Abortion Statistics Through the Years and Trends

In other societies, abortion is talked about more freely. Yet, there are some myths associated with it. Abortion today is legal in most countries of the world. Here are some interesting statistics about abortion that reflect the trends in this procedure:

- If we were to consider the number of abortions happening per day in the whole world, this number would amount to 1,25,000, according to WHO statistics. This seems like a huge number until you put it in perspective. There are approximately 30-40 million abortions per year, but there are 131.4 million births each year. Therefore it is actually not that great a number. With factors like chances of failure of protection and/or contraceptives, danger to mother's health, dangerous birth defects foreseen or rape (depending upon laws of the country concerned), abortion is a blessing in disguise. It is anyway better to abort than to bring an unwanted child to the world.

- There are many different laws in every country regarding abortion. Not every country supports abortion by choice. However, it is a good thing that the number of such countries is on the rise. In 1994, only 42 countries allowed abortion on demand. This figure rose to 53 countries in 2002, and as of 2011, abortion on demand is allowed in 57 countries. However abortion on demand does not mean that a foetus can be terminated during any time in the pregnancy. Most countries have limitations placed on when the foetus can be aborted. More or less, this limitation hovers around the end of the second trimester mark.

- It is often naively believed that with access to easier and safer abortion procedures, abortions have increased dramatically. However it is not true. In fact, the number of abortions has decreased. This is illustrated by the fact that in 1995, out of every 1000 women of child bearing age, 35 had an abortion. In 2003, however, this number decreased to 23. (Child bearing age refers to the age between 15 and 44).

- It is falsely believed that there is more abortion in countries where the abortion law is liberal. In fact, it is the exact opposite. In Latin America, for example, the abortion rate is 32 per 1000 women. In Western Europe, however, it is 12 per 1000.