Abortion Surveillance

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Abstract

Problem/Condition: CDC conducts abortion surveillance to document the number and characteristics of women obtaining legal induced abortions and number of abortion-related deaths in the United States.

Period Covered: 2021.

Description of System: Each year, CDC requests abortion data from the central health agencies for the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and New York City. For 2021, a total of 48 reporting areas voluntarily provided aggregate abortion data to CDC. Of these, 47 reporting areas provided data each year during 2012–2021. Census and natality data were used to calculate abortion rates (number of abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years) and ratios (number of abortions per 1,000 live births), respectively. Abortion-related deaths from 2020 were assessed as part of CDC’s Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System (PMSS).

Results: A total of 625,978 abortions for 2021 were reported to CDC from 48 reporting areas. Among 47 reporting areas with data each year during 2012–2021, in 2021, a total of 622,108 abortions were reported, the abortion rate was 11.6 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years, and the abortion ratio was 204 abortions per 1,000 live births. From 2020 to 2021, the total number of abortions increased 5% (from 592,939 total abortions), the abortion rate increased 5% (from 11.1 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years), and the abortion ratio increased 4% (from 197 abortions per 1,000 live births). From 2012 to 2021, the total number of reported abortions decreased 8% (from 673,634), the abortion rate decreased 11% (from 13.1 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years), and the abortion ratio decreased 1% (from 207 abortions per 1,000 live births).

In 2021, women in their 20s accounted for more than half of abortions (57.0%). Women aged 20–24 and 25–29 years accounted for the highest percentages of abortions (28.3% and 28.7%, respectively) and had the highest abortion rates (19.7 and 19.4 abortions per 1,000 women aged 20–24 and 25–29 years, respectively). By contrast, adolescents aged <15 years and women aged>

From 2020 to 2021, abortion rates increased among women aged 20–39 years, decreased among adolescents aged 15–19 years, and did not change among adolescents aged <15 years and women aged>13 weeks’ gestation remained ≤8.7%. In 2021, the highest percentage of abortions were performed by early medication abortion at ≤9 weeks’ gestation (53.0%), followed by surgical abortion at ≤13 weeks’ gestation (37.6%), surgical abortion at >13 weeks’ gestation (6.4%), and medication abortion at >9 weeks’ gestation (3.0%); all other methods were uncommon (<0>

Interpretation: Among the 47 areas that reported data continuously during 2012–2021, overall decreases were observed during 2012–2021 in the total number, rate, and ratio of reported abortions; however, from 2020 to 2021, increases were observed across all measures.

Public Health Action: Abortion surveillance can be used to help evaluate programs aimed at promoting equitable access to patient-centered quality contraceptive services in the United States to reduce unintended pregnancies.

Introduction

This report summarizes data on legal induced abortions for 2021 that were provided voluntarily to CDC by the central health agencies of 48 reporting areas (46 states, the District of Columbia, and New York City, excluding California, Maryland, New Hampshire, and New Jersey) and comparisons over time for the 47 reporting areas that reported each year during 2012–2021 (46 states and New York City). This report also summarizes abortion-related deaths reported voluntarily to CDC for 2020 as part of the Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System (PMSS). Since 1969, CDC has conducted abortion surveillance to document the number and characteristics of women obtaining legal induced abortions in the United States. After nationwide legalization of abortion in 1973, the total number, rate (number of abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years), and ratio (number of abortions per 1,000 live births) of reported abortions increased rapidly, reaching the highest levels in the 1980s, before decreasing at a slow yet steady pace (1,2). During 2006–2008, a break occurred in the previously sustained pattern of decrease (3,4), although this break was followed in subsequent years by even greater decreases (5,6). However, from 2018 to 2019, increases of 1%–3% were observed across all measures (7). From 2019 to 2020, decreases were observed in the total number and rate of reported abortions; however, a 2% increase was observed in the total abortion ratio (8). Abortion incidence and practices have varied over the years and continue to vary across subpopulations (914), highlighting the utility of continued surveillance.

Methods

Description of the Surveillance System

Each year, CDC requests aggregate data from the central health agencies of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and New York City to document the number and characteristics of women obtaining legal induced abortions in the United States. Not all persons who obtain abortions identify as women; the term “women” has been maintained in this report to be consistent with the collection and reporting of denominator data used to calculate abortion rates and ratios. This report contains data voluntarily reported to CDC as of June 15, 2023. For the purpose of surveillance, legal induced abortion is defined as an intervention performed within the limits of state and jurisdiction law by a licensed clinician (e.g., a physician, nurse-midwife, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant) intended to terminate a suspected or known intrauterine pregnancy and that does not result in a live birth. This definition excludes management of intrauterine fetal death, early pregnancy failure or loss, ectopic pregnancy, or retained products of conception. All abortions in this report are considered to be legally induced unless stated otherwise.

In most states and jurisdictions, the collection of abortion data is facilitated by a legal requirement for hospitals, facilities, or physicians to report abortions to a central health agency (15); however, reporting is not complete in all areas, including in certain areas with reporting requirements (16). The reporting of abortion data to CDC is voluntary and many reporting areas have developed their own data collection forms and might not collect or provide all the information requested by CDC. As a result, the level of detail reported by CDC might vary from year to year and by reporting area. To encourage uniform collection of data, the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems (NAPHSIS) with technical assistance from CDC developed technical guidance for vital statistics personnel who collect and summarize abortion data within the United States (17).

Variables and Categorization of Data

Each year, CDC sends a suggested template to central health agencies in the United States for compilation of aggregate abortion data among women obtaining legal induced abortions. Aggregate abortion numbers, without individual-level records, are requested for the following variables:

  • Age group in years of women obtaining legal induced abortions (<15>
  • Gestational age of pregnancy in completed weeks at the time of abortion (≤6, 7–20 by individual week, or ≥21)
  • Race (Black, White, or other [including Alaska Native, American Indian, Asian [Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, or other Asian], Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander [Native Hawaiian, Guamanian or Chamorro, Samoan, or other Pacific Islander], other races, and multiple races]), ethnicity (Hispanic or non-Hispanic), and race by ethnicity
  • Method type (surgical abortion, intrauterine instillation, medication [nonsurgical] abortion, or hysterectomy or hysterotomy)
  • Marital status (married [including currently married or separated] or unmarried [including never married, widowed, or divorced])
  • Number of previous live births (zero, one, two, three, or four or more)
  • Number of previous induced abortions (zero, one, two, or three or more)
  • Residence (the state, jurisdiction, territory, or foreign country in which the women obtaining the abortion lived, or, if additional details are unavailable, in-reporting area versus out-of-reporting area)

In addition, the template provided by CDC requests that aggregate abortion numbers for certain variables be cross-tabulated by a second variable. The cross-tabulations presented in this report include weeks of gestation separately by method type, by age group, and by race and ethnicity.

Beginning with 2014 data, instead of reporting the clinicians’ estimate of gestational age or estimates of gestational age based on last menstrual period, certain areas have reported “probable postfertilization age,” “clinician’s estimate of gestation based on date of conception,” and “probable gestational age” to CDC. To facilitate consistency between data reported as postfertilization age and the data collection practices for gestational age recommended by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (18), 2 weeks were added to probable postfertilization age. This method was used to account for time after last menstrual period until ovulation in a standard 28-day cycle because fertilization occurs around the time of ovulation (19). No modifications were made to data reported as clinician’s estimate of gestational age based on date of conception or data reported as probable gestational age.

In this report, medication and surgical abortions are further categorized by gestational age when available in the categories reported to CDC. Early medication abortion is defined as the administration of medications (typically mifepristone followed by misoprostol) to induce an abortion at ≤9 completed weeks’ gestation, consistent with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) labeling for mifepristone that was implemented in 2016 (20). CDC collects information only on the estimated number of weeks (not days) of gestation and acknowledges the conventional use of completed weeks of gestation to describe pregnancy duration; therefore, CDC’s category of ≤9 weeks’ gestation includes abortions through 9 weeks and 6 days. Medications (typically serial prostaglandins, sometimes administered after mifepristone) also might be used to induce an abortion at >9 weeks’ gestation. Surgical abortions, which include uterine aspiration (i.e., dilation and curettage, aspiration curettage, suction curettage, manual vacuum aspiration, menstrual extraction, or sharp curettage) and dilation and evacuation procedures, are categorized as having been performed at ≤13 weeks’ gestation or at >13 weeks’ gestation because of differences in surgical technique at these gestational ages (21). Finally, because intrauterine instillations are unlikely to be performed early in gestation (22), abortions reported to have been performed by intrauterine instillation at ≤12 weeks’ gestation are excluded from calculation of the percentage of abortions by known method type and are grouped with unknown type.

Measures of Abortion

Four measures of abortion are presented in this report: 1) the number of abortions in a specific population, 2) the percentage of abortions by selected characteristics, 3) the abortion rate (number of abortions per 1,000 women within a specific population), and 4) the abortion ratio (number of abortions per 1,000 live births within a specific population). Abortion rates adjust for differences in population size. Abortion ratios measure the relative number of pregnancies in a specific population that end in abortion compared with live birth.

U.S. Census Bureau estimates of the resident female population were used as the denominator for calculating abortion rates (2332). Overall abortion rates were calculated from the population of women aged 15–44 years living in the reporting areas that provided continuously reported data. For adolescents aged <15 years>33,34). For calculation of the total abortion rates and total ratios only, women with unknown data on selected characteristics (e.g., age, race and ethnicity, and marital status) were distributed according to the distribution of abortions among those with known information on the characteristic. For calculation of totals only, abortions for women with an unknown gestational age of pregnancy but known method type were distributed according to the distribution of abortions among those with known information on method type by gestational age to the following categories: surgical, ≤13 weeks’ gestation; surgical, >13 weeks’ gestation; medication, ≤9 weeks’ gestation; and medication, >9 weeks’ gestation.

Data Presentation and Analysis

This report provides aggregate and reporting area–specific abortion numbers, rates, and ratios for the 48 areas that reported to CDC for 2021, which excluded California, Maryland, New Hampshire, and New Jersey. In addition, this report describes characteristics of women who obtained abortions in 2021. The data in this report are presented by the reporting area in which the abortions were performed.

The completeness and quality of data received vary by year, by variable, and by reporting area; this report only describes the characteristics of women obtaining abortions in reporting areas that met CDC reporting standards (i.e., reported at least 20 abortions overall, provided data categorized in accordance with requested variables, and had <15% unknown values for a specific characteristic>

The percentage change in abortion measures (number, rate, and ratio of reported abortions) from the most recent past year (2020 to 2021) and during the 10-year period of analysis (2012–2021) were calculated for the 47 areas that reported every year during 2012–2021. The percentage change was also calculated and reported for abortions by age group, weeks of gestation, and early medication abortions (≤9 completed weeks’ gestation) for areas that met reporting standards for these variables every year during 2012–2021. As a result, aggregate measures for 2021 in percentage change analyses might differ from the point estimates reported for 2021. These data describe the percentage changes in abortion measures over time and abortion measures among groups for each characteristic. No statistical testing was performed. Comparisons do not imply statistical significance, and lack of comment regarding the difference between values does not imply that no statistically significant difference exists.

Abortion Mortality

CDC has reported data on abortion-related deaths periodically since information on abortion mortality first was included in the 1972 abortion surveillance report (8,35). An abortion-related death is defined as a death resulting from a direct complication of an abortion (legal or illegal), an indirect complication caused by a chain of events initiated by an abortion, or an aggravation of a pre-existing condition by the physiologic effects of abortion. An abortion is categorized as legal when it is performed by a licensed clinician within the limits of state or jurisdiction law.

Since 1987, CDC has monitored abortion-related deaths through PMSS, which includes data from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and New York City (36). Sources of data to identify abortion-related deaths have included state or jurisdiction vital records; media reports, including computerized searches of full-text newspaper and other media databases; and individual case reports by public health agencies, including maternal mortality review committees, and any additional data when available. For each death that is possibly related to abortion, CDC requests clinical records and autopsy reports. Two medical epidemiologists independently review these reports to determine the cause of death and whether the death was abortion related. Discrepancies are discussed and resolved by consensus. Each death is categorized by abortion type as legal induced, illegal induced, spontaneous, or unknown type.

This report provides PMSS data on induced abortion-related deaths that occurred in 2020, the most recent year for which PMSS data are available. For 1998–2020, abortion surveillance data reported to CDC cannot be used alone to calculate national case-fatality rates for legal induced abortions (number of legal induced abortion-related deaths per 100,000 reported legal induced abortions in the United States) because eight reporting areas did not report abortion data every year during this period (Alaska, 1998–2000; California, 1998–2020; the District of Columbia, 2016; Louisiana, 2005; Maryland, 2007–2020; New Hampshire, 1998–2020; Oklahoma, 1998–1999; and West Virginia, 2003–2004). Thus, denominator data for calculation of national legal induced abortion case-fatality rates for 1998–2020 were obtained from a published report by the Guttmacher Institute that includes estimated total numbers of abortions in the United States from a national survey of abortion-providing facilities (37). Because rates determined on the basis of a numerator <20 are unstable>38), national case-fatality rates for legal induced abortion were calculated for consecutive 5-year periods during 1973–2012 and then for a consecutive 8-year period during 2013–2020.

Results

Total Abortions Reported to CDC by Occurrence

Among the 48 reporting areas that provided data for 2021, a total of 625,978 abortions were reported. Of these abortions, 622,108 were from 47 reporting areas that provided data every year during 2012–2021. In 2021, these continuously reporting areas had an abortion rate of 11.6 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years and an abortion ratio of 204 abortions per 1,000 live births (Table 1). From 2020 to 2021, the total number of reported abortions increased 5% (from 592,939 total abortions), the abortion rate increased 5% (from 11.1 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years), and the abortion ratio increased 4% (from 197 abortions per 1,000 live births). From 2012 to 2021, the total number of reported abortions decreased 8% (from 673,634), the abortion rate decreased 11% (from 13.1 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years), and the abortion ratio decreased 1% (from 207 abortions per 1,000 live births) (Figure).

