Who Are We - Births And Abortions: A Relationship?

The graphic shows data for live births and abortions for the 1975 to 1997 period. Data are shown for the entire population and for two of its subdivisions — whites and "blacks and other." "Other" includes American Indians, Asians, and Pacific Islanders. Hispanics are accounted for in each group, depending on race (most Hispanics are white).

Both live births and abortions are trending up for the population as a whole — births more than abortions. Abortions for whites have decreased slightly from the beginning to the end of this period. Abortions for the "blacks and other" population category have increased. The net effect is a slight increase from 1975 to 1997, with a slight bulge in the middle.

The abortion rate for both subgroups is trending down, as shown further in the next panel. The small increase in total abortions is due to the decline in the number of white women in the childbearing age group (15 to 44) and an increase in childbearing-age women in the black and other population. Whites have a lower abortion rate overall. The net effect is a slight increase in total abortions.

The gradual down-trend in the rate of abortions, for both populations group, somewhat obscures what appears to be a pattern — namely that as births rise, so do abortions, and as births fall, so do abortions. The abortion rate in 1997 was 16.1 abortions per 1,000 women in the childbearing age group for whites and 47.8 for the black and other category. The difference between these two groups — about 32 abortions per 1,000 women, has not changed significantly in the 22 years of this period.

Births clearly reflect the size of the female population cohort capable of bearing children. Abortions appear to do so as well. Some proportion of pregnancies is not wanted. In 1997 this number corresponded to 250 pregnancies per 1,000 live births for whites and 680 pregnancies per 1,000 live births for the black and other population. Nearly 80% of all abortions are sought by unmarried women. The specific age stratification of the child-bearing female population may be the explanation for the falling abortion rate in this period, as discussed in the next panel.

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2001. 121^st ed. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2001, p. 71, Table 92. Data are originally from the Centers for Disease Control. Abortions in 1983 and 1986 are extrapolations. Data for 1976-1978 are not available. The trend line between 1975 and 1979, however, is shown in the graph. All birth data, from National Center for Health Statistics, show actual counts.