Get "In the Know": Questions About Pregnancy, Contraception and Abortion

Pregnancy

How many of the world’s women are in their childbearing years?

• About 1.5 billion women worldwide, including more than 62 million women in the United States, are between the ages of 15 and 44. (1)

How many women become pregnant each year?

• Each year, some 210 million women worldwide become pregnant. About 63% of pregnancies result in live births and about 22% in abortions; the remainder end in miscarriage. (2)

How many U.S. women become pregnant each year?

• More than six million women become pregnant annually. Slightly fewer than two-thirds of these pregnancies result in live births and 20% result in abortions; the remainder end in miscarriage. (3)

What proportion of pregnancies are unplanned?

• In the United States, about half of all pregnancies are unintended, and 42% of unintended pregnancies are terminated by abortion.(3) Worldwide, almost two in five women who become pregnant have either an abortion or an unplanned birth. (2)

How many women die each year from pregnancy-related causes?

• An estimated 529,000 women die from pregnancy-related causes worldwide each year; 13% of these deaths are related to unsafe abortion. (a href="references.html#ref4">4,5)

An estimated 529,000 women die from pregnancy-related causes worldwide each year; 13% of these deaths are related to unsafe abortion. (4,5)

How high are teenage pregnancy rates in the United States?

• Teenage pregnancy, birth and abortion rates in the United States have been declining for a decade: In 1982, there were 107 pregnancies for every 1,000 teenagers aged 15–19; the rate dropped to 75 pregnancies per 1,000 teenagers in 2002. (6) Nevertheless, the United States continues to have a substantially higher teenage pregnancy rate than most other developed countries—for example, the U.S. rate is nearly twice that of Australia or Canada and more than four times that of France. (7)

Why has the teenage pregnancy rate in the United States declined?

• Between 1995 and 2002, most (86%) of the decline in teenage pregnancy was due to improved contraceptive use. The remaining 14% was due to teens delaying sex. (8)

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This resource was produced with support from the David and Lucille Packard Foundation and the Roth Family Foundation.