In 2021, the range by reporting area of occurrence in abortion rates was considerable (from 0.1 to 21.8 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years in Missouri and the District of Columbia) and abortion ratios (from two to 447 abortions per 1,000 live births in Missouri and the District of Columbia) (Table 2). The percentage of abortions obtained by out-of-area residents also varied by reporting areas (from 0.6% in Arizona to 70.8% in the District of Columbia).

Age Group, Race and Ethnicity, and Marital Status

Among the 48 areas that reported abortion numbers by women’s age for 2021, women in their 20s accounted for more than half of abortions (57.0%) (Table 3). Women aged 20–24 and 25–29 years accounted for the highest percentages of abortions (28.3% and 28.7%, respectively) and had the highest abortion rates (19.7 and 19.4 abortions per 1,000 women aged 20–24 and 25–29 years, respectively). By contrast, adolescents aged <15 years and women aged>

Among the 43 reporting areas that provided data each year by women’s age for 2012–2021, the highest percentages of abortions and the highest abortion rates occurred among women aged 20–29 years and the lowest percentages of abortions and lowest abortion rates occurred among adolescents aged <15 years and women aged>Table 4). From 2020 to 2021, abortion rates increased among women aged 20–39 years, decreased among adolescents aged 15–19 years, and did not change among adolescents aged <15 years and women aged>

From 2012 to 2021, abortion rates decreased among all age groups, except women aged 30–34 years for whom it increased. The decrease in the abortion rate was highest among adolescents (50% and 41% for adolescents aged <15 and 15="15">

Among the 46 areas that reported age by individual year among adolescents for 2021, adolescents aged 18–19 years accounted for the highest percentage (72.0%) of adolescent abortions and had the highest abortion rates (8.3 and 12.0 abortions per 1,000 adolescents aged 18 and 19 years, respectively) (Table 5). Among adolescents, those aged <15 years accounted for the lowest percentage of abortions>

Among the 33 areas that reported race by ethnicity data for 2021, non-Hispanic White (White) women and non-Hispanic Black (Black) women accounted for the highest percentages of all abortions (30.2% and 41.5%, respectively), and Hispanic women and non-Hispanic women in the other race category accounted for lower percentages (21.8% and 6.5%, respectively) (Table 6). White women had the lowest abortion rate (6.4 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years) and ratio (116 abortions per 1,000 live births), and Black women had the highest abortion rate (28.6 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years) and ratio (498 abortions per 1,000 live births).

For 2021, among the 37 areas that reported by marital status, 12.7% of women who obtained an abortion were married, and 87.3% were unmarried (Table 7). The abortion ratio was 41 abortions per 1,000 live births for married women and 404 abortions per 1,000 live births for unmarried women.

Previous Live Births and Previous Induced Abortions

For 2021, among the 42 areas that reported the number of previous live births, 39.3%, 24.3%, 20.0%, 9.8%, and 6.6% of abortions reported were among women who had zero, one, two, three, or four or more previous live births, respectively (Table 8). Among the 42 areas that reported the number of previous induced abortions, 57.3%, 24.5%, 10.5%, and 7.7% of abortions reported were among women who had had zero, one, two, or three or more previous induced abortions, respectively (Table 9).

Weeks of Gestation and Method Type

For 2021, among the 41 areas that reported gestational age at the time of abortion, 80.8% of abortions were performed at ≤9 weeks’ gestation, and 93.5% were performed at ≤13 weeks’ gestation (Table 10). Fewer abortions were performed at 14–20 weeks’ gestation (5.7%) or at ≥21 weeks’ gestation (0.9%). Among the 35 reporting areas that provided data every year on gestational age for 2012–2021, the percentage of abortions performed at ≤13 weeks’ gestation changed from 91.7% in 2012 to 92.9% in 2021 (Table 11). However, within this gestational age range, a shift occurred toward earlier gestational ages, with the percentage of abortions performed at ≤6 weeks’ gestation increasing 13% and the percentage of abortions performed at 7–9 weeks’ and 10–13 weeks’ gestation decreasing 0.5% and 19%, respectively.

Among the 46 areas that reported by method type for 2021 and included medication abortion on their reporting form, 53.0% of abortions were early medication abortions (a nonsurgical abortion at ≤9 weeks’ gestation), 37.6% were surgical abortions at ≤13 weeks’ gestation, 6.4% were surgical abortions at >13 weeks’ gestation, and 3.0% were medication abortions at >9 weeks’ gestation; other methods, including intrauterine instillation and hysterectomy/hysterotomy, were rare (<0>Table 12). During 2012−2021, a total of 37 reporting areas (excludes California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Wyoming) provided continuous data and included medication abortion on their reporting form. Among these 37 areas, use of early medication abortion increased 3% from 2020 to 2021 (from 50.6% to 52.3% of abortions) and 137% from 2012 to 2021 (from 22.1% to 52.3% of abortions) (data not shown).

Among the 40 areas that reported abortions categorized by individual weeks of gestation and method type for 2021, surgical abortion accounted for the highest percentage of abortions at >10 weeks’ gestation (Table 13). Surgical abortion accounted for 29.4% of abortions at ≤6 weeks’ gestation, 38.4% of abortions at 7–9 weeks’ gestation, 79.4% of abortions at 10–13 weeks’ gestation, 96.6%–98.6% of abortions at 14–20 weeks’ gestation, and 86.6% of abortions at ≥21 weeks’ gestation. In contrast, medication abortion accounted for 70.6% of abortions at ≤6 weeks’ gestation, 61.6% of abortions at 7–9 weeks’ gestation, 20.6% of abortions at 10–13 weeks’ gestation, 1.3%–3.1% of abortions at 14–20 weeks’ gestation, and 12.3% of abortions at ≥21 weeks’ gestation. For each gestational age category as applicable, abortions performed by intrauterine instillation or hysterectomy or hysterotomy were rare (<0>

Weeks of Gestation by Age Group and Race and Ethnicity

In reporting areas that provided data that met CDC reporting standards, abortions that were categorized by weeks of gestation were further categorized by age and by race and ethnicity (Table 14). In every subgroup for these characteristics, the highest percentage of abortions occurred at ≤9 weeks’ gestation. In 41 reporting areas, by age, 59.5% of adolescents aged <15 years and 74="74">

Abortion Mortality

Using national PMSS data (36), CDC identified six abortion-related deaths for 2020, the most recent year for which data were reviewed for abortion-related deaths (Table 15). Investigation of these cases indicated all deaths were related to legal abortion.

The annual number of deaths related to legal induced abortion has fluctuated from year to year since 1973 (Table 15). During 2013–2020, the national case-fatality rate for legal induced abortion was 0.45 deaths related to legal induced abortions per 100,000 reported legal abortions. This case-fatality rate was lower than the rates for the previous 5-year periods.

Discussion

For 2021, a total of 625,978 abortions were reported to CDC by 48 areas. Among the 47 continuously reporting areas, for 2021, the abortion rate was 11.6 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years, and the abortion ratio was 204 abortions per 1,000 live births. From 2020 to 2021, the number of abortions increased 5%, the abortion rate increased 5%, and the abortion ratio increased 4%.

Multiple factors influence the incidence of abortion, including access to health care services and contraception (3941); the availability of abortion providers and clinics (37,4244); state regulations, such as mandatory waiting periods (4547), parental involvement laws (48,49), and legal restrictions on abortion providers and clinics (5056); and changes in the economy and the resulting impact on family planning decisions and contraceptive use (57).

Abortion measures differ by age group. Among areas that reported data continuously by age during 2012–2021, women aged 20–29 accounted for the highest percentages of abortions and had the highest abortion rates, whereas adolescents aged <15 years accounted for the lowest percentage of abortions and had abortion rate>

The percentage changes in adolescent abortions described in this report are important for monitoring changes in adolescent pregnancies in the United States. From 2012 to 2021, national birth data indicate that the birth rate for adolescents aged 15–19 years decreased 53% (34), and the data in this report indicate that the abortion rate for the same age group decreased 41%. These findings highlight that decreases in adolescent births in the United States have been accompanied by large decreases in adolescent abortions.

As in previous years, abortion rates and ratios differed across racial and ethnic groups. For example, in 2021 compared with White women, abortion rates and ratios were 4.5 and 4.3 times higher among Black women and 1.9 and 1.6 times higher among Hispanic women, respectively. Similar differences by race and ethnicity have been demonstrated in other U.S.-based studies (2,912). The factors leading to higher abortion rates among certain racial and ethnic minority groups are complex. In addition to disparities in rates of unintended pregnancies (58), structural factors, including unequal access to quality family planning services (59,60) and economic inequities, as well as mistrust of the medical system (61), can contribute to observed differences.

During 2021, approximately four of five abortions occurred early in gestation (≤9 weeks), when the risks for complications are lowest (6265). During the past 10 years, this percentage increased from 74.8% in 2012 to 79.1% in 2021. Moreover, among areas that reported abortions at ≤13 weeks’ gestation by individual week, the distribution of abortions by gestational age continued to shift toward earlier weeks of gestation, with the percentage of abortions performed at ≤6 weeks’ gestation increasing from 35.0% in 2012 to 39.5% in 2021. Previous research indicates that the distribution of abortions by gestational age differs by various sociodemographic characteristics (6668). In this report, the percentage of adolescents aged ≤19 years who obtained abortions at >13 weeks’ gestation was higher than the percentage among women aged ≥20 years. The gestational age when abortions are performed can be influenced by multiple factors, including state or jurisdiction abortion restrictions, accurate estimation of gestational age, income level, age, and presence of pregnancy-related health conditions (45,65,6772).

Changes in clinical practices have facilitated the trend of obtaining abortions earlier in pregnancy. Research conducted in the United States during the 1970s indicates that surgical abortion procedures performed at ≤6 weeks’ gestation, compared with 7–12 weeks’ gestation, were less likely to result in successful termination of the pregnancy (73). However, subsequent advances in technology (e.g., improved transvaginal ultrasonography and sensitivity of pregnancy tests) have allowed very early surgical abortions to be performed with completion rates exceeding 97% (7477). Likewise, the development of early medication abortion regimens has allowed for abortions to be performed early in gestation, with completion rates for regimens that combine mifepristone and misoprostol reaching 96%–98% (7780).

Trends for early medication abortions are reported to monitor any changes in clinical practice that might have occurred with the accumulation of evidence on the safety and effectiveness of medication abortion past 63 days of gestation (8 completed weeks’ gestation) (81), changes in professional practice guidelines (82,83), and the 2016 FDA extension of the gestational age limit for the use of mifepristone for early medication abortion from 63 days to 70 days (9 completed weeks’ gestation) (84). Among abortions occurring at ≤9 weeks’ gestation in 2021, two thirds (66.6%) of abortions were reported as early medication abortions. In 2021, the most common method among abortions reported overall was early medication abortion at ≤9 weeks’ gestation (53.0%). Among continuously reporting areas that reported by method type and included medication abortion on their reporting form, the percentage of all abortions performed by early medication abortion increased 137% from 2012 to 2021 and increased 3% from 2020 to 2021.

Because the annual number of deaths related to legal induced abortion is small and statistically unstable, case-fatality rates were calculated for consecutive 5-year periods during 1973–2012 and then for a consecutive 8-year period during 2013–2020. The national case-fatality rate for legal induced abortion was 0.45 per 100,000 abortions during 2013–2020. Since 1978, all rates for the preceding 5-year periods have been fewer than 1 death per 100,000 abortions, demonstrating the low risk for death associated with legal induced abortion.

Limitations

The findings in this report are subject to at least four limitations. First, because reporting to CDC is voluntary and reporting requirements vary by the individual reporting areas (15,16), CDC is unable to report the total number of abortions performed in the United States. Of the 52 areas from which CDC requested data for 2021, California, Maryland, New Hampshire, and New Jersey did not submit abortion data. In 2020, the most recent year for which data are available through the Guttmacher Institute’s national survey of abortion-providing facilities, abortions performed in these states accounted for approximately 25% of all abortions in the United States (37). CDC receives aggregated data from the central health agencies of reporting areas, which might result in different estimates than reported by the Guttmacher Institute. In addition, even in reporting areas that legally require clinicians to submit a report for every abortion performed, enforcement of this requirement varies (15).

Second, many states and jurisdictions use abortion reporting forms that differ from the technical guidance that NAPHSIS developed with technical assistance from CDC. Consequently, certain reporting areas do not collect all variables requested by CDC (e.g., age, race, ethnicity) or do not report the data in a manner consistent with this guidance (e.g., gestational age). Missing demographic information can reduce the extent to which the statistics in this report represent women who have had abortions. Only 33 reporting areas reported race and ethnicity data to CDC that met CDC’s reporting standards. Certain areas that either do not report to CDC (e.g., California) or do not report race and ethnicity data (e.g., Illinois) have sufficiently large populations of racial and ethnic minority groups that the absence of data from these areas reduces the representativeness of CDC data for these variables. In addition, because of the variability in data collection for race and ethnicity among reporting areas, data for specific racial and ethnic groups beyond White, Black, and Hispanic are not requested or reported. In addition, certain areas collect gestational age data that are based on estimated date of conception or probable postfertilization age, which are not consistent with medical conventions for gestational age reporting. Without medical guidance on how to report these data, the validity and reliability of gestational age for these reporting areas is uncertain.

