National Right to
Life
Over 40 Million Abortions
in U.S. since 1973
There have been more than 40 million abortions in the twenty six years since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized unrestricted abortion on January 22, 1973.
Except when noted, the following statistics are based on research published by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, special research affiliate of Planned Parenthood Federation of America--the nation's largest provider and promoter of abortion. Estimates for 1997 and 1998 are based on trends from previous years.
In the past, AGI has estimated a possible 3-6% rate of underreporting. The following uses the lower figure.
Year Annual Number of Abortions 1973 744,600 1974 898,600 1975 1,034,200 1976 1,179,300 1977 1,316,700 1978 1,409,600 1979 1,497,700 1980 1,553,900 1981 1,577,300 1982 1,573,900 1983 1,575,000 1984 1,577,200 1985 1,588,600 1986 1,574,000 1987 1,559,100 1988 1,590,800 1989 1,566,900 1990 1,608,600 1991 1,556,500 1992 1,528,900 1993 1,500,000 1994 1,431,0000 1995 1,363,690 1996 1,365,730 1997 1,328,000 1998 1,328,000 Estimate 1999 1,328,000 Estimate 2000 1,328,000 Estimate 2001 1,328,000 Estimate Total abortions from1973 to 1998 -- 38,010,378 (Based on numbers and estimates reported by the Alan Guttmacher Institute 1973-1996,with NRLC estimates of 1,365,730 for 1997 and 1998. AGI estimates a possible 3% underreporting rate, which is factored into the total.)
Source for statistics for 1973 through 1992: Stanley K. Henshaw, et al.,"Abortions Services in the United States, 1991 and 1992," Family Planning Perspectives, vol.26, no.3 (May/June 1994), p.101.