Incidence
There are two commonly used methods of measuring the incidence of abortion:
- Abortion rate – number of abortions per 1000 women between 15 and 44 years of age
- Abortion ratio – number of abortions out of 100 known pregnancies (excluding miscarriages and stillbirths)
The number of abortions performed worldwide has remained stable in recent years, with 41.6 million having been performed in 2003 and 43.8 million having been performed in 2008. The abortion ratio worldwide was 28 per 1000 women, though it was 24 per 1000 women for developed countries and 29 per 1000 women for developing countries.
On average, the incidence of abortion is similar in countries with restrictive abortion laws and those with more liberal access to abortion. However, restrictive abortion laws are associated with increases in the percentage of abortions which are performed unsafely. The unsafe abortion rate in developing countries is partly attributable to lack of access to modern contraceptives; according to the Guttmacher Institute, providing access to contraceptives would result in about 14.5 million fewer unsafe abortions and 38,000 fewer deaths from unsafe abortion annually worldwide.
The incidence of induced abortion varies extensively worldwide. The ratio of induced abortion ranges from ten to thirty percent; figures in the developing world vary widely and are often incomplete.
Read more about this topic: Abortion
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