Third, abortion data are compiled and reported to CDC by the central health agency of the reporting area in which the abortion was performed rather than the reporting area in which the person lived. Thus, the available population (2332) and birth data (33,34), which are organized by the states or jurisdictions in which women live, might differ from the population of women who undergo abortions in a specific reporting area. This likely results in an overestimation of abortions for reporting areas in which a higher percentage of abortions are obtained by out-of-area residents and an underestimation of abortions for reporting areas where residents more frequently obtain abortions out of area. Limited abortion services, stringent regulatory requirements for obtaining an abortion, or geographic proximity to services in another state or jurisdiction might influence where women obtain abortion services (85,86).

Finally, CDC reporting of sociodemographic characteristics of women obtaining abortions is limited to data collected on state or jurisdiction reporting forms. Therefore, the examination of additional demographic variables (e.g., income and education) is not possible.

Public Health Implications

Ongoing surveillance of legal induced abortion is important for several reasons. First, abortion surveillance can be used to help evaluate programs aimed at promoting equitable access to patient-centered contraceptive care in the United States to reduce unintended pregnancies. Up to 42% of pregnancies in the United States are unintended (58), and use of effective contraception is a strategy to reduce unintended pregnancy (87). Efforts to improve contraceptive access have been associated with declines in the rate of abortion (3941). Providing contraception at low or no cost can increase contraceptive access and use (8890). Improvements in provider reimbursement and training, patient-centered counseling, youth-friendly services, and client awareness of available contraceptive methods might also help to improve contraceptive access (9193), ensure equitable access to patient-centered contraceptive care, and promote equitable reproductive health in the United States (94).

Second, routine abortion surveillance can be used to assess changes in clinical practice patterns over time. Information in this report on the number of abortions performed through different methods (e.g., medication or surgical) and at different gestational ages provides the denominator data that are necessary for analyses of the relative safety of abortion practices (95). Finally, information on the number of pregnancies ending in abortion is used in conjunction with data on births and fetal losses to estimate the number of pregnancies in the United States and determine rates for various outcomes of public health importance (58).

Corresponding author: Division of Reproductive Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC. Email: cdcinfo@cdc.gov.


1Division of Reproductive Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC; 2Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education

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TABLE 1. Number, rate,* and ratio of reported abortions — selected reporting areas, United States, 2012–2021Return to your place in the text
Year Selected reporting areas§ Continuously reporting areas
No. No. Rate Ratio
2012 699,202 673,634 13.1 207
2013 664,435 640,154 12.4 198
2014 652,639 625,668 12.0 190
2015 638,169 613,911 11.8 187
2016 623,471 599,001 11.5 184
2017 612,719 587,611 11.2 184
2018 619,591 591,884 11.2 188
2019 629,898 603,168 11.4 194
2020 620,327 592,939 11.1 197
2021 625,978 622,108 11.6 204

* Number of abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years.
Number of abortions per 1,000 live births.
§ For each specific year, excludes reporting areas that did not report that year’s abortion numbers to CDC: California (2012–2021), District of Columbia (2016), Maryland (2012–2021), New Hampshire (2012–2021), and New Jersey (2021).
For all years, excludes reporting areas that did not report abortion numbers every year during the analysis period: California, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Hampshire, and New Jersey.

Return to your place in the textFIGURE. Number, rate,* and ratio of abortions performed, by year — selected reporting areas,§ United States, 2012–2021
Figure is a line graph illustrating the number, rate, and ratio of abortions performed, by year, in selected reporting areas in the United States during 2012–2021.

* Number of abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years.

Number of abortions per 1,000 live births.

§ Data are for 47 reporting areas; excludes California, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Hampshire, and New Jersey.

TABLE 2. Number, rate,* and ratio of reported abortions, by reporting area of occurrence and number of abortions obtained by out-of-area residents§ — United States, 2021Return to your place in the text
Area Abortions reported by area of occurrence** Abortions obtained by out-of-area residents
No. Rate Ratio No. (%)
Alabama 6,489 6.6 112 1,143 (17.6)
Alaska 1,227 8.5 131 11 (0.9)
Arizona 13,998 10.0 180 83 (0.6)
Arkansas 3,133 5.4 87 387 (12.4)
Colorado 11,580 9.7 184 1,559 (13.5)
Connecticut 10,146 14.8 284 493 (4.9)
Delaware 1,825 9.8 174 162 (8.9)
District of Columbia 3,870 21.8 447 2,740 (70.8)
Florida 79,817 20.3 369 4,873 (6.1)
Georgia 41,833 18.8 337 7,013 (16.8)
Hawaii 2,214 8.4 142 58 (2.6)
Idaho 1,553 4.2 69 99 (6.4)
Illinois 51,797 20.8 392 11,307 (21.8)
Indiana 8,414 6.3 105 465 (5.5)
Iowa 3,761 6.2 102 598 (15.9)
Kansas 7,845 13.8 226 3,912 (49.9)
Kentucky 4,441 5.2 85 653 (14.7)
Louisiana 7,444 8.1 130 1,744 (23.4)
Maine 1,915 8.0 160 121 (6.3)
Massachusetts 16,795 11.9 243 792 (4.7)
Michigan 30,074 15.9 286 1,664 (5.5)
Minnesota 10,136 9.2 157 1,008 (9.9)
Mississippi 3,817 6.6 109 680 (17.8)
Missouri 150 0.1 2 34 (22.7)
Montana 1,798 8.8 160 252 (14.0)
Nebraska 2,360 6.2 96 292 (12.4)
Nevada 8,751 14.2 260 545 (6.2)
New Mexico 4,891 12.1 229 1,973 (40.3)
New York 63,487 16.3 301 3,755 (5.9)††
New York City 37,813 21.0 404 3,368 (8.9)
New York State 25,674 12.2 219 2,354 (9.2)
North Carolina 32,454 15.7 269 5,346 (16.5)
North Dakota 1,153 7.6 114 313 (27.1)
Ohio 21,813 9.7 168 1,097 (5.0)
Oklahoma 7,287 9.3 151 2,887 (39.6)
Oregon 7,109 8.5 174 695 (9.8)
Pennsylvania 33,206 13.7 250 2,352 (7.1)
Rhode Island 2,175 10.0 208 352 (16.2)
South Carolina 6,279 6.3 110 327 (5.2)
South Dakota 192 1.2 17 17 (8.9)
Tennessee 12,182 8.9 149 2,501 (20.5)
Texas 51,860 8.4 139 1,076 (2.1)
Utah 3,129 4.3 67 151 (4.8)
Vermont 1,033 8.6 192 215 (20.8)
Virginia 16,139 9.4 168 1,428 (8.8)
Washington 16,349 10.6 195 988 (6.0)
West Virginia 1,375 4.4 80 222 (16.1)
Wisconsin 6,579 5.9 106 107 (1.6)
Wyoming 103 0.9 17 32 (31.1)
Total 625,978 NA NA NA

Abbreviation: NA = not applicable.
* Number of abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years.
Number of abortions per 1,000 live births.
§ Additional details on the reporting area in which abortions were provided, cross-tabulated by the area of residence, are available at https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/data_stats/Abortion.htm.
Data from 48 reporting areas; excludes four reporting areas (California, Maryland, New Hampshire, and New Jersey) that did not report.
** The total abortions include those with known and unknown residence status.
†† Residents of New York State who had abortions in New York City and residents of New York City who had abortions in New York State were excluded from the number and percentage of abortions obtained by out-of-area residents in New York.

TABLE 3. Number and percentage of reported abortions, by known age group and reporting area of occurrence — selected reporting areas,* United States, 2021Return to your place in the text
Area Age group, yrs Total abortions reported by known age
<15>

15–19 20–24 25–29 30–34 35–39 ≥40
No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (% of all reported abortions)§
Alabama 23 (0.4) 582 (9.0) 2,056 (31.7) 1,904 (29.4) 1,209 (18.6) 542 (8.4) 171 (2.6) 6,487 (100.0)
Alaska 117 (9.5) 358 (29.2) 326 (26.6) 231 (18.8) 146 (11.9) 1,227 (100.0)
Arizona 19 (0.1) 1,285 (9.2) 4,317 (30.8) 3,809 (27.2) 2,604 (18.6) 1,451 (10.4) 513 (3.7) 13,998 (100.0)
Arkansas 18 (0.6) 298 (9.5) 958 (30.7) 945 (30.2) 578 (18.5) 256 (8.2) 71 (2.3) 3,124 (99.7)
Colorado 25 (0.2) 1,103 (9.5) 3,394 (29.4) 3,194 (27.6) 2,235 (19.3) 1,226 (10.6) 384 (3.3) 11,561 (99.8)
Connecticut 21 (0.2) 887 (8.8) 2,661 (26.3) 2,747 (27.1) 2,181 (21.5) 1,207 (11.9) 431 (4.3) 10,135 (99.9)
Delaware 144 (7.9) 540 (29.6) 482 (26.4) 379 (20.8) 209 (11.5) 1,825 (100.0)
District of Columbia 5 (0.1) 394 (10.2) 1,111 (28.7) 1,161 (30.0) 730 (18.9) 359 (9.3) 108 (2.8) 3,868 (99.9)
Florida 144 (0.2) 5,371 (6.7) 21,421 (26.9) 22,587 (28.4) 17,325 (21.8) 9,514 (11.9) 3,288 (4.1) 79,650 (99.8)
Georgia 88 (0.2) 2,974 (7.1) 11,793 (28.2) 12,741 (30.5) 8,671 (20.7) 4,270 (10.2) 1,296 (3.1) 41,833 (100.0)
Hawaii 196 (8.9) 615 (27.8) 604 (27.3) 417 (18.8) 283 (12.8) 2,214 (100.0)
Idaho 182 (11.7) 516 (33.2) 387 (24.9) 266 (17.1) 153 (9.9) 1,553 (100.0)
Illinois** 59 (0.1) 3,350 (8.4) 11,404 (28.6) 12,173 (30.6) 7,701 (19.3) 3,894 (9.8) 1,263 (3.2) 39,844 (99.4)
Indiana 26 (0.3) 706 (8.4) 2,572 (30.6) 2,368 (28.1) 1,629 (19.4) 861 (10.2) 252 (3.0) 8,414 (100.0)
Iowa 15 (0.4) 397 (10.6) 1,161 (30.9) 1,009 (26.8) 659 (17.5) 378 (10.1) 142 (3.8) 3,761 (100.0)
Kansas 17 (0.2) 734 (9.4) 2,533 (32.3) 2,052 (26.2) 1,428 (18.2) 808 (10.3) 273 (3.5) 7,845 (100.0)
Kentucky 14 (0.3) 363 (8.2) 1,399 (31.5) 1,285 (28.9) 835 (18.8) 414 (9.3) 131 (2.9) 4,441 (100.0)
Louisiana 27 (0.4) 599 (8.0) 2,102 (28.2) 2,254 (30.3) 1,474 (19.8) 759 (10.2) 229 (3.1) 7,444 (100.0)
Maine 7 (0.4) 183 (9.6) 512 (26.8) 519 (27.1) 395 (20.6) 210 (11.0) 87 (4.5) 1,913 (99.9)
Massachusetts 26 (0.2) 1,101 (6.6) 4,300 (25.6) 4,591 (27.3) 3,770 (22.4) 2,190 (13.0) 816 (4.9) 16,794 (100.0)
Michigan 70 (0.2) 2,201 (7.4) 8,202 (27.5) 9,253 (31.0) 6,350 (21.3) 2,861 (9.6) 886 (3.0) 29,823 (99.2)
Minnesota 20 (0.2) 854 (8.4) 2,767 (27.3) 2,802 (27.7) 2,078 (20.5) 1,212 (12.0) 388 (3.8) 10,121 (99.9)
Mississippi 13 (0.3) 307 (8.0) 1,237 (32.4) 1,174 (30.8) 719 (18.8) 284 (7.4) 83 (2.2) 3,817 (100.0)
Missouri 6 (4.0) 33 (22.0) 44 (29.3) 32 (21.3) 30 (20.0) 150 (100.0)
Montana 7 (0.4) 193 (10.7) 541 (30.1) 474 (26.4) 342 (19.0) 172 (9.6) 69 (3.8) 1,798 (100.0)
Nebraska 11 (0.5) 217 (9.2) 732 (31.0) 662 (28.1) 409 (17.3) 255 (10.8) 74 (3.1) 2,360 (100.0)
Nevada 11 (0.1) 711 (8.3) 2,444 (28.4) 2,402 (27.9) 1,738 (20.2) 937 (10.9) 352 (4.1) 8,595 (98.2)
New Mexico 25 (0.5) 557 (11.8) 1,390 (29.4) 1,264 (26.7) 852 (18.0) 480 (10.1) 162 (3.4) 4,730 (96.7)
New York 121 (0.2) 5,254 (8.3) 16,631 (26.2) 17,340 (27.3) 13,630 (21.5) 7,756 (12.2) 2,703 (4.3) 63,435 (99.9)
New York City 56 (0.1) 2,845 (7.5) 9,522 (25.2) 10,433 (27.6) 8,385 (22.2) 4,821 (12.7) 1,751 (4.6) 37,813 (100.0)
New York State 65 (0.3) 2,409 (9.4) 7,109 (27.7) 6,907 (27.0) 5,245 (20.5) 2,935 (11.5) 952 (3.7) 25,622 (99.8)
North Carolina 59 (0.2) 2,409 (7.6) 9,167 (28.9) 9,449 (29.8) 6,489 (20.5) 3,136 (9.9) 1,013 (3.2) 31,722 (97.7)
North Dakota 118 (10.2) 368 (31.9) 313 (27.1) 208 (18.0) 120 (10.4) 1,153 (100.0)
Ohio 58 (0.3) 1,832 (8.4) 6,431 (29.5) 6,510 (29.8) 4,383 (20.1) 1,998 (9.2) 601 (2.8) 21,813 (100.0)
Oklahoma 50 (0.7) 741 (10.2) 2,483 (34.1) 1,923 (26.4) 1,220 (16.8) 647 (8.9) 219 (3.0) 7,283 (99.9)
Oregon 14 (0.2) 692 (9.7) 1,977 (27.8) 1,905 (26.8) 1,417 (19.9) 780 (11.0) 324 (4.6) 7,109 (100.0)
Pennsylvania 81 (0.2) 2,492 (7.5) 9,101 (27.4) 9,771 (29.4) 7,049 (21.2) 3,551 (10.7) 1,161 (3.5) 33,206 (100.0)
Rhode Island 170 (7.8) 613 (28.2) 593 (27.3) 477 (21.9) 237 (10.9) 2,175 (100.0)
South Carolina 19 (0.3) 549 (8.7) 1,802 (28.7) 1,836 (29.2) 1,266 (20.2) 603 (9.6) 204 (3.2) 6,279 (100.0)
South Dakota 21 (10.9) 60 (31.3) 54 (28.1) 35 (18.2) 20 (10.4) 192 (100.0)
Tennessee 26 (0.2) 946 (7.8) 3,545 (29.1) 3,685 (30.3) 2,431 (20.0) 1,194 (9.8) 351 (2.9) 12,178 (100.0)
Texas 108 (0.2) 4,229 (8.2) 15,445 (29.8) 14,959 (28.8) 9,967 (19.2) 5,389 (10.4) 1,763 (3.4) 51,860 (100.0)
Utah 5 (0.2) 411 (13.1) 1,050 (33.6) 797 (25.5) 485 (15.5) 280 (9.0) 100 (3.2) 3,128 (100.0)
Vermont 109 (10.6) 290 (28.1) 247 (23.9) 201 (19.5) 142 (13.7) 1,033 (100.0)
Virginia 23 (0.1) 998 (6.2) 4,273 (26.5) 4,713 (29.2) 3,481 (21.6) 1,942 (12.0) 703 (4.4) 16,133 (100.0)
Washington 44 (0.3) 1,493 (9.1) 4,587 (28.1) 4,244 (26.0) 3,252 (19.9) 1,949 (11.9) 757 (4.6) 16,326 (99.9)
West Virginia 5 (0.4) 124 (9.0) 407 (29.6) 362 (26.3) 269 (19.6) 165 (12.0) 43 (3.1) 1,375 (100.0)
Wisconsin 13 (0.2) 684 (10.4) 1,951 (29.7) 1,852 (28.2) 1,222 (18.6) 649 (9.9) 208 (3.2) 6,579 (100.0)
Wyoming 15 (14.6) 21 (20.4) 31 (30.1) 16 (15.5) 17 (16.5) 103 (100.0)
Total 1,338 (0.2) 49,299 (8.1) 173,271 (28.3) 175,797 (28.7) 124,735 (20.4) 65,936 (10.8) 22,031 (3.6) 612,407 (99.7)††
Abortion rate§§ 0.4 5.6 19.7 19.4 13.3 7.3 2.5 NA
Abortion ratio¶¶ 805 381 306 201 137 141 212 NA

