Abortion

World-wide Statistics

Planned and unplanned pregnancies including abortions Abortions world-wide Developed Countries Developing Countries  developed countries: 22%  developing countries: 78% Sources: Center for Bioethical Reform, Alan Guttmacher Institute  planned pregnancies: 51%  abortions: 36%  unplanned, not aborted: 13% Total number of pregnancies per year: 28 million  planned pregnancies: 64%  abortions: 20%  unplanned, not aborted: 16% Total number of pregnancies per year: 182 million

Nearly 1.5 billion women in the world are of childbearing age, i.e. between 15 and 45 years old. During most of these years they have sexual intercourse but do not want to become pregnant, either because "the time is not right" for them or because they do not want more children than they already have. World-wide, in spite of the more frequent use of contraception, women are still undergoing a great number of abortions. Indeed, each year, there are about 26 million legal and an estimated 20 million illegal abortions in the world. In other words: World-wide, there are ca. 126.000 abortions every day. Most abortions by far occur in the developing countries. The present, often acrimonious discussion about the morality and legality of abortion must be seen before the background of these sobering facts.