National Right to Life Committee, 2024
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THE CONSEQUENCES OF ROE V. WADE TOTAL ABORTIONS SINCE 1973: Numbers 1973-2020 based on data reported by the Guttmacher Institute adjusted for GI projected “undercounts” and “missing providers” |
Reported Annual Abortions 1973-2021
Before Dobbs, there were two basic sources of abortion data in the U.S.:
- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) publishes yearly, but relies on voluntary reports from state health departments. It has been missing data from CA, NH and at least one other state since 1998.
- The Guttmacher Institute (GI) contacts abortion clinics directly for data but does not always survey every year.
Both sources showed abortion skyrocketing after Roe, reaching a million annually in just a couple of years.
- Guttmacher showed abortion peaking at 1.6 million in 1990, but dropping from that point as different pro-life laws took effect.
- Abortion numbers, rates and ratios all fell over the next 25 years, reaching four-decade lows in 2016 and 2017.
- From that point on, they began to rise again, largely owing to the promotion and proliferation of abortion pills, which comprised 53% of all abortions in 2020.
Counting abortions became more difficult after Dobbs.
- Many clinics the CDC and GI relied upon for numbers closed, moved, or began sending clients out of state.
- Abortion pills were being promoted, sold on line and shipped to woman’s homes, often illegally.
The Society of Family Planning (SFP), surveyed its members in the months right before and after Dobbs.
- SFP saw an immediate drop in states that protect the unborn and some shift to abortion friendly states.
- Overall, SFP saw 25,050 fewer abortions from July of 2022 through the end of the year.
U.S. economists looking at states with legal protections for the unborn child after Dobbs found 32,000 additional births in the first six months of 2023.
Reported Annual Abortions – 1973-2023
YEAR GI CDC 1973 744,610 615,831 1974 898,570 763,476 1975 1,034,170 854,853 1976 1,179,300 988,267 1977 1,316,700 1,079,430 1978 1,409,600 1,157,776 1979 1,497,670 1,251,921 1980 1,553,890 1,297,606 1981 1,577,340 1,300,760 1982 1,573,920 1,303,980 1983 1,575,000 1,268,987 1984 1,577,180 1,333,521 1985 1,588,550 1,328,570 1986 1,574,000 1,328,112 1987 1,559,110 1,353,671 1988 1,590,750 1,371,285 1989 1,566,900 1,396,658 1990 1,608,600 1,429,247 1991 1,556,510 1,388,937 1992 1,528,930 1,359,146 1993 1,495,000 1,330,414 1994 1,423,000 1,267,415 1995 1,359,400 1,210,883 1996 1,360,160 1,225,937 1997 1,335,000 1,186,039 1998 1,319,000 884,273 * 1999 1,314,800 861,789 * 2000 1,312,990 857,475 * 2001 1,291,000 853,485 * 2002 1,269,000 854,122 * 2003 1,250,000 848,163 * 2004 1,222,100 839,226 * 2005 1,206,200 820,151 * 2006 1,242,200 846,181 * 2007 1,209,640 827,609 * 2008 1,212,350 825,564 * 2009 1,151,600 789,116 * 2010 1,102,670 765,651 * 2011 1,058,490 730,322 * 2012 1,011,000 699,202 * 2013 958,700 664,435 * 2014 926,190 652,639 * 2015 899,500 638,169 * 2016 874,100 623,471 * 2017 862,320 612,719 * 2018 871,806 ** 619,591 * 2019 916,160 629,898 * 2020 930,160 620,327 * 2021 976,668 ** 625,978 * 2022 951,168 ** 2023 912,360 **
* Excludes NH, CA, and at least one other state
** NRLC projection for calculation
Updated: January 2024
National Right to Life — Abortion Statistics: United States Data and Trends, January 2024
The report is available from the National Right to Life Communications Department here: https://nrlc.org///wp-content/uploads/StateofAbortion2024.pdf
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