Missionaries of the Sacred

Abortion is related to many other issues, including teenage pregnancy, unplanned pregnancy, domestic violence, unhealthy relationships and poverty. Below are a few statistics:

Abortion and Unplanned Pregnancy

• About 50% of all pregnancies in the U.S. are unplanned. 42% of these pregnancies are terminated.²
  
• 54% of women who obtained an abortion had used a contraceptive method during the month they became pregnant.²
• Among those women who had used a contraceptive method during the month they became pregnant, 76% of pill users and 49% of condom users reported having used their method inconsistently.²
• About 47% of woman who have an abortion have already had one or more prior abortions.²

Abortion and Teenage Pregnancy

• 27% of teen pregnancies (15-19) end in induced abortion, compared with 21% among all women.⁹
• Teenagers represent 17% of the women who have abortions.¹⁰
• The most frequent reasons teens who have an abortion give are: concern about how having a baby would change their lives, inability to afford a baby, and not feeling mature enough to raise a child.⁹
• 6.4% of women obtaining abortions are minors (.6% under 15 and 5.8% between 15 and 17)¹² This figure translates to over 75,000 abortions each year.
  
• 10.5% of women obtaining abortions are 18-19 years old.¹²

Abortion and Abusive Relationships

• 2% of women cited an abusive partner or husband as a reason they obtained an abortion.⁴ Although this percentage may seem small, it is still significant, especially when you consider that there are over 1 million abortions in the U.S. each year.
  
• 14% of women cite the fact that their husband or partner wanted them to have an abortion as the reason.

Abortion and Poverty

• The abortion rate among women living below the federal poverty level ($9,570 for a single woman with no children) is more than four times that of women above 300% of the poverty level (44 vs. 10 abortions per 1,000 women).²
• Poor and low income women account for more than half of abortions in the United States.³
• When asked the primary reason they had an abortion, 23% of women cited inability to afford a baby at this time.¹²