Abbreviation: NA = not applicable.
* Data from 48 reporting areas; excludes four reporting areas (California, Maryland, New Hampshire, and New Jersey) that did not report.
Percentages for the individual component categories might not add to 100% because of rounding.
§ Percentage is calculated as the number of abortions reported by known age divided by the sum of abortions reported by known and unknown age. Values ≥99.95% are rounded to 100.0%.
Cells with a numerical value in the range of 1–4 and cells that would allow for calculation of these small values have been suppressed.
** Includes residents only.
†† Percentage based on a total of 614,254 abortions reported among the areas that met reporting standards for age; reporting standards for age were applied to abortions for residents of Illinois only.
§§ Number of abortions obtained by women in a specific age group per 1,000 women in that same age group. Adolescents aged 13–14 years were used as the denominator for the group of adolescents aged <15 years>¶¶ Number of abortions obtained by women in a specific age group per 1,000 live births to women in that same age group. For the total abortion ratio only, abortions for women of unknown age were distributed according to the distribution of abortions among women of known age.

TABLE 4. Percentage, rate,* and ratio of reported abortions, by known age group and year — selected reporting areas,§ United States, 2012–2021Return to your place in the text
Age group, yrs Year % Change
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2020 to 2021 2012 to 2021
Reported abortions by known age, %
<15>

0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.0 −50.0
15–19 12.3 11.5 10.4 9.8 9.4 9.1 8.8 8.7 8.3 8.2 −1.2 −33.3
20–24 32.8 32.7 32.2 31.2 30.1 29.4 28.6 27.9 28.2 28.5 1.1 −13.1
25–29 25.3 25.9 26.7 27.6 28.5 28.9 29.3 29.3 29.3 28.7 −2.0 13.4
30–34 16.4 16.8 17.2 17.7 18.0 18.3 18.8 19.4 19.7 20.2 2.5 23.2
35–39 9.1 9.2 9.6 10.0 10.3 10.5 10.7 10.8 10.6 10.6 0.0 16.5
≥40 3.7 3.6 3.6 3.6 3.6 3.6 3.5 3.7 3.6 3.5 −2.8 −5.4
Abortion rate
<15>

0.8 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.0 −50.0
15–19 9.2 8.2 7.3 6.7 6.2 5.9 5.8 5.8 5.5 5.4 −1.8 −41.3
20–24 23.2 21.8 20.8 19.9 19.0 18.3 18.1 18.1 18.1 18.6 2.8 −19.8
25–29 18.8 18.1 17.9 17.8 17.7 17.3 17.5 17.8 17.7 18.3 3.4 −2.7
30–34 12.3 11.8 11.6 11.7 11.6 11.5 11.8 12.3 12.1 12.5 3.3 1.6
35–39 7.3 7.0 7.0 7.0 6.9 6.7 6.8 7.0 6.7 6.8 1.5 −6.8
≥40 2.8 2.6 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.6 2.4 2.4 0.0 −14.3
Abortion ratio
<15>

798 771 737 690 724 788 846 858 809 780 −3.6 −2.3
15–19 302 297 289 286 292 300 315 330 338 366 8.3 21.2
20–24 270 260 253 249 247 248 254 259 273 290 6.2 7.4
25–29 172 167 164 165 167 170 177 182 189 189 0.0 9.9
30–34 128 122 116 115 113 114 119 125 127 127 0.0 −0.8
35–39 159 149 145 141 137 135 136 138 135 132 −2.2 −17.0
≥40 272 247 240 230 221 213 209 216 207 198 −4.3 −27.2
Total no. 574,314 544,986 531,041 520,602 508,565 497,249 500,974 508,955 502,481 514,695 NA NA

Abbreviation: NA = not applicable.
* Number of abortions obtained by women in a specific age group per 1,000 women in that same age group. Adolescents aged 13–14 years were used as the denominator for the group of adolescents aged <15 years> Number of abortions obtained by women in a specific age group per 1,000 live births to women in that same age group. Abortions for women of unknown age were distributed according to the distribution of abortions among women of known age.
§ Data from 43 reporting areas; excludes nine reporting areas (California, District of Columbia, Florida, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Wyoming) that did not report, did not report by age, or did not meet reporting standards for ≥1 year.
By year, the total number of abortions represent 99.5%–99.7% of all abortions reported to CDC among the areas that met reporting standards for age during 2012–2021; reporting standards for age were applied to abortions for residents of Illinois only during 2012–2019 and 2021.

TABLE 5. Number and percentage of reported abortions among adolescents, by known age and reporting area of occurrence — selected reporting areas,* United States, 2021Return to your place in the text
Area Age, yrs
<15>

15 16 17 18 19 Total no.
No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%)
Alabama 23 (3.8) 27 (4.5) 55 (9.1) 74 (12.2) 196 (32.4) 230 (38.0) 605
Alaska § § § § § § §
Arizona 19 (1.5) 41 (3.1) 78 (6.0) 139 (10.7) 411 (31.5) 616 (47.2) 1,304
Arkansas 18 (5.7) 17 (5.4) 27 (8.5) 45 (14.2) 91 (28.8) 118 (37.3) 316
Colorado 25 (2.2) 40 (3.5) 94 (8.3) 163 (14.5) 333 (29.5) 473 (41.9) 1,128
Delaware § § § § § § §
District of Columbia 5 (1.3) 19 (4.8) 40 (10.0) 80 (20.1) 103 (25.8) 152 (38.1) 399
Florida 144 (2.6) 184 (3.3) 415 (7.5) 663 (12.0) 1,603 (29.1) 2,506 (45.4) 5,515
Georgia 88 (2.9) 116 (3.8) 232 (7.6) 346 (11.3) 872 (28.5) 1,408 (46.0) 3,062
Hawaii § § § § § § §
Idaho § § § § § § §
Indiana 26 (3.6) 41 (5.6) 68 (9.3) 99 (13.5) 226 (30.9) 272 (37.2) 732
Iowa 15 (3.6) 28 (6.8) 45 (10.9) 57 (13.8) 100 (24.3) 167 (40.5) 412
Kansas 17 (2.3) 33 (4.4) 64 (8.5) 88 (11.7) 220 (29.3) 329 (43.8) 751
Kentucky 14 (3.7) 20 (5.3) 26 (6.9) 46 (12.2) 98 (26.0) 173 (45.9) 377
Louisiana 27 (4.3) 31 (5.0) 54 (8.6) 78 (12.5) 187 (29.9) 249 (39.8) 626
Maine 7 (3.7) 10 (5.3) 15 (7.9) 29 (15.3) 52 (27.4) 77 (40.5) 190
Massachusetts 26 (2.3) 42 (3.7) 75 (6.7) 181 (16.1) 331 (29.4) 472 (41.9) 1,127
Michigan 70 (3.1) 86 (3.8) 180 (7.9) 347 (15.3) 674 (29.7) 914 (40.2) 2,271
Minnesota 20 (2.3) 34 (3.9) 55 (6.3) 100 (11.4) 292 (33.4) 373 (42.7) 874
Mississippi 13 (4.1) 12 (3.8) 27 (8.4) 36 (11.3) 93 (29.1) 139 (43.4) 320
Missouri § § § § § § §
Montana 7 (3.5) 8 (4.0) 14 (7.0) 28 (14.0) 45 (22.5) 98 (49.0) 200
Nebraska 11 (4.8) 8 (3.5) 19 (8.3) 39 (17.1) 56 (24.6) 95 (41.7) 228
Nevada 11 (1.5) 26 (3.6) 57 (7.9) 125 (17.3) 203 (28.1) 300 (41.6) 722
New Mexico 25 (4.3) 39 (6.7) 67 (11.5) 82 (14.1) 155 (26.6) 214 (36.8) 582
New York 121 (2.3) 206 (3.8) 482 (9.0) 865 (16.1) 1,502 (27.9) 2,199 (40.9) 5,375
New York City 56 (1.9) 107 (3.7) 270 (9.3) 479 (16.5) 808 (27.9) 1,181 (40.7) 2,901
New York State 65 (2.6) 99 (4.0) 212 (8.6) 386 (15.6) 694 (28.1) 1,018 (41.1) 2,474
North Carolina 59 (2.4) 111 (4.5) 188 (7.6) 306 (12.4) 741 (30.0) 1,063 (43.1) 2,468
North Dakota § § § § § § §
Ohio 58 (3.1) 75 (4.0) 156 (8.3) 250 (13.2) 562 (29.7) 789 (41.7) 1,890
Oklahoma 50 (6.3) 22 (2.8) 62 (7.8) 88 (11.1) 226 (28.6) 343 (43.4) 791
Oregon 14 (2.0) 17 (2.4) 64 (9.1) 114 (16.1) 199 (28.2) 298 (42.2) 706
Pennsylvania 81 (3.1) 112 (4.4) 201 (7.8) 293 (11.4) 792 (30.8) 1,094 (42.5) 2,573
Rhode Island § § § § § § §
South Carolina 19 (3.3) 27 (4.8) 38 (6.7) 127 (22.4) 146 (25.7) 211 (37.1) 568
South Dakota § § § § § § §
Tennessee 26 (2.7) 48 (4.9) 87 (9.0) 99 (10.2) 285 (29.3) 427 (43.9) 972
Texas 108 (2.5) 155 (3.6) 300 (6.9) 520 (12.0) 1,324 (30.5) 1,930 (44.5) 4,337
Utah 5 (1.2) 17 (4.1) 26 (6.3) 57 (13.7) 137 (32.9) 174 (41.8) 416
Vermont § § § § § § §
Virginia 23 (2.3) 34 (3.3) 64 (6.3) 109 (10.7) 316 (31.0) 475 (46.5) 1,021
Washington 44 (2.9) 54 (3.5) 120 (7.8) 246 (16.0) 454 (29.5) 619 (40.3) 1,537
West Virginia 5 (3.9) 6 (4.7) 10 (7.8) 21 (16.3) 40 (31.0) 47 (36.4) 129
Wisconsin 11 (1.6) 30 (4.5) 58 (8.6) 115 (17.1) 192 (28.5) 267 (39.7) 673
Wyoming § § § § § § §
Total 1,256 (2.7) 1,842 (4.0) 3,657 (7.9) 6,204 (13.4) 13,568 (29.3) 19,769 (42.7) 46,296
Abortion rate** 0.4 1.1 2.2 3.8 8.3 12.0 NA
Abortion ratio†† 789 479 422 352 400 329 NA

Abbreviation: NA = not applicable.
* Data from 46 reporting areas; excludes six reporting areas (California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, New Hampshire, and New Jersey) that did not report, did not report age among adolescents by individual year, or did not meet reporting standards.
Percentages for the individual component categories might not add to 100% because of rounding.
§ Cells with a numerical value in the range of 1–4 and cells that would allow for calculation of these small values have been suppressed.
Includes residents only.
** Number of abortions obtained by women in a specific age group per 1,000 women in that same age group. Adolescents aged 13–14 years were used as the denominator for the group of adolescents aged <15 years>†† Number of abortions obtained by women in a specific age group per 1,000 live births to women in that same age group. For the total abortion ratio only, abortions for women of unknown age were distributed according to the distribution of abortions among women of known age.

