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Abortion surveillance--United States, 1998
Joy Herndon1, Lilo T Strauss, Sara Whitehead
1Division of Reproductive Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, USA.
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Surveillance Summaries (Washington, D.C. : 2002)
|October 9, 2002
Summary
Legal induced abortions in the US decreased in 1998, with most occurring early in gestation. Deaths from legal abortions remain rare, underscoring the need for continued surveillance and unintended pregnancy prevention efforts.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Reproductive Health
- Epidemiology
Background:
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has conducted abortion surveillance since 1969.
- The surveillance aims to document abortion statistics, monitor unintended pregnancies, and reduce associated morbidity and mortality.
Purpose of the Study:
- To summarize and review data on legal induced abortions in the United States for 1998.
- To analyze trends and characteristics of women obtaining abortions.
Main Methods:
- Compilation of abortion data by occurrence from reporting areas in the US.
- Analysis of data from 48 reporting areas for 1998, with comparisons to previous years.
- Review of reported characteristics of women, gestational age, and procedure types.
Main Results:
- 884,273 legal induced abortions were reported in 1998, a 2% decrease from 1997.
- The abortion rate was 17 per 1,000 women aged 15-44; the abortion ratio was 264 per 1,000 live births.
- Most abortions (88%) occurred before 13 weeks gestation, with an increasing trend in early-gestation procedures.
Conclusions:
- Abortion numbers continued to decrease in 1998.
- Deaths related to legal induced abortions remain rare.
- Continued monitoring of abortion trends and unintended pregnancy is crucial for public health.