by Wm. Robert Johnston
last updated 14 April 2019
This page presents summary results for estimated abortions in the United States by race/ethnicity and by state. Results are presented primarly for four groups corresponding to categories used by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC):
The two graphs and the table below show U.S. totals by race/ethnicity for 1971-2017 for live births (from CDC birth reports and author's estimates) and abortions (as estimated by the author). Note that 1971-1988 estimates (for both abortions and live births) are highly uncertain.
year | live births | abortions (estimated) | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
total | white, non-Hisp. | black, non-Hisp. | Hispanic | other | total | white, non-Hisp. | black, non-Hisp. | Hispanic | other | |
1971 | 3,555,970 | 2,661,000 | 565,000 | 259,000 | 71,000 | 486,000 | 356,000 | 102,000 | 20,000 | 9,000 |
1974 | 3,159,958 | 2,296,000 | 507,000 | 280,000 | 77,000 | 904,000 | 567,000 | 244,000 | 62,000 | 25,000 |
1977 | 3,326,632 | 2,389,000 | 544,000 | 302,000 | 91,000 | 1,317,000 | 793,000 | 384,000 | 96,000 | 44,000 |
1980 | 3,612,258 | 2,612,000 | 568,000 | 324,000 | 104,000 | 1,554,000 | 971,000 | 410,000 | 123,000 | 50,000 |
1983 | 3,638,933 | 2,550,000 | 563,000 | 396,000 | 129,000 | 1,573,000 | 929,000 | 426,000 | 156,000 | 65,000 |
1986 | 3,756,547 | 2,551,000 | 593,000 | 468,000 | 139,000 | 1,568,000 | 864,000 | 458,000 | 181,000 | 71,000 |
1989 | 4,040,968 | 2,670,000 | 660,000 | 541,000 | 170,000 | 1,613,000 | 828,000 | 495,000 | 206,000 | 84,000 |
1990 | 4,158,212 | 2,705,000 | 673,000 | 602,000 | 178,000 | 1,629,000 | 828,000 | 501,000 | 219,000 | 78,000 |
1991 | 4,110,907 | 2,631,000 | 673,000 | 628,000 | 180,000 | 1,590,000 | 783,000 | 500,000 | 228,000 | 76,000 |
1992 | 4,065,014 | 2,518,000 | 663,000 | 649,000 | 236,000 | 1,565,000 | 735,000 | 500,000 | 240,000 | 85,000 |
1993 | 4,000,240 | 2,506,000 | 648,000 | 662,000 | 185,000 | 1,512,000 | 697,000 | 498,000 | 235,000 | 79,000 |
1994 | 3,952,767 | 2,467,000 | 625,000 | 672,000 | 189,000 | 1,435,000 | 647,000 | 476,000 | 225,000 | 85,000 |
1995 | 3,899,589 | 2,419,000 | 597,000 | 690,000 | 193,000 | 1,361,000 | 583,000 | 463,000 | 229,000 | 86,000 |
1996 | 3,891,494 | 2,394,000 | 587,000 | 711,000 | 200,000 | 1,364,000 | 585,000 | 460,000 | 231,000 | 88,000 |
1997 | 3,880,894 | 2,368,000 | 590,000 | 719,000 | 204,000 | 1,326,000 | 571,000 | 442,000 | 230,000 | 84,000 |
1998 | 3,941,553 | 2,392,000 | 600,000 | 743,000 | 207,000 | 1,302,000 | 565,000 | 426,000 | 228,000 | 83,000 |
1999 | 3,959,417 | 2,377,000 | 596,000 | 772,000 | 215,000 | 1,277,000 | 538,000 | 413,000 | 238,000 | 85,000 |
2000 | 4,058,814 | 2,389,000 | 611,000 | 823,000 | 236,000 | 1,313,000 | 530,000 | 431,000 | 262,000 | 91,000 |
2001 | 4,025,933 | 2,341,000 | 593,000 | 857,000 | 235,000 | 1,289,000 | 506,000 | 419,000 | 267,000 | 98,000 |
2002 | 4,021,726 | 2,313,000 | 581,000 | 882,000 | 246,000 | 1,271,000 | 488,000 | 411,000 | 274,000 | 99,000 |
2003 | 4,089,950 | 2,338,000 | 579,000 | 919,000 | 254,000 | 1,252,000 | 469,000 | 422,000 | 259,000 | 102,000 |
2004 | 4,112,052 | 2,315,000 | 582,000 | 954,000 | 260,000 | 1,221,000 | 447,000 | 416,000 | 257,000 | 102,000 |
2005 | 4,138,349 | 2,296,000 | 587,000 | 993,000 | 262,000 | 1,209,000 | 433,000 | 415,000 | 259,000 | 103,000 |
2006 | 4,265,555 | 2,325,000 | 621,000 | 1,047,000 | 273,000 | 1,235,000 | 434,000 | 423,000 | 277,000 | 102,000 |
2007 | 4,316,233 | 2,327,000 | 631,000 | 1,071,000 | 287,000 | 1,210,000 | 438,000 | 406,000 | 275,000 | 91,000 |
2008 | 4,247,694 | 2,284,000 | 627,000 | 1,051,000 | 286,000 | 1,213,000 | 427,000 | 416,000 | 277,000 | 93,000 |
2009 | 4,130,665 | 2,227,000 | 614,000 | 1,008,000 | 282,000 | 1,154,000 | 405,000 | 398,000 | 263,000 | 88,000 |
2010 | 3,999,386 | 2,176,000 | 593,000 | 953,000 | 277,000 | 1,104,000 | 384,000 | 379,000 | 254,000 | 87,000 |
2011 | 3,953,590 | 2,160,000 | 586,000 | 926,000 | 282,000 | 1,060,000 | 366,000 | 360,000 | 247,000 | 86,000 |
2012 | 3,952,841 | 2,149,000 | 587,000 | 917,000 | 300,000 | 1,010,000 | 349,000 | 344,000 | 232,000 | 85,000 |
2013 | 3,932,181 | 2,143,000 | 587,000 | 909,000 | 293,000 | 959,000 | 322,000 | 333,000 | 220,000 | 84,000 |
2014 | 3,988,076 | 2,164,000 | 593,000 | 923,000 | 309,000 | 927,000 | 323,000 | 317,000 | 204,000 | 83,000 |
2015 | 3,978,497 | 2,146,000 | 593,000 | 934,000 | 306,000 | 896,000 | 308,000 | 309,000 | 197,000 | 82,000 |