TABLE 6. Number and percentage of reported abortions, by known race and ethnicity and reporting area of occurrence — selected reporting areas,* United States, 2021Return to your place in the text
Area Non-Hispanic Hispanic Total abortions reported by known race and ethnicity
Black White Other No. (% of all reported abortions)
No. (%) No. (%)§ No. (%) No. (%)
Alabama 4,130 (63.9) 1,731 (26.8) 187 (2.9) 414 (6.4) 6,462 (99.6)
Alaska 82 (7.1) 616 (53.3) 422 (36.5) 36 (3.1) 1,156 (94.2)
Arizona 1,750 (13.1) 4,497 (33.6) 1,009 (7.5) 6,118 (45.7) 13,374 (95.5)
Arkansas 1,722 (56.5) 1,024 (33.6) 84 (2.8) 219 (7.2) 3,049 (97.3)
Connecticut 2,747 (27.5) 3,252 (32.6) 578 (5.8) 3,412 (34.2) 9,989 (98.5)
Delaware 850 (46.6) 666 (36.5) 42 (2.3) 267 (14.6) 1,825 (100.0)
District of Columbia 2,119 (57.3) 525 (14.2) 372 (10.1) 683 (18.5) 3,699 (95.6)
Florida 28,259 (37.5) 22,476 (29.8) 2,773 (3.7) 21,931 (29.1) 75,439 (94.5)
Georgia 27,292 (69.0) 6,873 (17.4) 1,808 (4.6) 3,601 (9.1) 39,574 (94.6)
Idaho 51 (3.4) 955 (63.1) 70 (4.6) 438 (28.9) 1,514 (97.5)
Indiana 2,946 (35.6) 3,863 (46.7) 627 (7.6) 833 (10.1) 8,269 (98.3)
Kansas 2,037 (26.0) 3,794 (48.4) 679 (8.7) 1,331 (17.0) 7,841 (99.9)
Kentucky 1,501 (34.0) 2,280 (51.7) 257 (5.8) 376 (8.5) 4,414 (99.4)
Maine 165 (9.2) 1,520 (85.2) 57 (3.2) 42 (2.4) 1,784 (93.2)
Michigan 16,444 (56.6) 10,329 (35.6) 1,415 (4.9) 858 (3.0) 29,046 (96.6)
Minnesota 2,626 (28.6) 4,158 (45.3) 1,376 (15.0) 1,026 (11.2) 9,186 (90.6)
Mississippi 3,058 (80.1) 640 (16.8) 35 (0.9) 84 (2.2) 3,817 (100.0)
Missouri —** 70 (52.6) —** —** 133 (88.7)
Montana 28 (1.6) 1,445 (80.4) 199 (11.1) 126 (7.0) 1,798 (100.0)
Nevada 1,760 (22.1) 2,683 (33.7) 846 (10.6) 2,662 (33.5) 7,951 (90.9)
New Mexico 327 (7.7) 1,013 (24.0) 435 (10.3) 2,446 (57.9) 4,221 (86.3)
New York City 14,959 (45.1) 3,652 (11.0) 3,789 (11.4) 10,753 (32.4) 33,153 (87.7)
North Carolina 15,946 (51.5) 8,473 (27.3) 2,311 (7.5) 4,256 (13.7) 30,986 (95.5)
Oregon 421 (6.8) 3,434 (55.8) 776 (12.6) 1,523 (24.7) 6,154 (86.6)
South Carolina 2,873 (45.8) 2,582 (41.1) 265 (4.2) 556 (8.9) 6,276 (100.0)
South Dakota 24 (12.6) 102 (53.4) 34 (17.8) 31 (16.2) 191 (99.5)
Tennessee 6,489 (54.3) 4,188 (35.1) 400 (3.3) 870 (7.3) 11,947 (98.1)
Texas†† 15,947 (31.0) 13,883 (27.0) 3,012 (5.9) 18,539 (36.1) 51,381 (99.1)
Utah 135 (4.4) 1,678 (54.9) 240 (7.9) 1,004 (32.8) 3,057 (97.7)
Vermont 42 (4.2) 889 (88.8) 38 (3.8) 32 (3.2) 1,001 (96.9)
Virginia 6,884 (47.2) 4,837 (33.1) 1,384 (9.5) 1,489 (10.2) 14,594 (90.4)
West Virginia 194 (14.1) 1,146 (83.3) 29 (2.1) 6 (0.4) 1,375 (100.0)
Wyoming —** 78 (77.2) —** —** 101 (98.1)
Total 163,863 (41.5) 119,352 (30.2) 25,559 (6.5) 85,983 (21.8) 394,757 (94.9)§§
Abortion rate¶¶ 28.6 6.4 9.2 12.3 NA
Abortion ratio*** 498 116 179 186 NA

Abbreviation: NA = not applicable.
* Data from 33 reporting areas; excludes 19 reporting areas (California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York State, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin) that did not report, did not report by race and ethnicity, or did not meet reporting standards.
Including Alaska Native, American Indian, Asian (Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, or other Asian), Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander (Native Hawaiian, Guamanian or Chamorro, Samoan, or other Pacific Islander), other races, and multiple races.
§ Percentages for the individual component categories might not add to 100% because of rounding.
Percentage is calculated as the number of abortions reported by known race and ethnicity divided by the sum of abortions reported by known and unknown race and ethnicity. Values ≥99.95% are rounded to 100.0%.
** Cells with a numerical value in the range of 1–4 and cells that would allow for calculation of these small values have been suppressed.
†† Reporting form contains only one question for race and ethnicity; therefore, abortions reported for women of White, Black, and other races (Asian and American Indian) are not explicitly identified as non-Hispanic.
§§ Percentage based on a total of 415,791 abortions reported among the areas that met reporting standards for race and ethnicity.
¶¶ Number of abortions obtained by women in a specific racial and ethnic group per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years in that same racial and ethnic group. For the total abortion rate only, abortions for women of unknown race and ethnicity were distributed according to the distribution of abortions among women of known race and ethnicity.
*** Number of abortions obtained by women in a specific racial and ethnic group per 1,000 live births to women in that same racial and ethnic group. For the total abortion ratio only, abortions for women of unknown race and ethnicity were distributed according to the distribution of abortions among women of known race and ethnicity.

TABLE 7. Number and percentage of reported abortions, by known marital status and reporting area of occurrence — selected reporting areas,* United States, 2021Return to your place in the text
Area Marital status Total abortions reported by known marital status
Married Unmarried
No. (%) No. (%) No. (% of all reported abortions)§
Alabama 472 (7.3) 6,001 (92.7) 6,473 (99.8)
Arizona 2,121 (15.2) 11,877 (84.8) 13,998 (100.0)
Arkansas 299 (9.6) 2,805 (90.4) 3,104 (99.1)
Colorado 1,876 (17.8) 8,651 (82.2) 10,527 (90.9)
Delaware 221 (12.1) 1,604 (87.9) 1,825 (100.0)
Florida 9,801 (14.1) 59,534 (85.9) 69,335 (86.9)
Georgia 4,269 (10.7) 35,778 (89.3) 40,047 (95.7)
Idaho 301 (19.5) 1,242 (80.5) 1,543 (99.4)
Illinois 3,191 (8.3) 35,314 (91.7) 38,505 (96.1)
Indiana 1,158 (13.8) 7,256 (86.2) 8,414 (100.0)
Iowa 544 (14.5) 3,213 (85.5) 3,757 (99.9)
Kansas 1,078 (13.9) 6,685 (86.1) 7,763 (99.0)
Kentucky 583 (13.1) 3,858 (86.9) 4,441 (100.0)
Louisiana 695 (9.4) 6,666 (90.6) 7,361 (98.9)
Maine 297 (16.6) 1,491 (83.4) 1,788 (93.4)
Michigan 3,448 (11.9) 25,642 (88.1) 29,090 (96.7)
Minnesota 1,486 (15.3) 8,206 (84.7) 9,692 (95.6)
Mississippi 283 (7.4) 3,534 (92.6) 3,817 (100.0)
Missouri 53 (35.3) 97 (64.7) 150 (100.0)
Montana 309 (17.3) 1,480 (82.7) 1,789 (99.5)
Nebraska 308 (13.4) 1,994 (86.6) 2,302 (97.5)
New Mexico 744 (16.5) 3,776 (83.5) 4,520 (92.4)
North Carolina 4,068 (13.6) 25,920 (86.4) 29,988 (92.4)
North Dakota 164 (14.2) 989 (85.8) 1,153 (100.0)
Ohio 2,579 (12.8) 17,532 (87.2) 20,111 (92.2)
Oklahoma 1,283 (17.6) 5,992 (82.4) 7,275 (99.8)
Pennsylvania 3,724 (11.3) 29,358 (88.7) 33,082 (99.6)
Rhode Island 264 (12.4) 1,870 (87.6) 2,134 (98.1)
South Carolina 821 (13.1) 5,458 (86.9) 6,279 (100.0)
South Dakota 25 (13.0) 167 (87.0) 192 (100.0)
Tennessee 1,508 (12.6) 10,414 (87.4) 11,922 (97.9)
Texas 7,635 (14.7) 44,212 (85.3) 51,847 (100.0)
Utah 641 (20.8) 2,446 (79.2) 3,087 (98.7)
Vermont 203 (20.9) 770 (79.1) 973 (94.2)
Virginia** 1,324 (8.2) 14,815 (91.8) 16,139 (100.0)
West Virginia 263 (19.1) 1,112 (80.9) 1,375 (100.0)
Wisconsin 763 (11.6) 5,794 (88.4) 6,557 (99.7)
Total 58,802 (12.7) 403,553 (87.3) 462,355 (95.5)††
Abortion ratio§§ 41 404 NA

Abbreviation: NA = not applicable.
* Data from 37 reporting areas excludes 15 reporting areas (Alaska, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York City, New York State, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming) that did not report, did not report by marital status, or did not meet reporting standards.
Percentages for the individual component categories might not add to 100% because of rounding.
§ Percentage is calculated as the number of abortions reported by known marital status divided by the sum of abortions reported by known and unknown marital status. Values ≥99.95% are rounded to 100.0%.
Includes residents only.
** Recorded as patient married or not married to father.
†† Percentage based on a total of 484,203 abortions reported among the areas that met reporting standards for marital status; reporting standards for marital status were applied to abortions for residents of Illinois only.
§§ Number of abortions obtained by marital status per 1,000 live births to women of the same marital status. For the total abortion ratio only, abortions for women of unknown marital status were distributed according to the distribution of abortions among women of known marital status.

