Abortion Surveillance — United States, 1996
Problem/Condition: In 1969, CDC began abortion surveillance to document the number and characteristics of women obtaining legal induced abortions, to monitor unintended pregnancy, and to assist efforts to identify and reduce preventable causes of morbidity and mortality associated with abortions. Re...
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| Published in: | MMWR. Surveillance summaries Vol. 48; no. SS-4; pp. i - 42 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Epidemiology Program Office, Centers for Disease Control, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
30-07-1999
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | Problem/Condition: In 1969, CDC began abortion surveillance to document the number and characteristics of women obtaining legal induced abortions, to monitor unintended pregnancy, and to assist efforts to identify and reduce preventable causes of morbidity and mortality associated with abortions. Reporting Period Covered: This report summarizes and reviews information reported to CDC regarding legal induced abortions obtained in the United States in 1996. This report also includes recently reported abortion-related deaths that occurred in 1992. Description of System: For each year since 1969, CDC has compiled abortion data received from 52 reporting areas in the United States: 50 states, the District of Columbia, and New York City. Results: In 1996, a total of 1,221,585 legal abortions were reported to CDC, representing a 0.9% increase from the number reported for 1995. The abortion ratio was 314 legal induced abortions per 1,000 live births, and as in 1995, the abortion rate was 20 per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years. Women who were undergoing an abortion were more likely to be young (i.e. aged <25 years), white, and unmarried; most were obtaining an abortion for the first time. More than one half of all abortions (55%) were performed at ≤8 weeks of gestation, and approximately 88% were performed before 13 weeks. Approximately 16% of abortions were performed at the earliest weeks of gestation (≤6 weeks), approximately 17% at 7 weeks of gestation, and approximately 21% at 8 weeks of gestation. Few abortions were provided after 15 weeks of gestation — approximately 4% of abortions were obtained at 16–20 weeks, and 1.5% were obtained at ≥21 weeks. Younger women (i.e., women aged ≤24 years) were more likely to obtain abortions later in pregnancy than were older women. In 1992, 10 women died as a result of complications from legal induced abortion, and no deaths were reported associated with illegal abortion. In 1992, the case-fatality rate of legal induced abortion was 0.7 abortion-related deaths per 100,000 legal induced abortions. Interpretation: From 1990 through 1995, the number of abortions declined each year; in 1996, the number of abortions in the United States stabilized. As in previous years, deaths related to legal induced abortions occurred rarely (i.e., approximately one death per 100,000 legal induced abortions). Actions Taken: The number and characteristics of women who obtain abortions in the United States should continue to be monitored so that trends in induced abortion can be assessed, efforts to prevent unintended pregnancy can be evaluated, and the preventable causes of morbidity and mortality associated with abortions can be identified and reduced. |
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| ISSN: | 1546-0738 1545-8636 |