15 Abortion Facts You Might Never Ever Heard Of

Many women dream of becoming a mother. But, alas, two strips on the test do not always bring happiness. Under the influence of external circumstances, problems, etc. a woman sometimes decides to terminate the pregnancy. The church considers abortion to be infanticide. Society splits into two camps: someone considers such a procedure unacceptable in any situation, and someone says that an unplanned pregnancy is not a reason to “break” one’s life and considers interruption to be a completely innocent medical manipulation. We will not assess the moral and ethical side of the issue but turn to abortion facts and figures instead.

What is Abortion?

Speaking of abortion, we mostly mean the artificial termination of pregnancy, although in Latin it means “miscarriage”. The first mention of getting rid of an unwanted child appeared even in antiquity.

To date, in official medicine, the following methods of abortion are the most common: medical abortion (performed before 12 weeks of pregnancy with the help of medication and under the supervision of a doctor); vacuum (also up to 12 weeks); surgical (up to 16, in exceptional cases up to 20 weeks of pregnancy).

Abortion Facts

Abortion Rate

Eastern Europe has the highest abortion rate in the world, at 43 abortions per 1,000 women.

Abortion is a Rather Common Procedure

According to the statistics of the Guttmacher Institute, 30% of American women will have an abortion by the age of 45 years. What concerns, for example, the UK, the statistics is the following- 1 in 3 women have an abortion in their lifetime.

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The belief is that the majority of women who make an abortion are women mainly of lower class and women of color are not at all right. The same applies to the fact that many religious women would never get abortions. The truth is that according to the most recent abortion data, women of all races get abortions. According to the statistics of 2014, only 38 % of women seeking abortions 2014 had no religious affiliation.

The Chances of Dying From an Abortion are Very Low

According to the CDC’s abortion surveillance data, fewer than 1 woman dies in every 100,000 legal abortions carried out by a professional. In comparison, the number of women dying during giving birth is significantly higher.

At the same time, 70 000 women worldwide die each year from back-street abortions.

Still, it should be noted that the risk of dying because of an abortion increases with the term of pregnancy.  Thus, carrying a pregnancy to term and giving birth is much more dangerous than abortions in the first trimester.

Health and Fertility

Any medical procedure can carry a certain risk. As a result, there is always a chance of complications during an abortion. But in general, the abortion procedure is unlikely to affect a woman’s fertility.

Abortion is a safe procedure. Unless there’s a rare and serious complication that’s not treated, there’s no risk to your fertility or to your health in general. Having an abortion doesn’t increase the risk for breast cancer and doesn’t affect your fertility. In fact, it’s possible to conceive quickly after you have an abortion.

Not Only Childfree Women Want An Abortion

According to the Guttmacher Institute, 59% of women who have abortions have already given birth in the past. And the rest of the women who were not mothers, many of them want children at some point, but the time was not right.

Many Women Who Made An Abortion Don’t Regret Their Decision

Instead, they are often grateful for the agency abortions offer. There are different reasons why a woman can’t keep a child at this very moment: from financial to health issues. Sometimes, a woman just has no other choice.

According to the statistics, 53 % of the women who made an abortion found the choice “difficult or very difficult,” over 99 % of women who got abortions thought it was the right decision.

Many Women Who Get Abortions Really Want Children

There are many cases when women who dream of having children also find themselves seeking out abortions. Sometimes the circumstances just don’t allow the dream to come true.

The Decision to Make an Abortion Doesn’t Make You an Irresponsible Person

There are many women who are generally responsible for birth control but accidentally skip a few pills. People who use birth control but do it incorrectly make up 41% of unwanted pregnancies. It’s often not about being irresponsible, but about being a human.

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Abortion is Legal in Many Countries, But There are Also Ones that Don’t Allow it

For example, around 180 000 abortions a year take place in England. About 10 000 are women from other parts of the world including Ireland, where it is illegal. 10 000 are performed in Scotland.

Worldwide, around one-quarter of pregnancies end in abortion – nearly half are illegal.

Money

Abortion providers don’t make huge sums of money on these procedures

A Women Who Wants an Abortion But Can’t Get it, Not Necessarily Lets the Pregnancy Proceed

Sometimes it is indeed so. But there are cases when women who can’t get medical help in this issue take incredibly desperate measures to terminate the pregnancy. Safe abortion is always better than dangerous things that can be harmful to health and even lead to death.

In Most Cases, A Fetus Doesn’t Feel Pain During Abortion

The fact is that a fetus doesn’t feel pain before the third trimester, which starts in the 28th week. That part of the brain doesn’t exist yet.  Consider the fact that only 1.4 % of abortions happen at or after the 21st week of pregnancy.

Emergency Contraception and The Abortion Pill are Not The Same Thing

Emergency contraception pill blocks the hormone progesterone. So, the uterine lining breaks down and can’t support a pregnancy. Thus, pregnancy does not take place. But, the abortion pill is prescribed to terminate a pregnancy that has already started.

Access to Safe and Legal Abortion is a Public Health Issue

Whether people seek abortions for physical or mental reasons, abortion is ultimately about public health. Being able to end a pregnancy safely and legally helps prevent the kind of illegal or at-home abortions that can kill someone desperate to no longer be pregnant.

Global Statistics

There are about 208 million pregnancies each year globally. Of these, 31 million end in miscarriage or fetal death from natural causes. About 41 million (20%) end in abortion. About half of these abortions are illegal.