Definition of table data (see notes after table for additional information):

• Live births.
• Abortions, reported includes legal reported induced abortions.
• Abortions, residents, in country only includes reported abortions obtained within the country by residents only.
• Abortions, residents, obtained abroad includes reported abortions by country residents obtained in other countries.
• Abortions, residents, total includes reported abortions by residents, obtained both within the country and abroad.
• Fetal deaths generally includes fetal deaths or stillbirths of at least 20 weeks` gestation.
• Miscarriages generally includes spontaneous fetal losses/ abortions, fetal deaths, or stillbirths, regardless of gestation period.
• Abortion ratio is abortions per 1000 live births.
• Abortion % is abortions as percentage of pregnancies (excluding fetal deaths/miscarriages).
• Abortion rate is abortions per 1000 women of childbearing age.

Notes:

• Parenthetical figures are estimates, some of which are derived from reported data.
• Abortion ratios, percentages, and rates may be based on a mix of data from different sources and thus may not represent a consistent time series.

Sources:

• Callahan, Daniel, 1970, Abortion: Law, Choice and Morality, Macmillan Co. (New York, NY).
• Goto, Aya, Chihaya Fujiyama-Koriyama, Akira Fukao, and Michael R. Reich, 2000, "Abortion trends in Japan, 1975-95," Studies in Family Planning, 31(4):301-308.
• Government Statistical Service, 19 June 2007, "Statistical Bulletin: Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2007," Department of Health, on line [http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/idcplg?IdcService=GET_FILE&dID=142305&Rendition=Web].
• Henshaw, Stanley K., Susheela Singh, and Taylor Haas, 1999, "Recent trends in abortion rates worldwide," International Family Planning Perspectives, 25(1):, on line at AGI [http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/2504499.html].
• Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, 2006, "Summary of vital statistics," Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, on line [http://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/database/db-hw/populate/xls/inter2.xls].
• Muramatsu, Minoru, 1988, "Japan," in International Handbook on Abortion, ed. by Paul Sachdev, Greenwood Press (New York, NY), pp. 293-301.
• Muramatsu, Minoru, and Toshio Kuroda, 1974, "Japan," in Population Policy in Developed Countries, ed. by Bernard Berelson, McGraw Hill (New York, NY), pp. 704-730.
• National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, 31 March 2003, Population Statistics of Japan, 2003, NIPSSR (Toyko, Japan), on line at NIPSSR [http://www.ipss.go.jp/p-info/e/psj2003/PSJ2003.pdf].
• Potts, Malcolm, Peter Diggory, and John Peel, 1977, Abortion, Cambridge Univ. Press (Cambridge, UK).
• Sedgh, Gilda, Stanley K. Henshaw, Susheela Singh, Akinrinola Bankole, and Taylor Haas, Sept. 2007, "Legal abortion worldwide: incidence and recent trends," International Family Planning Perspectives, 33:106-116, on line at AGI [http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3310607.html].
• Tietze, Christopher, 1963, "Some Facts about Legal Abortion," in Human Fertility and Population Problems, ed. by Roy O. Greep, Schenkman Publ. Co. (Cambridge, MA), pp. 222-236.
• Tietze, Christopher, 1969, "Induced abortion as a method of fertility control," in Fertility and Family Planning: A World View, ed. by S. J. Behrman, Leslie Corsa, Jr., and Ronald Freedman, Univ. of Michigan Press (Ann Arbor, MI), pp. 311-337.
• Tietze, Christopher, 1976, "Incidence of legal abortion," in Liberalization of Abortion Laws: Implications, ed. by Abdel R. Omran, Carolina Population Center (Chapel Hill, NC), pp. 1-17.
• Tietze, Christopher, ed., 1981, Induced Abortion: A World Review 1981, Population Council (New York, NY).
• U.K. Parliament, 30 Nov. 1987, "Abortion," HANSARD 1804Ð2004, on line [http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/written_answers/1987/nov/30/abortion].
• United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2000, "Table 5. Live births by age of mother, sex and urban/rural residence: 1948-1997," in United Nations Demographic Yearbook 1948-1997: Historical Supplement, United Nations (New York, NY), on line at United Nations Statistics Division [http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/DYBHist/HistTab05.pdf].
• United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2002, "Table 1. Live births by sex and urban/rural residence: 1980-1999," in United Nations Demographic Yearbook 1999 Natality Supplement, United Nations (New York, NY), on line at United Nations Statistics Division [http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/DYBNat/NatStatTab01.pdf].
• United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2004, "Table 13. Legally induced abortions: 1993-2002," in United Nations Demographic Yearbook 2002, United Nations (New York, NY), on line at United Nations Statistics Division [http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2002/Table13.pdf].
• United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2006, "Table 12. Late foetal deaths and late foetal death ratios, by urban/rural residence: 2000-2004," in United Nations Demographic Yearbook 2004, United Nations (New York, NY), on line at United Nations Statistics Division [http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/DYB2004/Table12.pdf].
• United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2006, "Table 13. Legally induced abortions: 1995-2004," in United Nations Demographic Yearbook 2004, United Nations (New York, NY), on line at United Nations Statistics Division [http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/DYB2004/Table13.pdf].
• United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2007, "Table 13. Legally induced abortions: 1996-2005," in United Nations Demographic Yearbook 2005, United Nations (New York, NY), on line at United Nations Statistics Division [http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2005/Table13.pdf].
• United Nations Statistics Division, 21 Feb. 2008, "Live births by sex and urban/rural residence," on line at UNdata [http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a4].

© 2000-2007, 2008 by Wm. Robert Johnston.
Last modified 4 June 2008.
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