Category: Statistics and Polls

While Canada did not completely legalize abortion until 1988 through a Supreme Court decision, the country began loosening its restrictions on abortion in 1969. Starting then, women could get abortions with the approval of a committee of doctors.

As abortion became more and more available in Canada in the 1970s, the abortion rate increased. In 1970, there were 11,152 abortions. By 1980, that number had gone up to 65,751.

These statistics show that when abortion becomes legally available, abortion rates increase over time as more women choose to have abortions.

Here are the statistics:

In 1970:

11,152 abortions

rate: 3.0

In 1971:

30,923 abortions

rate: 8.6

number of abortions: 177.3% increase

abortion rate: 186.7 % increase

In 1972:

38,853 abortions

rate: 11.2

percent increase in abortions: 25.6%

percent increase in abortion rate: 30.2%

In 1973:

43,201 abortions

rate: 12.6

percent increase in abortions: 11.4%

percent increase in abortion rate: 8.7%

In 1974:

48,136 abortions

rate: 13.7

percent increase in abortions: 11.4%

percent increase in abortion rate: 8.7%

In 1975:

49,311 abortions

abortion rate: 13.7

percent increase in abortions: 2.4%

In 1976:

54,478 abortions

abortion rate: 15.1

percent increase in abortions: 10.5%

percent increase in abortion rate 10.2%

In 1977:

57,564 abortions

abortion rate: 15.9

percent increase in abortions: 5.7%

percent increase in rate: 5.3%

In 1978:

62,290 abortions

abortion rate: 17.4%

percent increase in abortions: 8.2%

percent increase in abortion rate: 9.4%

In 1979:

65,043 abortions

abortion rate: 17.8

percent increase in abortions: 4.4%

percent increase in abortion rate: 2.3%

In 1980:

65,751 abortions

estimated abortion rate: 17.9

percent increase in abortions: 1.1%

percent increase in abortion rate (estimated): 0.6%

Sources:

Statistics Canada Daily (Catalogue 11 – 001E), Statistics Canada, Monday, November 30, 1981, pp. 4–6

Statistics Canada (Catalogue 82 – 211), Tuesday, November 23, 1982

Bruce Alton The Abortion Question (Toronto: Anglican Book Centre, 1983) 12

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Pro-life author S. Nye  writes that in 2018:

“Over 80,000 repeat abortions were carried out, with nearly 3500 of these being carried out on teenagers. The year-on-year trend is for more multiple abortions. In the same year, 718 women had their sixth abortion. Five of these women were still teenagers.”

S. Nye Whose Child? UK Abortion, a Gospel Matter (undated) 110

Cites:

David Mercer “Abortions: Five teenagers among women who had at least their 6th termination in UK last year” Sky November 21, 2019

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The number of women having “selective abortions” (i.e., abortions because the baby is disabled or sick) has increased in England.

According to British pro-life author S. Nye:

“In 2011, there were 72 selective terminations in England and Wales. By 2019, that yearly total had risen to 126. This is a 75% increase in nine years. These abortions are carried out under statutory grounds E (substantial risk the child would be born seriously handicapped).”

S. Nye Whose Child? UK Abortion, a Gospel Matter (undated) 80

Cites:

Department Of Health & Social Care “Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2019: Summary information from the abortion notification forms returned to the Chief Medical Officers of England and Wales. January to December 2019.” June 11 2020

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Author Ziad Munson on a 2016 study:

“… The General Social Survey… shows that in 2016 only 43% of Americans agreed with the statement that “it should be possible for a pregnant woman to obtain a legal abortion if she wants it for any reason.”

The majority of Americans thus disagree with the belief of most pro-choice activists. On the other hand, the same survey shows that 74% of Americans agreed that it should be “possible for a pregnant woman to obtain a legal abortion if she became pregnant as a result of rape.”

Cites: Tom W Smith, et al. “General Social Surveys, 1972 – 2016” retrieved June 6, 2017

Ziad Munson Abortion Politics (Medford, MA: Polity Press, 2018) 64

The pro-choice movement claims that women should be allowed to have an abortion at any stage in pregnancy for any reason. Clearly, this is a minority view.

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Pro-choice author RN Carmona writes:

“That 49% of women having abortions in the United States in 2014 were women falling below the poverty line is a striking statistic, but the trend since 2008 is of greater importance. Briefly, in 2014, a family of two with a household income of $15,730 or less was considered poor or in other words, a family that fell below the poverty line.

In 2008, 42% of women having abortions were women who fell below the poverty line. The trend yields an increase in abortion rates in women below the poverty line of 16.7% over that seven year span or 2.3% per year.

The trend continuing as such resulted in an increase in abortion rates of 50% in women below the federal poverty line in the year 2017.

The trend among affluent women in the United States is precisely the opposite. 31% of women choosing to have an abortion were in the highest income groups in 2008. In 2014, that number decreased to 25%. This yields a decrease of 19.4% over that period or 2.8% per year.”

RN Carmona Ending the Abortion Debate: On the Issues That Truly Matter (undated) 19-20

cites:

J Jerman, RK Jones and T Onda “Characteristics of US Abortion Patients in 2014 and Changes since 2008” Guttmacher Institute, 2016

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From a report compiled by The National Academy of Sciences:

“The overall number of facilities providing abortions – especially specialty abortion clinics – is declining. The greatest proportional decline is in states that have enacted abortion – specific regulations.

In 2014, there were 272 abortion clinics in the United States – 17% fewer than in 2011 – and 39% of women of reproductive age resided in a county without an abortion provider.

25 states have five or fewer abortion clinics; five states have only one abortion clinic. An estimated 17% of women travel more than 50 miles to obtain an abortion.”

The National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on Reproductive Health Services: The Safety and Quality of Abortion Care in the United States (Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2018) 6

Pro-life laws are closing abortion facilities.

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