Legal abortions rate in the U.S. 1973-2021, by marital status

In 2021, there were around 40 legal abortions per 100 live births among unmarried women in the United States. In comparison, the rate of abortion per live births among married women was around four per 100. The abortion rates for both married and unmarried women in the United States have decreased over the last few decades.

Abortion statistics in the United States

In 2021, the overall rate of abortion in the United States per 100 live births was 20.4. Abortion in the U.S. is most common among women aged 20 to 29 years, with around 19 abortions per 1,000 women in this age group. The most common method of abortion in 2021 was medical abortion with a gestation of nine weeks or less, followed by surgical abortion with a gestation of 13 weeks or less. Medical abortion involves taking prescription medication to end the pregnancy while surgical abortion involves a surgical procedure. The two main types of surgical abortion are vacuum aspiration and dilation and evacuation (D&E). Abortion-related deaths in the United States are very rare, with only six such deaths reported in 2020.

Abortion among adolescents

In 2021, the abortion rate among adolescent women in the United States aged 15 to 19 years was 5.4 per 1,000 population. This was almost half the rate reported in the year 2011. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the abortion rate among adolescent women increases with age. In 2021, those aged 19 years had the highest rate of abortion among adolescent women. The majority of abortions performed on adolescent women are done in week nine or less of gestation. In 2021, there were around 28,341 abortions performed on adolescent women in week nine or less of gestation, while 9,564 abortion procedures were carried out after week nine of gestation.