Provision of abortion services in the United States

According to abortion statistics collected by the Centers for Disease Control, between 1.3 and 1.6 million legal abortions were performed in the United States in 1981. The number of abortions performed each year appears to have plateaued. This brief paper summarizes recent trends in the provision of abortion services and describes the demographic characteristics of women who undergo legal abortions in the United States. Women who obtain abortions tend to be young, white, unmarried, and early in their reproductive careers. Most abortions are performed by suction curettage in the first trimester of pregnancy. The majority of women who obtain abortions do so in their state of residence, and non-hospital facilities have emerged as the principal providers of abortion services in the United States.