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Abortion Statistics

  • Total number of abortions in the U.S. 1973-2020: 63.6 million +
  • 204 abortions per 1,000 live births (according to the Centers for Disease Control)
  • Abortions per 100 pregnancies: 20.3 (Guttmacher Institute)
  • U.S. abortions in 2020: ~930,160 (GI)
  • Abortions per day: ~2,548 (GI)
  • Abortions per hour: ~106 (GI)
  • 1 abortion every 34 seconds (GI)
  • 14.4 abortions/1,000 women aged 15-44 in 2020 (GI)
  • 20.6% of pregnancies in 2020 ended in abortion, compared to 18.4% in 2017 (GI)
  • Pill abortions account for 53% of all U.S abortions in 2020 (GI)

These statistics include only surgical and pill abortions. Because many contraceptive measures are abortifacients (drugs that induce or cause abortions), it is important not to overlook the number of children killed by chemical abortions. Since 1965, an average of 11 million women have used abortifacient methods of birth control in the United States at any given time. Using formulas based on the way the birth control pill works, pharmacy experts project that about 14 million chemical abortions occur in the United States each year, providing a projected total well in excess of 610 million chemical abortions between 1965 and 2009.

When conducting research on abortion statistics, you may also encounter two different sets of numbers. One set is from the Centers for Disease Control, and the other is from the Guttmacher Institute—the “independent research arm” of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

The Guttmacher Institute totals are actually the more accurate since the Institute conducts private research on abortion providers throughout the country and because not all states are required to report to the CDC. In fact, California and New York—where high numbers of abortions occur—are not included in CDC figures.

  • PP non-government clinic income: $360.9 million 
  • PP donations revenue: $694.9 million ($1.59 million/day)
  • PP government grants and reimbursements: $670.4 million ($1.8 million/day)
  • Total profit: $204.7 million
  • Total income: $1.907 billion
  • Number of abortions (medical and surgical): 374,155
  • Total number of abortions per week: 7,195
  • Total number of abortions per day: 1,028
  • Average time between abortions: 84 seconds (1min, 24 sec)
  • Adoption referrals: 1,803
  • Ratio of adoption referrals to abortions: 1 per 208

According to the CDC 38% of abortions are done on non-Hispanic Black mothers. Using this data:

  • Per year estimate: 134,850
  • Per day estimate: 369
  • Per hour estimate: 15
  • Total PP facilities: 567
  • Total PP facilities that perform surgical and medical abortions: 391
  • Total affiliates: 49
  • Highest number of PP facilities: 938 in 1995
(according to 2020 U.S. census)
  • White: 72.9% (47,029,969)
  • Black: 15.1% (9,748,829)
  • Other: 8.8% (5,683,408)

TOTAL: 64,543,832

(according to Centers for Disease Control)
  • White: 30.2% of all abortions; 6.4 abortions per 1000 women; ~1 abortion per 10 live births
  • Black: 41.5% of all abortions; 28.6 abortions per 1000 women; ~1 abortion per 2 live births
  • Hispanic: 21.8% of all abortions; 12.3 abortions per 1000 women; ~1 abortion per 5 live births
  • Other: 6.5% of all abortions; 9.2 abortions per 1000 women; ~1 abortion per 6 live births
(according to the National Center for Health Statistics)
  • 1990: White: 1.85     Black: 2.55     Hispanic: 2.96
  • 2010: White: 1.79     Black: 1.97     Hispanic: 2.35
  • 2018: White: 1.64     Black: 1.79     Hispanic: 1.96