TABLE 8. Number and percentage of reported abortions, by known number of previous live births and reporting area of occurrence — selected reporting areas,* United States, 2021Return to your place in the text
Area No. of previous live births Total abortions reported by known number of previous live births
0 1 2 3 ≥4
No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (% of all reported abortions)§
Alabama 2,238 (34.5) 1,825 (28.1) 1,329 (20.5) 672 (10.4) 420 (6.5) 6,484 (99.9)
Alaska 580 (47.3) 242 (19.7) 215 (17.5) 100 (8.1) 90 (7.3) 1,227 (100.0)
Arizona 6,223 (44.9) 2,837 (20.5) 2,535 (18.3) 1,315 (9.5) 946 (6.8) 13,856 (99.0)
Arkansas 993 (31.7) 774 (24.7) 708 (22.6) 389 (12.4) 269 (8.6) 3,133 (100.0)
Colorado 6,565 (57.3) 2,120 (18.5) 1,599 (14.0) 737 (6.4) 429 (3.7) 11,450 (98.9)
Delaware 712 (39.0) 475 (26.0) 353 (19.3) 170 (9.3) 115 (6.3) 1,825 (100.0)
Florida 30,721 (38.5) 20,302 (25.4) 16,371 (20.5) 7,505 (9.4) 4,918 (6.2) 79,817 (100.0)
Georgia 16,577 (39.6) 9,947 (23.8) 8,248 (19.7) 4,085 (9.8) 2,969 (7.1) 41,826 (100.0)
Hawaii 1,169 (52.9) 418 (18.9) 339 (15.3) 177 (8.0) 108 (4.9) 2,211 (99.9)
Idaho 727 (46.8) 335 (21.6) 269 (17.3) 131 (8.4) 91 (5.9) 1,553 (100.0)
Indiana 3,105 (36.9) 2,058 (24.5) 1,793 (21.3) 906 (10.8) 552 (6.6) 8,414 (100.0)
Iowa 1,607 (42.8) 772 (20.5) 718 (19.1) 391 (10.4) 271 (7.2) 3,759 (99.9)
Kansas 3,186 (40.6) 1,798 (22.9) 1,500 (19.1) 791 (10.1) 570 (7.3) 7,845 (100.0)
Kentucky 1,517 (34.2) 1,177 (26.5) 988 (22.2) 473 (10.7) 286 (6.4) 4,441 (100.0)
Louisiana 2,138 (28.7) 2,024 (27.2) 1,775 (23.8) 920 (12.4) 587 (7.9) 7,444 (100.0)
Maine 916 (47.9) 430 (22.5) 343 (17.9) 133 (7.0) 89 (4.7) 1,911 (99.8)
Massachusetts 6,420 (44.3) 3,507 (24.2) 2,763 (19.1) 1,216 (8.4) 593 (4.1) 14,499 (86.3)
Michigan 9,832 (32.7) 7,759 (25.8) 6,687 (22.2) 3,421 (11.4) 2,362 (7.9) 30,061 (100.0)
Minnesota 4,067 (40.1) 2,339 (23.1) 1,950 (19.2) 1,002 (9.9) 772 (7.6) 10,130 (99.9)
Mississippi 1,167 (30.6) 1,016 (26.6) 861 (22.6) 443 (11.6) 330 (8.6) 3,817 (100.0)
Missouri 45 (30.0) 45 (30.0) 31 (20.7) —** —** 150 (100.0)
Montana 907 (50.4) 370 (20.6) 286 (15.9) 151 (8.4) 84 (4.7) 1,798 (100.0)
Nebraska 945 (40.2) 486 (20.7) 497 (21.1) 250 (10.6) 175 (7.4) 2,353 (99.7)
Nevada 3,550 (40.7) 1,942 (22.2) 1,700 (19.5) 840 (9.6) 699 (8.0) 8,731 (99.8)
New Mexico 1,870 (42.9) 943 (21.6) 816 (18.7) 417 (9.6) 312 (7.2) 4,358 (89.1)
New York City 14,591 (44.5) 8,308 (25.4) 6,114 (18.7) 2,409 (7.4) 1,330 (4.1) 32,752 (86.6)
North Carolina 10,646 (36.2) 6,854 (23.3) 5,877 (20.0) 3,257 (11.1) 2,757 (9.4) 29,391 (90.6)
North Dakota 466 (40.4) 235 (20.4) 238 (20.6) 127 (11.0) 87 (7.5) 1,153 (100.0)
Ohio†† 6,937 (34.2) 5,371 (26.5) 4,305 (21.3) 2,154 (10.6) 1,489 (7.4) 20,256 (92.9)
Oregon 3,625 (51.2) 1,473 (20.8) 1,151 (16.3) 509 (7.2) 324 (4.6) 7,082 (99.6)
Pennsylvania 12,132 (36.5) 8,525 (25.7) 6,974 (21.0) 3,415 (10.3) 2,160 (6.5) 33,206 (100.0)
Rhode Island 930 (42.8) 562 (25.9) 426 (19.6) 181 (8.3) 73 (3.4) 2,172 (99.9)
South Carolina 2,630 (41.9) 1,484 (23.6) 1,253 (20.0) 575 (9.2) 337 (5.4) 6,279 (100.0)
South Dakota 60 (31.3) 52 (27.1) 43 (22.4) 20 (10.4) 17 (8.9) 192 (100.0)
Tennessee 4,109 (33.7) 3,210 (26.4) 2,582 (21.2) 1,409 (11.6) 867 (7.1) 12,177 (100.0)
Texas 20,653 (39.8) 12,081 (23.3) 10,526 (20.3) 5,285 (10.2) 3,314 (6.4) 51,859 (100.0)
Utah 1,629 (52.4) 591 (19.0) 475 (15.3) 248 (8.0) 168 (5.4) 3,111 (99.4)
Vermont 540 (52.4) 202 (19.6) 172 (16.7) 80 (7.8) 37 (3.6) 1,031 (99.8)
Virginia 4,712 (29.2) 4,362 (27.0) 3,449 (21.4) 1,885 (11.7) 1,731 (10.7) 16,139 (100.0)
Washington 7,681 (47.1) 3,632 (22.3) 2,886 (17.7) 1,299 (8.0) 816 (5.0) 16,314 (99.8)
West Virginia 407 (29.6) 370 (26.9) 351 (25.5) 160 (11.6) 87 (6.3) 1,375 (100.0)
Wyoming 65 (63.1) 18 (17.5) 11 (10.7) —** —** 103 (100.0)
Total 199,590 (39.3) 123,271 (24.3) 101,507 (20.0) 49,672 (9.8) 33,645 (6.6) 507,685 (97.5)§§

* Data from 42 reporting areas; excludes 10 reporting areas (California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York State, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin) that did not report, did not report by number of previous live births, or did not meet reporting standards.
Percentages for the individual component categories might not add to 100% because of rounding.
§ Percentage is calculated as the number of abortions reported by known number of previous live births divided by the sum of abortions reported by known and unknown number of previous live births. Values ≥99.95% are rounded to 100.0%.
Recorded as the number of previous pregnancies carried to term.
** Cells with a numerical value in the range of 1–4 and cells that would allow for calculation of these small values have been suppressed.
†† Recorded as the number of living children.
§§ Percentage based on a total of 520,625 abortions reported among the areas that met reporting standards for the number of previous live births.

TABLE 9. Number and percentage of reported abortions, by known number of previous induced abortions and reporting area of occurrence — selected reporting areas,* United States, 2021Return to your place in the text
Area No. of previous induced abortions Total abortions reported by known number of previous induced abortions
0 1 2 ≥3
No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (% of all reported abortions)§
Alabama 4,408 (68.0) 1,367 (21.1) 463 (7.1) 244 (3.8) 6,482 (99.9)
Alaska 812 (66.3) 256 (20.9) 87 (7.1) 69 (5.6) 1,224 (99.8)
Arizona 9,223 (66.8) 3,137 (22.7) 970 (7.0) 470 (3.4) 13,800 (98.6)
Arkansas 1,996 (63.7) 655 (20.9) 253 (8.1) 229 (7.3) 3,133 (100.0)
Colorado 8,090 (70.1) 2,348 (20.4) 731 (6.3) 367 (3.2) 11,536 (99.6)
Delaware 1,089 (59.9) 433 (23.8) 183 (10.1) 114 (6.3) 1,819 (99.7)
Florida 44,013 (55.1) 20,548 (25.7) 8,617 (10.8) 6,639 (8.3) 79,817 (100.0)
Georgia 25,913 (62.0) 9,359 (22.4) 4,108 (9.8) 2,447 (5.9) 41,827 (100.0)
Hawaii 1,307 (59.1) 542 (24.5) 231 (10.4) 133 (6.0) 2,213 (100.0)
Idaho 1,141 (73.5) 302 (19.4) 78 (5.0) 32 (2.1) 1,553 (100.0)
Indiana 5,776 (68.6) 1,683 (20.0) 639 (7.6) 316 (3.8) 8,414 (100.0)
Iowa 2,539 (67.5) 788 (21.0) 283 (7.5) 150 (4.0) 3,760 (100.0)
Kansas 5,318 (67.8) 1,626 (20.7) 574 (7.3) 327 (4.2) 7,845 (100.0)
Kentucky 2,843 (64.0) 1,001 (22.5) 361 (8.1) 236 (5.3) 4,441 (100.0)
Louisiana 4,695 (63.1) 1,824 (24.5) 659 (8.9) 266 (3.6) 7,444 (100.0)
Maine 1,221 (64.1) 425 (22.3) 177 (9.3) 83 (4.4) 1,906 (99.5)
Massachusetts 8,126 (51.9) 4,213 (26.9) 1,896 (12.1) 1,429 (9.1) 15,664 (93.3)
Michigan 14,701 (48.9) 7,516 (25.0) 4,252 (14.1) 3,583 (11.9) 30,052 (99.9)
Minnesota 6,015 (59.4) 2,335 (23.1) 1,006 (9.9) 767 (7.6) 10,123 (99.9)
Mississippi 2,545 (66.7) 861 (22.6) 293 (7.7) 118 (3.1) 3,817 (100.0)
Missouri 117 (78.0) 19 (12.7) 8 (5.3) 6 (4.0) 150 (100.0)
Montana 856 (47.6) 629 (35.0) 203 (11.3) 110 (6.1) 1,798 (100.0)
Nebraska 1,655 (70.2) 494 (21.0) 133 (5.6) 74 (3.1) 2,356 (99.8)
Nevada 5,512 (63.3) 1,829 (21.0) 784 (9.0) 578 (6.6) 8,703 (99.5)
New Mexico 1,190 (25.3) 2,450 (52.1) 797 (17.0) 265 (5.6) 4,702 (96.1)
New York City 11,663 (35.3) 8,680 (26.3) 5,406 (16.4) 7,260 (22.0) 33,009 (87.3)
North Carolina 17,915 (61.5) 6,666 (22.9) 2,892 (9.9) 1,678 (5.8) 29,151 (89.8)
North Dakota 785 (68.1) 225 (19.5) 84 (7.3) 59 (5.1) 1,153 (100.0)
Ohio 12,221 (59.3) 4,840 (23.5) 2,116 (10.3) 1,432 (6.9) 20,609 (94.5)
Oregon 4,580 (64.7) 1,501 (21.2) 624 (8.8) 371 (5.2) 7,076 (99.5)
Pennsylvania 17,412 (52.4) 7,944 (23.9) 3,960 (11.9) 3,890 (11.7) 33,206 (100.0)
Rhode Island 1,278 (58.8) 520 (23.9) 213 (9.8) 162 (7.5) 2,173 (99.9)
South Carolina 4,033 (65.1) 1,450 (23.4) 514 (8.3) 195 (3.1) 6,192 (98.6)
South Dakota 142 (74.0) 37 (19.3) 192 (100.0)
Tennessee 7,759 (63.7) 2,892 (23.7) 1,035 (8.5) 494 (4.1) 12,180 (100.0)
Texas 32,015 (61.7) 12,863 (24.8) 4,628 (8.9) 2,352 (4.5) 51,858 (100.0)
Utah 2,317 (75.1) 574 (18.6) 139 (4.5) 56 (1.8) 3,086 (98.6)
Vermont 662 (64.2) 235 (22.8) 88 (8.5) 46 (4.5) 1,031 (99.8)
Virginia 6,933 (44.6) 5,494 (35.3) 2,258 (14.5) 870 (5.6) 15,555 (96.4)
Washington 9,604 (59.8) 3,677 (22.9) 1,552 (9.7) 1,217 (7.6) 16,050 (98.2)
West Virginia 909 (66.1) 293 (21.3) 102 (7.4) 71 (5.2) 1,375 (100.0)
Wyoming 76 (73.8) 21 (20.4) 103 (100.0)
Total 291,405 (57.3) 124,552 (24.5) 53,412 (10.5) 39,209 (7.7) 508,578 (97.7)**

* Data from 42 reporting areas; excludes 10 reporting areas (California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York State, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin) that did not report, did not report by number of previous induced abortions, or did not meet reporting standards.
Percentages for the individual component categories might not add to 100% because of rounding.
§ Percentage is calculated as the number of abortions reported by known number of previous induced abortions divided by the sum of abortions reported by known and unknown number of previous induced abortions. Values ≥99.95% are rounded to 100.0%.
Cells with a numerical value in the range of 1–4 and cells that would allow for calculation of these small values have been suppressed.
** Percentage based on a total of 520,625 abortions reported among the areas that met reporting standards for the number of previous induced abortions.

