Characteristics of U.S. women having abortions, 1982-1983

Abstract

In 1982 and 1983, as in previous years, the majority of abortions in the United States were obtained by young women (62 percent), white women (70 percent) and unmarried women (81 percent). Half of all abortions were performed eight or fewer weeks after the last menstrual period, and 91 percent, at 12 weeks or earlier. The proportion of abortions that were repeat procedures continued to rise, to 37 percent in 1982 and 39 percent in 1983. The rate of abortion, 29 per 1,000, has remained essentially the same since 1981. Women aged 18-19 continue to have the highest abortion rate of any age-group (60 per 1,000). While most abortions are obtained by white women, the nonwhite abortion rate is more than twice that of whites. Thirty percent of all pregnancies were terminated by abortion in 1983, the same proportion as in 1982 and 1981. The highest abortion ratios are found among unmarried women (63 percent), women 40 and older (51 percent), teenagers (42 percent) and nonwhites (40 percent). Teenage nonwhites and whites have about the same abortion ratios. After rising during the 1970s, the adolescent pregnancy rate peaked around 1980-1981 and fell slightly in 1982-1983. The relative differentials between the pregnancy, birth and abortion rates of nonwhite and white teenagers narrowed somewhat between 1978 and 1981, but then widened slightly between 1981 and 1983.

PIP: As part of its program of monitoring abortion services in the US, the Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI) periodically updates statistics on the demographic characteristics of women who have abortions, on the stages of gestation at which abortions are performed, and on the types of procedures used. The previous report of these statistics covered 1980-81. The data presented have been estimated by applying the percentage distributions of abortions according to various characteristics -- as determined for each year by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) abortion surveillance system -- to the total number of abortions estimated by the AGI. The percentage distributions obtained from the CDC data have been adjested to remove the influence of extraneous year-to-year changes in the data. The total numbers of abortions come from the AGI's periodic national surveys of all abortion providers identified in the US. The figure for 1982 comes from the survey conducted in that year; the total for 1983 is based on a preliminary analysis of the 1984-85 provider survey. Table 1 shows the number and percentage distribution of abortions performed in 1982 and 1983 by selected characteristics of the women. In both years, 1.57 million procedures were performed. This stability in the number is inconsistent with earlier estimates, based on other data, that had suggested a decline in the number of abortions after 1982. In 1982 and 1983, as in previous years, the majority of abortions in the US were obtained by young women (62% under age 25), white women (70%), and unmarried women (81%). Half of all abortions were performed 8 or fewer weeks after the last menstrual period, and 91%, at 12 weeks or earlier. The proportion of abortions that were repeated procedures continued to rise, to 37% in 1982 and 39% in 1983. The rate of abortion, 29/1000, has remained essentially the same since 1981. Women aged 18-19 continue to have the highest abortion rate of any group (60/1000). While most abortions are obtained by white women, the nonwhite abortion rate is more than twice that of whites. 30% of all pregnancies were terminated by abortion in 1983, the same proportion as in 1982 and 1981. The highest abortion ratios are found among unmarried women (63%), women 40 and older (51%), teenagers (42%), and nonwhites (40%). Teenage nonwhites and whites have about the same ratios. After rising during the 1970s, the adolescent pregnancy rate peaked around 1980-81 and fell slightly in 1982-83. The relative differentials between the pregnancy, birth, and abortion rates of nonwhite and white teenagers narrowed somewhat between 1978-81, but then widened slightly between 1981-83.