Worldwide Abortion Rates Down

Four million fewer abortions were performed worldwide in
2003 than in 1995, according to a new study published in The Lancet.

The study includes international abortion statistics from 1995 and 2003, the
most recent year for which abortion statistics are available in many
countries.

Findings include:

• There were 42 million abortions in 2003, down from 46 million in 1995.


• The 2003 global abortion rate was 29 per 1,000 women aged 15-44, down from
  35 per 1,000 in 1995.


• The 2003 abortion rate in the U.S. and Canada was 21 per 1,000 women.


• Western Europe had the lowest abortion rate.


• Eastern Europe had the highest abortion rate.


• Nearly half (48%) of all abortions in 2003 were unsafe, and most unsafe
  abortions (97%) were in developing countries.

They used the WHO's definition of unsafe abortions, which include "any
procedure to terminate an unintended pregnancy done either by people lacking
the necessary skills or in an environment that does not conform to minimal
medical standards, or both."

Unsafe abortions included abortions in countries with "restrictive
abortion laws, as well as abortions that do not meet legal requirements in
countries with less restrictive laws," write the Guttmacher Institute's
Gilda Sedgh, ScD, and colleagues.

Based on the findings, Sedgh's team writes that "unsafe and safe
abortions correspond in large part with illegal and legal abortions,
respectively."

By Miranda Hitti
Reviewed by Louise Chang
©2005-2006 WebMD, Inc. All rights reserved