TABLE 10. Number and percentage of reported abortions, by known weeks of gestation* and reporting area of occurrence — selected reporting areas, United States, 2021Return to your place in the text
Area Weeks of gestation Total abortions reported by known gestational age
≤6 7–9 10–13 14–15 16–17 18–20 ≥21
No. (%)§ No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (% of all reported abortions)
Alabama** 1,529 (23.6) 3,110 (48.0) 1,237 (19.1) 265 (4.1) 136 (2.1) 152 (2.3) 49 (0.8) 6,478 (99.8)
Alaska 366 (29.8) 549 (44.7) 233 (19.0) 48 (3.9) 28 (2.3) †† †† 1,227 (100.0)
Arizona 3,467 (24.8) 6,487 (46.3) 2,604 (18.6) 609 (4.4) 297 (2.1) 306 (2.2) 227 (1.6) 13,997 (100.0)
Arkansas** 325 (10.4) 1,398 (44.6) 1,001 (32.0) 149 (4.8) 98 (3.1) 137 (4.4) 25 (0.8) 3,133 (100.0)
Colorado 5,237 (45.3) 4,238 (36.6) 1,265 (10.9) 248 (2.1) 189 (1.6) 218 (1.9) 173 (1.5) 11,568 (99.9)
Delaware 425 (23.6) 930 (51.7) 350 (19.4) 58 (3.2) 13 (0.7) 13 (0.7) 11 (0.6) 1,800 (98.6)
Florida 58,136 (72.8) 13,436 (16.8) 5,321 (6.7) 1,140 (1.4) 734 (0.9) 764 (1.0) 286 (0.4) 79,817 (100.0)
Georgia 19,145 (45.8) 15,933 (38.1) 4,530 (10.8) 859 (2.1) 551 (1.3) 631 (1.5) 183 (0.4) 41,832 (100.0)
Hawaii 754 (34.1) 1,023 (46.3) 270 (12.2) 62 (2.8) 45 (2.0) 35 (1.6) 21 (1.0) 2,210 (99.8)
Idaho 475 (30.8) 776 (50.3) 227 (14.7) 51 (3.3) 10 (0.6) †† †† 1,543 (99.4)
Indiana 1,995 (23.7) 4,867 (57.8) 1,447 (17.2) 15 (0.2) 16 (0.2) 40 (0.5) 34 (0.4) 8,414 (100.0)
Iowa 1,668 (44.3) 1,421 (37.8) 474 (12.6) 61 (1.6) 69 (1.8) 62 (1.6) 6 (0.2) 3,761 (100.0)
Kansas 3,120 (39.8) 2,978 (38.0) 1,140 (14.5) 224 (2.9) 180 (2.3) 148 (1.9) 55 (0.7) 7,845 (100.0)
Kentucky 1,344 (30.3) 2,031 (45.7) 682 (15.4) 138 (3.1) 101 (2.3) 119 (2.7) 26 (0.6) 4,441 (100.0)
Louisiana 1,407 (18.9) 3,460 (46.5) 1,883 (25.3) 450 (6.0) 202 (2.7) 42 (0.6) 0 (—) 7,444 (100.0)
Maine 600 (31.4) 954 (49.9) 252 (13.2) 57 (3.0) 29 (1.5) 21 (1.1) 0 (—) 1,913 (99.9)
Michigan 11,864 (39.6) 11,744 (39.2) 3,817 (12.7) 1,022 (3.4) 622 (2.1) 526 (1.8) 381 (1.3) 29,976 (99.7)
Minnesota 4,034 (40.3) 3,831 (38.2) 1,280 (12.8) 349 (3.5) 176 (1.8) 188 (1.9) 160 (1.6) 10,018 (98.8)
Mississippi 1,091 (28.6) 1,986 (52.0) 596 (15.6) 137 (3.6) 7 (0.2) 0 (—) 0 (—) 3,817 (100.0)
Missouri †† 32 (21.3) †† †† 13 (8.7) 30 (20.0) 35 (23.3) 150 (100.0)
Montana 863 (48.2) 646 (36.1) 193 (10.8) 51 (2.8) 22 (1.2) †† †† 1,791 (99.6)
Nebraska 842 (35.7) 947 (40.2) 404 (17.1) 76 (3.2) 50 (2.1) 29 (1.2) 10 (0.4) 2,358 (99.9)
Nevada 3,388 (38.9) 3,612 (41.5) 1,126 (12.9) 262 (3.0) 127 (1.5) 119 (1.4) 78 (0.9) 8,712 (99.6)
New Mexico 1,823 (40.2) 1,253 (27.6) 605 (13.3) 162 (3.6) 122 (2.7) 183 (4.0) 390 (8.6) 4,538 (92.8)
New York City 16,808 (44.5) 13,904 (36.8) 4,134 (10.9) 951 (2.5) 564 (1.5) 679 (1.8) 767 (2.0) 37,807 (100.0)
North Carolina 12,976 (40.2) 12,917 (40.0) 4,443 (13.8) 830 (2.6) 552 (1.7) 472 (1.5) 70 (0.2) 32,260 (99.4)
North Dakota 413 (35.8) 511 (44.3) 176 (15.3) 43 (3.7) 10 (0.9) 0 (—) 0 (—) 1,153 (100.0)
Ohio 5,751 (26.4) 10,066 (46.1) 3,798 (17.4) 883 (4.0) 626 (2.9) 533 (2.4) 156 (0.7) 21,813 (100.0)
Oklahoma 2,344 (32.3) 3,300 (45.4) 1,175 (16.2) 252 (3.5) 136 (1.9) 46 (0.6) 8 (0.1) 7,261 (99.6)
Oregon 2,966 (41.7) 2,681 (37.7) 837 (11.8) 216 (3.0) 130 (1.8) 147 (2.1) 132 (1.9) 7,109 (100.0)
Rhode Island 906 (41.8) 849 (39.1) 266 (12.3) 79 (3.6) 30 (1.4) 23 (1.1) 17 (0.8) 2,170 (99.8)
South Carolina** 1,460 (23.3) 2,407 (38.3) 2,084 (33.2) 279 (4.4) 5 (0.1) 22 (0.4) 22 (0.4) 6,279 (100.0)
South Dakota †† 82 (42.9) 79 (41.4) 0 (—) †† †† 0 (—) 191 (99.5)
Tennessee 3,825 (31.4) 5,351 (43.9) 2,255 (18.5) 416 (3.4) 189 (1.6) 136 (1.1) 9 (0.1) 12,181 (100.0)
Texas** 23,335 (45.0) 19,000 (36.6) 6,275 (12.1) 1,516 (2.9) 844 (1.6) 653 (1.3) 237 (0.5) 51,860 (100.0)
Utah 1,398 (44.7) 1,074 (34.3) 429 (13.7) 63 (2.0) 53 (1.7) 68 (2.2) 44 (1.4) 3,129 (100.0)
Vermont 473 (45.9) 385 (37.3) 96 (9.3) 28 (2.7) 17 (1.6) 16 (1.6) 16 (1.6) 1,031 (99.8)
Virginia 9,546 (59.2) 4,471 (27.7) 1,571 (9.7) 239 (1.5) 73 (0.5) 130 (0.8) 103 (0.6) 16,133 (100.0)
Washington 7,021 (43.1) 6,339 (38.9) 1,720 (10.6) 396 (2.4) 231 (1.4) 263 (1.6) 329 (2.0) 16,299 (99.7)
West Virginia 487 (35.4) 586 (42.6) 220 (16.0) 53 (3.9) 16 (1.2) †† †† 1,375 (100.0)
Wyoming 66 (64.1) 36 (35.0) †† †† †† 0 (—) 0 (—) 103 (100.0)
Total 213,703 (44.8) 171,601 (36.0) 60,527 (12.7) 12,744 (2.7) 7,314 (1.5) 6,978 (1.5) 4,070 (0.9) 476,937 (99.8)§§

* Gestational age based on clinician’s estimate (Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York City, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming); gestational age calculated from the last normal menstrual period (Oklahoma and Utah); clinician’s estimate of gestation based on estimated date of conception (Virginia); and probable postfertilization age (Alabama, Arkansas, South Carolina, and Texas).
Data from 41 reporting areas; excludes 11 reporting areas (California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York State, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) that did not report, did not report by gestational age, or did not meet reporting standards.
§ Percentages for the individual component categories might not add to 100% because of rounding.
Percentage is calculated as the number of abortions reported by known gestational age divided by the sum of abortions reported by known and unknown gestational age. Values ≥99.95% are rounded to 100.0%.
** Two weeks were added to the probable postfertilization age to provide a corresponding measure to gestational age based on the clinician’s estimate.
†† Cells with a numerical value in the range of 1–4 and cells that would allow for calculation of these small values have been suppressed.
§§ Percentage based on a total of 477,911 abortions reported among the areas that met reporting standards for gestational age.

TABLE 11. Percentage of reported abortions, by known weeks of gestation and year — selected reporting areas,* United States, 2012–2021Return to your place in the text
Weeks of gestation Year % Change
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2020 to 2021 2012 to 2021
≤13 weeks’ gestation 91.7 91.9 91.3 91.3 91.3 91.5 91.8 92.3 92.7 92.9 0.2 1.3
≤6 35.0 34.7 33.6 34.2 34.3 35.3 36.5 37.9 39.6 39.5 −0.3 12.9
7–9 39.8 40.3 40.4 40.4 40.7 40.7 40.1 40.0 39.6 39.6 0.0 −0.5
10–13 16.9 17.0 17.3 16.7 16.3 15.5 15.2 14.4 13.5 13.7 1.5 −18.9
>13 weeks’ gestation 8.3 8.1 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.5 8.2 7.7 7.3 7.1 −2.7 −14.5
14–15 3.4 3.3 3.5 3.4 3.5 3.3 3.3 3.1 3.0 2.9 −3.3 −14.7
16–17 1.8 1.8 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.0 1.8 1.7 1.7 0.0 −5.6
18–20 1.9 1.8 1.9 1.9 2.0 1.9 1.9 1.7 1.6 1.6 0.0 −15.8
≥21 1.3 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.0 0.0 −23.1
Total (no.)§ 426,097 406,782 396,891 387,407 380,192 368,044 368,572 373,569 362,248 378,395 NA NA

Abbreviation: NA = not applicable.
* Data from 35 reporting areas; excludes 17 areas (California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York State, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Wyoming) that did not report, did not report by weeks of gestation, or did not meet reporting standards for ≥1 year.
Percentages for the individual component categories might not add to 100% because of rounding.
§ By year, the total number of abortions represent 72.3%–91.1% of all abortions reported to CDC among the areas that met reporting standards for gestational age during 2012–2021.

TABLE 12. Number and percentage of reported abortions, by known method type and reporting area of occurrence — selected reporting areas,* United States, 2021Return to your place in the text
Area Surgical Medication Intrauterine instillation§ Hysterectomy or hysterotomy Total abortions reported by known method type
Surgical, ≤13 weeks’ gestation Surgical, >13 weeks’ gestation Surgical, unknown gestational age Medication, ≤9 weeks’ gestation Medication, >9 weeks’ gestation Medication, unknown gestational age
No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (% of all reported abortions)**
Alabama†† 2,230 (34.4) 593 (9.1) §§ 3,302 (50.9) 345 (5.3) 7 (0.1) 0 (—) §§ 6,483 (99.9)
Alaska 705 (57.6) 76 (6.2) 0 (—) 410 (33.5) 32 (2.6) 0 (—) 0 (—) 0 (—) 1,223 (99.7)
Arizona 5,832 (41.7) 1,387 (9.9) §§ 6,254 (44.7) 518 (3.7) 0 (—) 0 (—) §§ 13,993 (100.0)
Arkansas†† 1,535 (49.0) 408 (13.0) 0 (—) 750 (23.9) 440 (14.0) 0 (—) 0 (—) 0 (—) 3,133 (100.0)
Colorado 2,866 (26.5) 503 (4.7) 7 (0.1) 6,978 (64.6) 447 (4.1) 5 (0.0) §§ §§ 10,810 (93.4)
Connecticut¶¶ NA NA 3,528 (35.0) NA NA 6,552 (65.0) §§ §§ 10,082 (99.4)
Delaware 490 (27.1) 90 (5.0) 7 (0.4) 1,048 (57.9) 157 (8.7) 18 (1.0) 0 (—) 0 (—) 1,810 (99.2)
District of Columbia*** 1,543 (39.9) 333 (8.6) 0 (—) NA NA 1,994 (51.5) 0 (—) 0 (—) 3,870 (100.0)
Florida 27,493 (35.8) 2,833 (3.7) 0 (—) 45,835 (59.7) 598 (0.8) 0 (—) 0 (—) 8 (0.0) 76,767 (96.2)
Georgia 13,238 (31.7) 2,209 (5.3) §§ 25,172 (60.2) 1,205 (2.9) §§ 0 (—) 0 (—) 41,825 (100.0)
Hawaii 800 (36.3) 158 (7.2) §§ 1,180 (53.6) 61 (2.8) §§ 0 (—) 0 (—) 2,203 (99.5)
Idaho 589 (38.0) 62 (4.0) §§ 834 (53.7) 57 (3.7) 7 (0.5) §§ 0 (—) 1,552 (99.9)
Indiana 3,544 (42.1) 77 (0.9) §§ 4,640 (55.1) 151 (1.8) 0 (—) 0 (—) §§ 8,414 (100.0)
Iowa 572 (15.2) 196 (5.2) 0 (—) 2,792 (74.3) 200 (5.3) 0 (—) 0 (—) 0 (—) 3,760 (100.0)
Kansas 1,919 (24.5) 586 (7.5) 0 (—) 4,940 (63.1) 383 (4.9) 0 (—) 0 (—) 0 (—) 7,828 (99.8)
Kentucky 1,784 (40.2) 380 (8.6) 0 (—) 2,271 (51.1) §§ §§ 0 (—) 0 (—) 4,441 (100.0)
Louisiana 3,547 (47.7) 691 (9.3) 0 (—) 3,003 (40.4) 200 (2.7) 0 (—) 0 (—) 0 (—) 7,441 (100.0)
Maine 654 (34.2) 100 (5.2) §§ 1,070 (55.9) 87 (4.5) §§ 0 (—) 0 (—) 1,913 (99.9)
Massachusetts††† NA NA 8,483 (50.5) NA NA 8,311 (49.5) 0 (—) 0 (—) 16,794 (100.0)
Michigan 12,004 (40.2) 2,466 (8.3) 49 (0.2) 14,526 (48.6) 805 (2.7) 36 (0.1) §§ §§ 29,887 (99.4)
Minnesota 3,102 (30.6) 853 (8.4) 21 (0.2) 5,633 (55.6) 426 (4.2) 96 (0.9) §§ §§ 10,132 (100.0)
Mississippi 321 (8.4) 141 (3.7) 0 (—) 3,051 (79.9) 304 (8.0) 0 (—) 0 (—) 0 (—) 3,817 (100.0)
Montana 396 (22.0) 87 (4.8) §§ 1,224 (68.1) 84 (4.7) 6 (0.3) §§ 0 (—) 1,798 (100.0)
Nebraska 484 (20.5) 163 (6.9) §§ 1,573 (66.7) 135 (5.7) §§ 0 (—) †† 2,360 (100.0)
Nevada 3,631 (43.2) 333 (4.0) 17 (0.2) 4,099 (48.8) 306 (3.6) 21 (0.2) §§ §§ 8,408 (96.1)
New Mexico 1,551 (36.2) 490 (11.4) 124 (2.9) 1,610 (37.6) 377 (8.8) 129 (3.0) §§ §§ 4,282 (87.5)
New York 29,952 (48.4) 4,755 (7.7) 1,412 (2.3) 20,248 (32.7) 2,360 (3.8) 3,020 (4.9) 78 (0.1) 27 (0.0) 61,852 (97.4)
New York City 21,275 (56.3) 2,774 (7.3) §§ 13,033 (34.5) 613 (1.6) §§ §§ §§ 37,803 (100.0)
New York State 8,677 (36.1) 1,981 (8.2) §§ 7,215 (30.0) 1,747 (7.3) §§ §§ §§ 24,049 (93.7)
North Carolina 8,589 (27.5) 1,834 (5.9) 36 (0.1) 19,475 (62.4) 1,243 (4.0) 45 (0.1) §§ §§ 31,223 (96.2)
North Dakota 232 (20.1) 29 (2.5) 0 (—) 791 (68.6) 101 (8.8) 0 (—) 0 (—) 0 (—) 1,153 (100.0)
Ohio 9,418 (43.2) 2,163 (9.9) 0 (—) 10,114 (46.4) 118 (0.5) 0 (—) 0 (—) 0 (—) 21,813 (100.0)
Oklahoma 1,516 (21.8) 427 (6.1) §§ 4,639 (66.7) 352 (5.1) 18 (0.3) §§ 0 (—) 6,954 (95.4)
Oregon 2,269 (31.9) 583 (8.2) 0 (—) 4,011 (56.5) 235 (3.3) 0 (—) 0 (—) 5 (0.1) 7,103 (99.9)
Pennsylvania¶¶ NA NA 14,774 (44.6) NA NA 18,370 (55.4) §§ §§ 33,150 (99.8)
Rhode Island 907 (41.8) 147 (6.8) §§ 1,054 (48.5) 59 (2.7) §§ 0 (—) 0 (—) 2,172 (99.9)
South Carolina†† 1,341 (21.4) 308 (4.9) §§ 3,267 (52.0) 1,356 (21.6) 0 (—) 6 (0.1) §§ 6,279 (100.0)
South Dakota §§ §§ §§ 55 (28.6) 16 (8.3) 0 (—) 0 (—) §§ 192 (100.0)
Tennessee 4,021 (33.0) 742 (6.1) §§ 6,785 (55.7) 624 (5.1) 0 (—) 0 (—) §§ 12,174 (99.9)
Texas†† 21,788 (42.0) 3,198 (6.2) §§ 26,441 (51.0) 423 (0.8) 0 (—) 0 (—) §§ 51,853 (100.0)
Utah 1,160 (37.1) 200 (6.4) 0 (—) 1,686 (53.9) 76 (2.4) 0 (—) 7 (0.2) 0 (—) 3,129 (100.0)
Vermont 216 (20.9) 74 (7.2) §§ 709 (68.6) 32 (3.1) §§ 0 (—) 0 (—) 1,033 (100.0)
Virginia 6,399 (39.8) 537 (3.3) 5 (0.0) 8,957 (55.7) 194 (1.2) §§ 0 (—) §§ 16,095 (99.7)
Washington 5,353 (33.1) 1,143 (7.1) 10 (0.1) 9,274 (57.4) 342 (2.1) 39 (0.2) 0 (—) 0 (—) 16,161 (98.9)
West Virginia 547 (39.8) 70 (5.1) §§ 690 (50.2) 67 (4.9) 0 (—) §§ 0 (—) 1,375 (100.0)
Wisconsin¶¶,§§§ NA NA 3,969 (61.3) NA NA 2,503 (38.7) 0 (—) 0 (—) 6,472 (100.0)
Wyoming §§ §§ 0 (—) 102 (99.0) §§ 0 (—) 0 (—) 0 (—) 103 (100.0)
Total 212,395 (37.6) 36,147 (6.4) ¶¶¶ 299,449 (53.0) 17,155 (3.0) —**** 99 (0.0) 67 (0.0) 565,312 (98.5)††††

