U.S. Abortion Statistics By Year (1973-Current)
National Right to Life Committee, 2017
TOTAL ABORTIONS SINCE 1973:
59,115,995
Based on numbers reported by the Guttmacher Institute 1973-2014, with projections of 926,190 for 2015-16. GI estimates a possible 3 percent under reporting rate, which is factored into the overall total. [1/17]
Abortion Numbers Hit Historic Low: Guttmacher Data Analysis
For the first time since 1974, the number of abortions performed in the United States has dropped below one million—926,190 for 2014. Even better news, longer term, is that abortion rates and ratios, which measure the general frequency of abortion and the likelihood that a pregnant woman will abort, are down to levels below what they were in 1973, when Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton first made abortion on demand the law of the land.
In “Abortion Incidence and Service Availability In the United States, 2014” (Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, March 2017), Guttmacher Institute authors Rachel Jones and Jenna Jerman estimate that there were 926,190 abortions performed in the U.S. in 2014.
The Guttmacher Institute also says that there were just 14.6 abortions for every thousand women aged 15-44 as of July 1, 2014 of that year (the abortion rate) and indicates that there were 18.8 abortions for every 100 pregnancies ending in abortion or live births (the abortion ratio).
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported similar declines in the number of abortions over the past couple of decades. These latest numbers from Guttmacher are a strong confirmation of a significant and enduring change in abortion practice and opinion in the United States.