10 Important Facts About Abortion
Know the facts about abortion. Click here for the Spanish version of this fact sheet. 1. The best way to reduce the need for abortion is to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies.
Almost half (49%) of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended, and nearly half of these result in abortion. (1) Better access to birth control, including the “morning-after” pill, honest, age-appropriate sex education, and family-planning services could cut the number of unintended pregnancies and abortions dramatically.
2. Women's freedom to choose is at risk of being restricted by state legislatures and governors all over the country. (2)
If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, 19 states could ban abortion. (3) In those states, the legislature and governor are currently anti-choice. In contrast, in only four states are the legislature and governor currently solidly pro-choice. 3. Roe v. Wade does not give women an "unlimited right to abortion.
Roe was a balanced decision, taking into account both a woman's right to make decisions about her own body and future and the state's interest in protecting potential life. In Roe, the Supreme Court legalized abortion until viability, the point at which the fetus is capable of surviving outside the woman's body. After viability, Roe allows states to ban abortion except when necessary to protect the woman's life or health. (4) 4. Legal abortion is a very safe procedure
The risk of complication is minimal - less than 1% of women experience a major complication. (5) Legal abortion is safer than a tonsillectomy, an appendectomy, or a shot of penicillin. (6) 5. Nearly 9 in 10 abortions take place early in pregnancy.
Eighty-eight percent of abortions are performed during the first trimester of pregnancy, and less than 2% are provided after 21 weeks. (7) 6. Thirty-five percent of women will have an abortion by the time they are 45 years old. (8)
Women of various ages, ethnicities, religious backgrounds and income levels choose abortion, one of the most common surgical procedures. 7. Access to abortion is limited.
Eighty-seven percent of all U.S. counties have no abortion providers. (9)
8. Many religions support a woman's right to choose.
Religions in support of a woman's right to choose include American Baptist Churches USA, Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Church of Christ, the Unitarian Universalist Association, Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism. (10) Only 23% of U.S. Catholics believe that abortion should be illegal in all circumstances. (11) 9. There is no link between abortion and breast cancer.
Anti-choice groups incorrectly claim there is a link between abortion and breast cancer. The issue has been studied exhaustively and the vast bulk of evidence from unbiased sources concludes there is no such link. Most recently, a 2004 study published in The Lancet - a widely respected medical journal - analyzed data from more than 50 other studies and concluded that women do not have an increased risk of breast cancer if they obtain an abortion. (12) 10. In states without parental-involvement laws, 61% of parents know of their daughter's decision to terminate a pregnancy. (13)
Young people should be encouraged to consult their parents about important medical issues - and thankfully, many do. But in cases where it just isn't possible - when incest or abuse is an issue, for instance - a one-size-fits-all law won't help teens; instead, it could put them in danger. September 2006 Notes
1. Lawrence B. Finer and Stanley K. Henshaw, Disparities in Rates of Unintended Pregnancy in the United States, 1994 and 2001, 38 Persp. on Sexual & Reprod. Health 90, 92 (2006).
2. NARAL Pro-Choice America & NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation, Who Decides? The Status of Women's Reproductive Rights in the United States (15th ed. 2006), at http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/choice-action-center/in_your_state/who-decides/.
3. Ibid.
4. Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973).
5. Guttmacher Institute, Facts in Brief: Facts on Induced Abortion in the United States (May 4, 2006).
6. Warren M. Hern, Abortion Practice 23-24 (1984), citing J.E. Wennberg et al., The Need for Assessing the Outcome of Common Medical Practices, 1 Ann. Rev. of Pub. Health 291 (1980); Nancy Felipe Russo, Unwanted Childbearing, Abortion, and Women's Mental Health: Research Findings, Policy Implications, Rocky Mountain Psych. 9 (1992).
7. Centers for Disease Control, Abortion Surveillance—United States, 2002 (Nov. 25, 2005).
8. Guttmacher Institute, Facts in Brief: Facts on Induced Abortion in the United States (May 4, 2006).
9. Lawrence B. Finer and Stanley K. Henshaw, Abortion Incidence and Services in the United States in 2000, 35 Persp. on Sexual & Reprod. Health 6, 10 (2003).
10. Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, We Affirm: Religious Organizations Support Reproductive Choice, at http://www.rcrc.org/pdf/We_affirm.pdf (last visited June 27, 2006).
11. Catholics for a Free Choice, Catholic Attitudes on Sexual Behavior & Reproductive Health, at 17 (2004).
12. Breast Cancer and Abortion: Collaborative Reanalysis of Data from 53 Epidemiological Studies, Including 83,000 Women with Breast Cancer from 16 Countries, 363 Lancet 1007, 1007-16 (2004); Study: No Link Between Abortion, Breast Cancer, USA TODAY, Mar. 26, 2004, at http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-03-26-abortion-cancer_x.htm (last visited June 27, 2006).
13. Stanley K. Henshaw and Kathryn Kost, Parental Involvement in Minors' Abortion Decisions, 24 Fam. Plan. Persp. 196, 199 (1992).
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