Abbreviation: NA = not applicable.
* Data from 46 reporting areas; excludes six reporting areas (California, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, New Hampshire, and New Jersey) that did not report, did not report by method type, or did not meet reporting standards. Areas reporting by method type with unknown gestational age or by method type where gestational age reported was not compatible with categorizations presented in this table are included.
Includes uterine aspiration (might also be called dilation and curettage, aspiration curettage, suction curettage, manual vacuum aspiration, menstrual extraction, or sharp curettage) and dilation and evacuation procedures.
§ Intrauterine instillations reported at ≤12 weeks’ gestation were considered as unknown for method type.
Percentages for the individual component categories might not add to 100% because of rounding.
** Percentage is calculated as the number of abortions reported by known method type divided by the sum of abortions reported by known and unknown method type. Values ≥99.95% are rounded to 100.0%.
†† Two weeks were added to the probable postfertilization age to provide a corresponding measure to gestational age based on the clinician’s estimate.
§§ Cells with a numerical value in the range of 1–4 and cells that would allow for calculation of these small values have been suppressed.
¶¶ Numbers for surgical abortions at ≤13 weeks and >13 weeks and medication abortions at ≤9 weeks versus >9 weeks are not presented as gestational age reported was not compatible with these categorizations.
*** Gestational age based on clinicians’ estimate. Numbers for medication abortions at ≤9 weeks versus >9 weeks are not presented because gestational age reported was not compatible with these categorizations.
††† Numbers for surgical abortions at ≤13 weeks versus >13 weeks and for medication abortions at ≤9 weeks versus >9 weeks are not presented because gestational age data were not provided by method type
§§§ Includes residents only. Wisconsin reports as surgical, unspecified and does not differentiate surgical abortions from hysterectomy or hysterotomy. All abortions were reported as surgical or chemically induced. For this report, all surgical abortions were classified as surgical and all chemical abortions as medication.
¶¶¶ For the total only, surgical abortions reported without a gestational age were distributed among the surgical abortion categories according to the distribution of surgical abortions at known gestational age.
**** For the total only, medication abortions reported without a gestational age were distributed among the medication abortion categories according to the distribution of medication abortions at known gestational age.
†††† Percentage based on a total of 573,924 abortions reported among the areas that met reporting standards for method type.

TABLE 13. Number and percentage of reported abortions, by known weeks of gestation and method type — selected reporting areas,* United States, 2021Return to your place in the text
Method type Weeks of gestation Total
≤6 7–9 10–13 14–15 16–17 18–20 ≥21
No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%)
Surgical§
≤13 weeks’ gestation 62,022 (29.4) 65,151 (38.4) 47,263 (79.4) NA NA NA NA 174,436 (37.1)
>13 weeks’ gestation NA NA NA 12,418 (98.6) 7,017 (98.0) 6,455 (96.6) 3,222 (86.6) 29,112 (6.2)
Medication
≤9 weeks’ gestation 148,635 (70.6) 104,643 (61.6) NA NA NA NA NA 253,278 (53.9)
>9 weeks’ gestation NA NA 12,231 (20.6) 158 (1.3) 122 (1.7) 207 (3.1) 458 (12.3) 13,176 (2.8)
Intrauterine instillation —** —** 7 (0.0) 16 (0.1) 16 (0.2) 16 (0.2) 37 (1.0) 92 (0.0)
Hysterectomy or hysterotomy 21 (0.0) 20 (0.0) 7 (0.0) 1 (0.0) 5 (0.1) 6 (0.1) 3 (0.1) 63 (0.0)
Total 210,678 (100.0) 169,814 (100.0) 59,508 (100.0) 12,593 (100.0) 7,160 (100.0) 6,684 (100.0) 3,720 (100.0) 470,157 (100.0)

Abbreviation: NA = not applicable.
* Data from 40 reporting areas; excludes 12 reporting areas (California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York State, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) that did not report, did not report by weeks of gestation, did not meet reporting standards, or did not have medication abortion as a specific category on their reporting form.
For each gestational age category, percentages of all method types might not add to 100% because of rounding.
§ Includes uterine aspiration (might also be called dilation and curettage, aspiration curettage, suction curettage, manual vacuum aspiration, menstrual extraction, sharp curettage) and dilation and evacuation procedures.
The administration of medication or medications to induce an abortion; at ≤9 weeks’ gestation, typically involves the use of mifepristone and misoprostol; at >9 weeks’ gestation, typically involves the use of vaginal prostaglandins.
** Intrauterine instillations reported at ≤12 weeks’ gestation have not been included with known values.

TABLE 14. Number and percentage of reported abortions, by known weeks of gestation, age group, and race and ethnicity — selected reporting areas, United States, 2021Return to your place in the text
Characteristic Weeks of gestation Total
≤6 7–9 10–13 14–15 16–17 18–20 ≥21
No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%) No. (%)
Age group (yrs)*,†
<15>

257 (24.2) 375 (35.3) 223 (21.0) 61 (5.7) 48 (4.5) 61 (5.7) 38 (3.6) 1,063 (100.0)
15–19 14,127 (37.3) 14,214 (37.5) 6,205 (16.4) 1,361 (3.6) 784 (2.1) 772 (2.0) 442 (1.2) 37,905 (100.0)
20–24 58,488 (43.2) 50,058 (37.0) 18,188 (13.4) 3,723 (2.7) 2,106 (1.6) 1,887 (1.4) 944 (0.7) 135,394 (100.0)
25–29 62,433 (45.8) 49,321 (36.2) 16,688 (12.2) 3,339 (2.4) 1,784 (1.3) 1,771 (1.3) 1,012 (0.7) 136,348 (100.0)
30–34 45,222 (46.8) 33,949 (35.1) 11,462 (11.9) 2,369 (2.5) 1,415 (1.5) 1,329 (1.4) 893 (0.9) 96,639 (100.0)
35–39 23,961 (47.0) 17,638 (34.6) 5,775 (11.3) 1,388 (2.7) 860 (1.7) 852 (1.7) 560 (1.1) 51,034 (100.0)
≥40 8,597 (50.4) 5,471 (32.1) 1,788 (10.5) 457 (2.7) 291 (1.7) 288 (1.7) 161 (0.9) 17,053 (100.0)
Total 213,085 (44.8) 171,026 (36.0) 60,329 (12.7) 12,698 (2.7) 7,288 (1.5) 6,960 (1.5) 4,050 (0.9) 475,436 (100.0)
Race and ethnicity*
Non-Hispanic
Black 68,937 (43.4) 58,386 (36.8) 21,661 (13.6) 4,273 (2.7) 2,258 (1.4) 2,274 (1.4) 1,026 (0.6) 158,815 (100.0)
White 54,371 (47.1) 39,903 (34.6) 13,643 (11.8) 2,958 (2.6) 1,686 (1.5) 1,696 (1.5) 1,076 (0.9) 115,333 (100.0)
Other 11,491 (46.8) 8,596 (35.0) 2,784 (11.3) 641 (2.6) 378 (1.5) 365 (1.5) 294 (1.2) 24,549 (100.0)
Hispanic 41,903 (51.3) 26,159 (32.0) 8,887 (10.9) 1,870 (2.3) 1,107 (1.4) 1,044 (1.3) 674 (0.8) 81,644 (100.0)
Total 176,702 (46.5) 133,044 (35.0) 46,975 (12.4) 9,742 (2.6) 5,429 (1.4) 5,379 (1.4) 3,070 (0.8) 380,341 (100.0)

* Percentages for the individual component categories might not add to 100% because of rounding.
Data from 41 reporting areas; excludes 11 reporting areas (California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York State, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) that did not report, did not report weeks of gestation by age, or did not meet reporting standards.
§ Data from 31 reporting areas; excludes 21 reporting areas (California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York State, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin) that did not report, did not report weeks of gestation by race and ethnicity, or did not meet reporting standards.
Including Alaska Native, American Indian, Asian (Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, or other Asian), Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander (Native Hawaiian, Guamanian or Chamorro, Samoan, or other Pacific Islander), other races, and multiple races.

TABLE 15. Number of deaths and case-fatality rates* for abortion-related deaths reported to CDC, by type of abortion — United States, 1973–2020Return to your place in the text
Year Type of abortion CFR per 100,000 legal abortions
Induced Unknown Total
Legal§ Illegal
1973–1977 2.09
1973 25 19 3 47
1974 26 6 1 33
1975 29 4 1 34
1976 11 2 1 14
1977 17 4 0 21
1978–1982 0.78
1978 9 7 0 16
1979 22 0 0 22
1980 9 1 2 12
1981 8 1 0 9
1982 11 1 0 12
1983–1987 0.66
1983 11 1 0 12
1984 12 0 0 12
1985 11 1 1 13
1986 11 0 2 13
1987 7 2 0 9
1988–1992 0.74
1988 16 0 0 16
1989 12 1 0 13
1990 9 0 0 9
1991 11 1 0 12
1992 10 0 0 10
1993–1997 0.52
1993 6 1 2 9
1994 10 2 0 12
1995 4 0 0 4
1996 9 0 0 9
1997 7 0 0 7
1998–2002 0.63
1998 9 0 0 9
1999 4 0 0 4
2000 11 0 0 11
2001 7 1 0 8
2002 10 0 0 10
2003–2007 0.60
2003 10 0 0 10
2004 7 1 0 8
2005 7 0 0 7
2006 7 0 0 7
2007 6 0 0 6
2008–2012 0.65
2008 12 0 0 12
2009 8 0 0 8
2010 10 0 0 10
2011 2 0 0 2
2012 4 0 0 4
2013–2020 0.45
2013 4 0 0 4
2014 6 0 0 6
2015 2 0 1 3
2016 6 1 1 8
2017 3 0 0 3
2018 2 0 0 2
2019 4 0 0 4
2020 6 0 0 6

Abbreviation: CFR = case-fatality rate.
* Number of legal induced abortion-related deaths per 100,000 reported legal induced abortions. Because a substantial number of legal induced abortions occurred outside reporting areas that provided data to CDC, national CFRs (i.e., number of legal induced abortion–related deaths per 100,000 reported legal induced abortions in the United States) were calculated with denominator data from the Guttmacher Institute’s national survey of abortion-providing facilities. Case-fatality rates were computed for consecutive 5-year periods during 1973–2012 and then for a consecutive 8-year period during 2013–2020 because rates based on <20 cases might be unstable> Certain numbers might differ from those in reports published previously because additional information has been supplied to CDC subsequent to publication.
§ An abortion is defined as legal if it was performed by a licensed clinician within the limits of state or jurisdiction law.
Unknown whether abortion was induced or spontaneous.

Suggested citation for this article: Kortsmit K, Nguyen AT, Mandel MG, et al. Abortion Surveillance — United States, 2021. MMWR Surveill Summ 2023;72(No. SS-9):1–29. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.ss7209a1.


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