2016 | 3,945,875 | 2,117,000 | 572,000 | 949,000 | 308,000 | 875,000 | 294,000 | 303,000 | 200,000 | 79,000 |
2017 | 3,855,500 | 2,051,000 | 575,000 | 928,000 | 301,000 | 851,000 | 280,000 | 295,000 | 195,000 | 77,000 |
year | live births | abortions (estimated) | ||||||||
total | white, non-Hisp. | black, non-Hisp. | Hispanic | other | total | white, non-Hisp. | black, non-Hisp. | Hispanic | other |
Estimates for abortion by race/ethnicity were produced as follows: For years 1989-2017, available abortion data by race/ethnicity of mother were compiled from CDC abortion surveillance reports and supplemented by state health agency reporting. Live birth data by race/ethnicity of child were compiled from CDC birth reporting (e.g., Martin et al., 2017). Total abortions for each state are based on data reported by the CDC or the states supplemented by the author's estimates (Johnston, 2018, 2019). Proportions of reported abortions by race/ethnicity are applied to total abortions for each state. For states where abortion data by race/ethnicity are incomplete (either not all four groups are included or data are missing for some years), abortions are estimated assuming consistency in relative abortion ratios for the four groups. Where no data by race/ethnicity are available at all for a state (Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, New Hampshire), relative abortion ratios are assumed similar to overall national values. For years 1971-1988, estimates are highly uncertain. Estimates of Hispanic population were used to estimate white Hispanic and non-Hispanic live births. Guttmacher Institute abortions estimates are available for 1973-1988 for white (both Hispanic and non-Hispanic) and non-white (both black and other) women. Estimated breakdowns for the four groups were produced based on comparisons to live birth data. Abortion data by race is available for 1971 for New York City and Hawaii (Nelson et al., 1972; Zimring, 1971), which account for nearly half of estimated 1971 abortions nationwide.
The next graph shows abortion percentage (abortions as a fraction of total live births plus abortions) by race/ethnicity over time. Abortion percentage for blacks has consistently been much higher than percentages for other racial/ethnic groups.
The next two graphs show the fraction of all U.S. abortions and live births by racial/ethnic groups.
Total estimated abortions by race/ethnicity for 1965-2018 (and compared to current population) are:
The CDC does not provide breakdowns of abortions among races grouped as "other"--Asian, American Indian, Native Alaskan, and Pacific Islander. For at least some years in 1993-2017, some breakdowns were reported by 27 states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. As seen in the next graph, data from these states show generally similar abortion percentages among these racial groups. (Unlike data presented above, the abortion percentages in the graph below are not adjusted for underreporting or unknown race.) Asian American abortion percentages are slightly higher than for the other groups. When states are compared, American Indian abortion percentages are generally higher than Asian abortion percentages in states with high overall abortion percentages, but generally lower in states with low overall abortion percentages.
year | live births | abortions | abortion percentage | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
number | % of total | number | % of total | ||
white | 2,051,000 | 53.2 | 280,000 | 32.9 | 12.0 |
black | 575,000 | 14.9 | 295,000 | 34.7 | 33.9 |
Hispanic | 928,000 | 24.1 | 195,000 | 23.0 | 17.4 |
Asian | 260,000 | 6.7 | 68,000 | 8.0 | 20.8 |
American Indian/Alaskan Native | 31,300 | 0.8 | 7,000 | 0.8 | 18.4 |
Pacific Islander | 10,400 | 0.3 | 2,400 | 0.3 | 18.6 |
TOTAL | 3,855,500 | 100.0 | 851,000 | 100.0 | 18.1 |
The chart below shows the relative fractions of live births and abortions in the United States by race and ethnicity for 2017. The overall pie segments represent the fractions of pregnancies (live births plus abortions) by group. Within each racial/ethinic group, the darker color represents the fraction of pregnancies ending in abortion (all areas are proportional to estimated numbers).
The maps below shows abortion percentages by state and by race, where abortion percentage is abortions as a percentage of the total of live births and abortions (excluding miscarriages and stillbirths). Several comments:
Sources: (incomplete)
© 2019 by Wm. Robert Johnston.
Last modified 14 April 2019.
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