year prior to 1973, we do know that from 1950 – 1960, about 250 women died each year from illegal abortions.

From 1960-1970, an average of 120 women died from these illegal procedures each year. The number of women dying from abortions declined steadily from 1960 to 1974 and flattened out beyond that point. Whether abortion was legal or illegal did not significantly change the number of women who died. The development of better antibiotics, surgery procedures and the introduction of intensive care units caused the decline in mortality.

If only 39 women died from abortions the year before they were legalized, then either there were not many illegal abortions or illegal abortions were all extremely safe. Since we can assume that all illegal abortions were not extremely safe, it seems obvious that THERE WERE NOT MANY ILLEGAL ABORTIONS. Compared to the 1,000,000 claimed by pro-abortion organizations, Dr. T. Hilgers from Creighton University estimated a figure closer to 100,000 prior to legalization.