Abortion surveillance--United States, 1989

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Reproductive Health Statistics

Background:

• Legal induced abortion reporting to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has shown annual stability since 1980.
• A slight increase in reported abortions was observed between 1988 and 1989.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present national statistics on legal induced abortions in the United States for 1989.
• To analyze demographic trends and gestational age at the time of abortion.
• To report on abortion-related mortality for 1986-1987 and provide an update for 1978-1985.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of reported data on legal induced abortions from the CDC.
• Calculation of abortion ratios and rates based on reported numbers and live births.
• Review of reported abortion-related deaths.

Main Results:

• In 1989, 1,396,658 legal induced abortions were reported, a 1.9% increase from 1988.
• The abortion ratio was 346 per 1,000 live births, and the abortion rate was 24 per 1,000 women aged 15-44.
• Higher abortion ratios were observed in minority racial groups and among women under 15.
• Women obtaining abortions were typically young, white, unmarried, nulliparous, and first-time recipients of the procedure.
• Half of abortions occurred before 8 weeks gestation, and 87% before 13 weeks.
• Younger women tended to have abortions later in pregnancy.
• Ten abortion-related deaths were reported in 1986 and six in 1987, with case-fatality rates of 0.8 and 0.4 per 100,000 procedures, respectively.

Conclusions:

• Legal induced abortion statistics demonstrate overall stability with specific demographic variations.
• Early gestational age is common for most abortions, though younger women may present later.
• Abortion-related mortality remains low, with minimal changes in recent years.